Sociology of Health and Illness

Since the 1960s a major mental health crisis has emerged among Western working populations. Through a study spanning several decades, this book uses an original framework to capture the history and developments of mental vulnerability in working life.

Drawing on international perspectives and research, this book explores the experiences of sex and sexuality in individuals and groups living with HIV in later life (50+).

Critical realism helps researchers to extend and clarify their analyses. This original text draws on international examples of health and illness research across the life course, from small studies to large trials, to show how versatile critical realism can be in validating research and connecting it to policy and practice.

With dementia care shifting from institutional to home settings, this book considers the intersections of formal health and social care strategies and family experiences. Drawing on case studies from Canada, it enhances the understanding of good policy and practice in dementia care and the potential for better outcomes for all those concerned.

Establishing a critical and interdisciplinary dialogue, this text engages with the typically disparate fields of social gerontology and disability studies. It investigates the experiences of two groups rarely considered together in research – people ageing with long-term disability and people first experiencing disability with ageing.

This original collection draws on the latest empirical research to explore the practical challenges facing happiness researchers today. By uniquely combining the critical approach of sociology with techniques from other disciplines, the contributors illuminate new qualitative and biographical approaches of the study of happiness and well-being.

This interdisciplinary activist research project shows the health and well-being impacts of transnational migration on Ecuadorean families. Roberta Villalón documents the intersection of social inequalities and migration and health policies, and how individual and collective action challenges marginalising structures and fosters social justice.

This crucial contribution exposes the misconception that health research and health services are equally effective for all and highlights their failures in engaging with Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups. It provides essential case study examples on recruitment, engagement and partnerships with BME groups in research and public engagement.

Health and legal experts from England and Canada consider the influence of medical doctors on reforms in this comparative study. With reflections on participation since the inception of publicly-funded healthcare systems, they show how the status of doctors affects change.

Can the social sciences explain the emergence of mental disorders in societies or in individuals? This book presents a critical look at sociological explanations of mental illnesses, making the case for their renewal.

Despite being a widely recognised phenomenon, PMS remains difficult to define clinically, with no universally agreed diagnostic criteria or shortlist of deterministic symptoms. This book aims to accurately define and explain cyclical experiences and debunk the myth of the hysterical female, once and for all.