Social Injustice and Public Health

by Levy, Barry S.

• ISBN13: 9780197803721
• ISBN10: 0197803725
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780197803738
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2026-02-12
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• More Book Details

Summary

The fourth edition of Social Injustice and Public Health, a completely updated edition of the classic text, is a comprehensive, evidence-based resource for understanding and addressing the profound impacts of social injustice on public health. In 31 chapters written by experts in public health, human rights, medicine, nursing, law, and social science, this highly readable book documents the adverse effects of social injustice on specific populations and specific aspects of public health.

The book is divided into four parts. Part I explores the nature of social injustice and its adverse effects on public health. Part II describes how social injustice affects the health of specific population groups: socioeconomically disadvantaged people, people of color, women, children, older people, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, incarcerated people, people experiencing homelessness, and forced migrants. Part III addresses how social injustice affects specific aspects of public health: medical care, nutrition, communicable and noncommunicable diseases, mental health, violence including war, environmental and occupational health, oral health, and global health. Part IV discusses an agenda for action to address social injustice, based on human rights, public health policy and practice, stronger communities, education, research, law, social movements, and equitable and sustainable human development.

Enriched with photographs and illustrative examples and featuring contributions from national and global experts, Social Injustice and Public Health is the definitive resource on understanding and addressing the most important challenges to the public's health.

Author Biography

Barry S. Levy, M.D., M.P.H., is a physician and epidemiologist who has edited and written 22 previous books on the public health consequences of social injustice, war and terrorism, occupational and environmental health, climate change, and related issues, and has written more than 250 journal articles and book chapters on these subjects. He is an Adjunct Professor of Public Health at Tufts University School of Medicine. He previously worked as a CDC epidemiologist, a University of Massachusetts Medical School professor, and director of global health programs and projects. He is a past president of the American Public Health Association and a recipient of its Sedgwick Memorial Medal.

Table of Contents

Part I: Introduction

Chapter 1: The Nature of Social Injustice and Its Impact on Public Health
Barry S. Levy
Box 1-1: Definitions and Concepts of Social Justice

Part II: How Social Injustice Affects the Health of Specific Population Groups

Chapter 2: Socioeconomically Disadvantaged People
Michael Marmot and Ruth Bell
Box 2-1: Summary of Recommendations from the Marmot Review 10 Years On

Chapter 3: People of Color
Carol Easley Allen and Cheryl Easley
Box 3-1: Racial and Ethnic Definitions for the 2030 U.S. Census
Box 3-2: American Shame: High Maternal Mortality Ratio in African-American Women
Linda Villarosa
Box 3-3: Types of Racism and Related Concepts

Chapter 4: Women
Gina Maranto

Chapter 5: Children
Luz Claudio and Juan Antonio Ortega-García
Box 5-1: Childhood Lead Toxicity
Howard Hu

Chapter 6: Older People
Carroll Estes, Nicholas B. DiCarlo, Brittney L. Pond, and Jarmin C. Yeh

Chapter 7: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning People
Emilia Lombardi and Talia Mae Bettcher

Chapter 8: People with Disabilities
Nora Groce
Box 8-1: Terminology
Box 8-2: Disability and Education
Box 8-3: Similarities and Differences Among People with Disabilities

Chapter 9: Incarcerated People
David H. Cloud
Box 9-1: Political Prisoners
William F. Schulz

Chapter 10: People Experiencing Homelessness
Howard Padwa, Bikki Tran Smith, Roya Ijadi-Maghsoodi, Katherine Vickery, and Lillian Gelberg

Chapter 11: Forced Migrants: Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons
Michael Toole
Box 11-1: The Suffering of Displaced People: Three Vignettes
Jennifer Leaning

Part III. How Social Injustice Affects Aspects of Public Health

Chapter 12: Medical Care
Oliver Fein
Box 12-1: What Is Single-Payer Healthcare?
Steffie Woolhandler and David U. Himmelstein

Chapter 13: Communicable Diseases
Joia S. Mukherjee
Box 13-1: The AIDS Movement
Box 13-2: Case Study of a Man with Tuberculosis
Box 13-3: Inequities Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Mary T. Bassett

