An Introduction to the Sociology of Health and Illness

by Kevin White

The main purpose of this book is to demonstrate that disease is socially produced and distributed. Becoming sick and unhealthy is not the result of individual misfortune or an accident of nature. It is a consequence of the social, political and economic organization of society. In developing this thesis, the author systematically introduces students to the major sociological explanations of the role and functions of medical explanations of disease. The book situates the student securely in the literature and provides a guide to the strengths and weaknesses of the major sociological approaches. It draws out the essential features of the major sociological contributions and elucidates how an appreciation of the dynamics of class, gender, ethnicity and the sociology of knowledge challenges medical power.

Genres: Sociology

196 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Dr. Kevin White is a Reader in Sociology at the Australian National University. Kevin is a sociologist of health and illness, originally with interests in the history and philosophy of medicine. He also works on the political economy of health care systems, particularly examining the impact of privatisation on the health care system.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Outdated. Although published in 2014, it portrays Medicine as a means for Capitalism to enslave people by labeling them, as a tool for men to dominate and enslave women. While there have certainly been horrible examples of Medicine gone wrong (think Tuskeegee) or consciously used to suppress dissent (think Russians diagnosed with mental illness if they opposed Communism, back in the day), to paint all of Medicine with that brush, especially now that more than half of medical school graduates are women, seem unfair. There were some interesting parts about the medicalization of lives, and some philosophically interesting parts challenging that Medicine is not really an objective science like physics, but only a "soft" science, where the "knowledge" is twisted to meet the needs of the ruling class. There were also self-contradictions. In one chapter, cervical cancer screening is derided as a male-driven attempt to dominate and medicalize a woman's body. In another chapter, though, about race, the fact that in Australia aborigines are not screened for cervical cancer at near the frequency of white women, is derided as racist. Wouldn't that mean that at least aboriginal women were being spared the medicalization of their bodies?

[Saskia P · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was assigned for a class, but it was interesting nonetheless to learn about the medicalization of childbirth and the connection between social institutions, class, race, ability and health.