Undergraduate - UnitATS2735 - Sociology of health and illness

This unit introduces students to sociological understandings of health and illness. The first section looks at the social production and patterning of health and illness, and provides a critique of the contemporary focus on health promotion. The middle section engages with recent sociological analyses of issues related to gender, the body, the illness experience and mental illness. The third section provides an understanding of the social organization of health care with a focus on the role of scientific medicine. The ways in which both occupational groupings and patients have sought to challenge medical dominance are also examined.