ScholarLens Back to search
1998•Unpublished venueRequires access

Health, Illness and Medicine

Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett, Pip Jones, David B. Skinner, Michelle Stanworth, Andrew R. Webster

Open publisher page 1 citations

Abstract

This chapter introduces the student to the main sociological approaches to health, illness and medicine. The aim is to show how the distribution, experience, definition and treatment of illness cannot be understood, as most people think, in purely physical or biological terms. Health, illness and their medical management are part of wider cultural systems and as such are closely associated with processes of social control, by both professions and the state. The sociology of medicine has strong links here to recent analyses in the sociology of the body.

About this research paper

What this paper is about

This chapter introduces the student to the main sociological approaches to health, illness and medicine. The aim is to show how the distribution, experience, definition and treatment of illness cannot be understood, as most people think, in purely physical or biological terms. Health, illness and their medical management are part of wider cultural systems and as such are closely associated with processes of social control, by both professions and the state. The sociology of medicine has strong links here to recent analyses in the sociology of the body.

Why it matters

OpenAlex reports 1 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.

Key contribution

A contribution statement is not available in the OpenAlex record.

Method / approach

Method details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Main findings

Findings are not separately available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Limitations

Limitations are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Applications

Application details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Available abstract

This chapter introduces the student to the main sociological approaches to health, illness and medicine. The aim is to show how the distribution, experience, definition and treatment of illness cannot be understood, as most people think, in purely physical or biological terms. Health, illness and their medical management are part of wider cultural systems and as such are closely associated with processes of social control, by both professions and the state. The sociology of medicine has strong links here to recent analyses in the sociology of the body.

Key concepts: Sociology of health and illness, Medical sociology, Illness behavior, Sociology, Physical illness, Social science, Epistemology, Medicine

Related papers

Related paper 1Related paper 2Related paper 3
Back to paper searchBrowse research topicsOriginal source
Health, Illness and Medicine — Research Paper | ScholarLens