A Sociology of Mental Health And Illness

by Rogers, Anne; Pilgrim, David

• ISBN13: 9780335215836
• ISBN10: 0335215831
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-07-01
• Publisher: Open University Press

Summary

Winner of the BMA Medical Book of the Year 2006! 'This text is the reference text in this field. There is no other that comes close in its breadth and depth of coverage' Colin Dawson, The College of St Mark and St John, Plymouth, UK How have sociologists theorized and researched mental health and illness? In what ways do sociologists approach this topic differently to those from other disciplines? How do we understand mental health problems in their social context? This bestselling book provides a clear overview of the major aspects of the sociology of mental health and illness, and helps students to develop a critical approach to the subject. In this new edition, the authors update each of the chapters, taking into consideration recent relevant literature from social science and social psychiatry. A new chapter has been included on the impact of stigma, which covers an analysis of the responses of the lay public to mental health and illness and representations of mental health (particularly in the media) in a post-institutional context. A Sociology of Mental Health and Illness is a key teaching and learning resource for undergraduates and postgraduates studying a range of medical sociology and health-related courses, as well as trainee mental health workers in the fields of social work, nursing, clinical psychology and psychiatry.

Author Biography

Anne Rogers is Professor of the Sociology of Health Care and currently directs a programme of research on self-management and chronic disease management at the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre, Division of Primary Care, University of Manchester. Her PhD on psychiatric referrals from the police began her academic career. Her current research interests include sociological aspects of primary care and mental health.

David Pilgrim is Clinical Dean, Teaching Primary Care Trust for East Lancashire and Honorary Professor at the Universities of Liverpool and Central Lancashire. His career has been divided between higher education and the NHS. He trained as a clinical psychologist before completing his PhD on NHS psychotherapy. He subsequently completed a Masters degree in Sociology. Since then he has retained both a clinical and research interest in many aspects of mental health work.