Chapter 14: Nutrition
J. Larry Brown
Box 14-1: Definitions of Key Terms
Box 14-2: Obesity

Chapter 15: Noncommunicable Diseases
Mariachiara Di Cesare, Honor Bixby, Reza Majdzadeh, and J. Jaime Miranda
Box 15-1: The Impact of Systemic and Structural Racism on Noncommunicable Diseases in the United States
Barry S. Levy
Box 15-2: Addressing Noncommunicable Diseases During Humanitarian Crises

Chapter 16: Violence
Colleen Ray, Sara DeGue, and James A. Mercy
Box 16-1: Firearm Violence in the United States
David Hemenway
Box 16-2: Cure Violence: The Epidemic Control Method for Reducing Violence
Charles Ransford and Gary Slutkin

Chapter 17: War
Barry S. Levy
Box 17-1: Nuclear Weapons and Social Injustice
Robert M. Gould and Patrice M. Sutton

Chapter 18: Mental Health
Carles Muntaner, Pablo Galvez-Hernandez, Virginia Gunn, Edwin Ng, Haejoo Chung, Philipp Hessel, and William W. Eaton
Box 18-1: The Opioid Epidemic
Martha Waller and William Wieczorek

Chapter 19: Environmental Health
Barry S. Levy
Box 19-1: Impact of Natural Disasters on Social Justice
Linda Young Landesman
Box 19-2: Climate Justice
Rohini J. Haar and Barry S. Levy
Box 19-3: Planetary Health
Samuel S. Myers and Jonathan A. Patz

Chapter 20: Occupational Health and Safety
Linda Rae Murray

Chapter 21: Oral Health
Myron Allukian, Jr., Alice M. Horowitz, and J. Brett Ryan
Box 21-1: Oral Health Inequalities in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Chapter 22: Global Health
Barry S. Levy
Box 22-1: Trafficking in Persons
Box 22-2: Hunger and Malnutrition in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Box 22-3: Export of Hazardous Substances from High-Income Countries to Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Part IV. An Agenda for Action

Chapter 23: Addressing Social Injustice in a Human Rights Context
Sofia Gruskin and Paula Braveman

Chapter 24: Promoting Social Justice Through Public Health Policy
Kathleen M. Rest, Jarasa Kanok, and Pallavi Phartiyal
Box 24-1: State Government Intervention: Reforms in State Laws for a Minimum Wage and Workplace Protection for Farmworkers
Box 24-2: A Local Government Initiative with Universal Basic Income
Box 24-3: The Clean Power Prescription: Addressing the Physical, Economic, and Environmental Health of Patients

Chapter 25: Promoting Social Justice Through Public Health Practice
Joshua Sharfstein, Michelle Spencer, and Keshia M. Pollack Porter

Chapter 26: Strengthening Communities and the Roles of Individuals in Building Community Life
Robert E. Aronson, John W. Hatch, Tony L. Whitehead, and Samhar Almomani
Box 26-1: Strengthening Communities in Low-Income Countries
Gail Snetro and Angela M. Brasington
Box 26-2: How a Community-Based Foundation Addresses Health Consequences of Social Injustice
Martin D. Cohen

Chapter 27: Promoting Social Justice Through Education in Public Health
Robert S. Lawrence
Box 27-1: International Declaration of Health Rights
Box 27-2: Developing a Community-Engaged Master of Public Health Program in Health Equity
Shelley K. White

Chapter 28: A Critical Research Agenda for Social Justice and Public Health: An Ecosocial Proposal
Nancy Krieger

Chapter 29: Protecting Human Rights Through International and National Law
Henry A. Freedman and Martha F. Davis
Box 29-1: Preventing Torture
Leonard S. Rubenstein and Vincent Iacopino

Chapter 30: Learning from the Social Movements of the 1960s
Oliver Fein and Charlotte Phillips

Chapter 31: Promoting Health with Equitable and Sustainable Human Development
Richard Jolly and Updated by Mark Sidel
Box 31-1: The Roles of International Nongovernmental Organizations in Promoting Equitable and Sustainable Human Development
Raymond C. Offenheiser and Paul C. Perrin
Box 31-2: The Roles of Private Philanthropy in Promoting Equitable and Sustainable Human Development
Mark Sidel
Index