The Sociology of Health and Illness

Sarah Nettleton’s The Sociology of Health and Illness has become a cornerstone text, popular with students and academics alike for its rigorous and accessible overview of the field. Building on these strengths, the third edition integrates fresh insights from the current literature with the core tenets of traditional medical sociology, providing students with a thorough grounding in the sociology of health and illness.

The text covers a diversity of topics and draws on a wide range of analytic approaches, spanning issues such as the social construction of medical knowledge, the analysis of lay health beliefs, concepts of lifestyles and risk, the experience of illness and the sociology of the body. It also explores matters which are central to health policy, such as professional-patient relationships, health inequalities and the changing nature of health care work. Each chapter in the book has been revised and updated, with substantial new material in particular on the sociology of diagnosis, body work, and a whole new chapter on the sociology of health technology.

Written for students of the social sciences who opt to study the field of health and illness in greater depth, this book will also continue to appeal to students taking vocational degrees, such as nursing, who require a sociological grounding in the area. Thoroughly revised and fully updated, the third edition of Sarah Nettleton’s book will prove invaluable to anyone looking for a clear and engaging introduction to contemporary debates within the sociology of health and illness.