Table of Contents

Preface to the third edition	xiii
Acknowledgements	xix
Perspectives on mental health and illness	1	(22)
Chapter overview	1	(1)
The perspectives outwith sociology	2	(8)
Psychiatry	2	(2)
Psychoanalysis	4	(1)
Psychology	5	(1)
The statistical notion	5	(1)
The ideal notion	6	(1)
The presence of specific behaviours	7	(1)
Distorted cognitions	7	(1)
The legal framework	8	(2)
Conclusion about the perspectives outwith sociology	10	(1)
The perspectives within sociology	11	(7)
Social causation	12	(1)
Critical theory	12	(3)
Social constructivism	15	(1)
Social realism	16	(2)
Discussion	18	(4)
Questions	22	(1)
For discussion	22	(1)
Further reading	22	(1)
Stigma revisited and lay representations of mental health problems	23	(20)
Chapter overview	23	(1)
Lay views of psychological differences	24	(16)
Stereotyping and stigma	26	(2)
Intelligibility	28	(2)
Competence and credibility	30	(3)
Does labelling matter?	33	(2)
The role of the mass media	35	(2)
Social exclusion and discrimination	37	(2)
Social capital, social disability and social exclusion	39	(1)
Conclusion	40	(2)
Questions	42	(1)
For discussion	42	(1)
Further reading	42	(1)
Social class and mental health	43	(19)
Chapter overview	43	(1)
The general relationship between social class and health status	44	(3)
The relationship between social class and diagnosed mental illness	47	(5)
Social class, social capital and neighbourhood	50	(2)
The relationship between poverty and mental health status	52	(3)
Labour market disadvantage and mental health	54	(1)
Housing and mental health	54	(1)
Social class and mental health professionalism	55	(2)
Lay views about mental health and social class	57	(1)
Discussion	58	(3)
Questions	61	(1)
For discussion	61	(1)
Further reading	61	(1)
Women and men	62	(19)
Chapter overview	62	(1)
The over-representation of women in psychiatric diagnosis	63	(11)
Does society cause excessive female mental illness?	64	(1)
Vulnerability factors	65	(1)
Provoking agents	65	(1)
Symptom-formation factors	65	(1)
Is female over-representation a measurement artefact?	66	(1)
Sex differences in help-seeking behaviour	67	(2)
Are women labelled as mentally ill more often than men?	69	(3)
The effects of labelling secondary deviance -- women and minor tranquillizers	72	(2)
Men, dangerousness and mental health services	74	(4)
Gender and sexuality	76	(2)
Discussion	78	(1)
Questions	79	(1)
For discussion	80	(1)
Further reading	80	(1)
Race and ethnicity	81	(21)
Chapter overview	81	(1)
Theoretical presuppositions about race	82	(1)
Race and health	83	(11)
The epidemiology of mental health, race and ethnicity	84	(3)
Methodological cautions about findings	87	(1)
Type of service contact	87	(3)
Disproportionate coercion	90	(1)
Black people's conduct and attributions of madness -- some summary points	91	(3)
Asian women and the somatization thesis	94	(2)
Irish people and psychiatry	96	(2)
Discussion	98	(2)
Questions	100	(1)
For discussion	101	(1)
Further reading	101	(1)
Age and ageing	102	(18)
Chapter overview	102	(1)
Emotions and primary socialization	103	(3)
Sociology, childhood and mental health	105	(1)
Childhood sexual abuse and mental health problems	106	(4)
Social competence in adulthood	110	(3)
Dementia and depression in older people	113	(3)
Discussion	116	(2)
Questions	118	(1)
For discussion	118	(1)
Further reading	118	(2)
The mental health professions	120	(20)
Chapter overview	120	(1)
Theoretical frameworks in the sociology of the professions	121	(4)
The neo-Durkheimian framework	121	(1)
The neo-Weberian framework	122	(1)
Social closure	122	(1)
Professional dominance	122	(1)
The neo-Marxian framework	123	(1)
Eclecticism and post-structuralism	124	(1)
Mental health professionals and other social actors	125	(2)
Sociology and the mental health professions	127	(8)
Eclecticism and post-structuralism	128	(4)
The neo-Weberian approach	132	(1)
Symbolic interactionism	133	(1)
The influence of the sociology of deviance	134	(1)
The influence of the sociology of knowledge	134	(1)
The influence of feminist sociology	135	(1)
The impact of legislative arrangements and service redesign	135	(2)
Discussion	137	(1)
Questions	138	(1)
For discussion	139	(1)
Further reading	139	(1)
The treatment of people with mental health problems	140	(27)
Chapter overview	140	(1)
Therapeutics	141	(11)
A brief social history of psychiatric treatment	141	(2)
Criticisms of psychiatric treatment	143	(1)
Why have physical treatments tended to predominate?	143	(2)
Minor tranquillizers	145	(1)
Major tranquillizers	146	(3)
Antidepressants	149	(1)
Psychological therapies	150	(1)
Why is there a problem of legitimacy about the effectiveness of psychiatric treatment?	151	(1)
The moral sense of `treatment'	152	(5)
Who is psychiatry's client?	153	(1)
The question of informed choice	153	(1)
Insight	154	(1)
The morality of others	155	(1)
Comprehensive and comprehensible information	156	(1)
Coercion	156	(1)
Specifiable actions	156	(1)
The social distribution of treatment	157	(1)
The impact of evidence-based practice on treatment	158	(2)
Disputed evidence about ECT	159	(1)
Users' views as evidence in service research	159	(1)
Tackling social exclusion as a focus of treatment	160	(2)
Governmentality and self-help	162	(1)
Discussion	163	(2)
Questions	165	(1)
For discussion	166	(1)
Further reading	166	(1)
The organization of mental health work	167	(24)
Chapter overview	167	(1)
The sociology of the hospital	168	(1)
The rise of the asylum	169	(3)
The crisis of the asylum	172	(3)
Responses to the crisis	175	(12)
The `pharmacological revolution'	176	(2)
Economic determinism	178	(1)
Changes in the organization of medicine: a shift to acute problems and primary care	179	(1)
Community care and reinstitutionalization	180	(5)
Public health, primary care and the new technology revolution	185	(2)
Discussion	187	(2)
Questions	189	(1)
For discussion	189	(1)
Further reading	190	(1)
Psychiatry and legal control	191	(22)
Chapter overview	191	(1)
Legal versus medical control of madness	192	(1)
Mentally disordered offenders	193	(6)
The problematic status of personality disorder	194	(4)
The persistence of a problematic concept: the case of `dangerous and severe personality disorder'	198	(1)
Socio-legal aspects of compulsion	199	(5)
The globalization of compulsion	201	(2)
Professional interests and legislation	203	(1)
Dangerousness	204	(6)
Violence and mental disorder	204	(4)
Suicide and mental disorder	208	(1)
Impact on patients of their risky image	209	(1)
Discussion	210	(1)
Questions	211	(1)
For discussion	212	(1)
Further reading	212	(1)
Users of mental health services	213	(22)
Chapter overview	213	(1)
The diffuse concept of service use	214	(3)
Relatives or `significant others'	214	(3)
Users as patients	217	(3)
The disregarding by researchers of those users' views that do not coincide with the views of mental health professionals	218	(1)
The notion that psychiatric patients are continually irrational and so incapable of giving a valid view	218	(1)
Patients and relatives are assumed to share the same perspective, and where they do not, the views of the former are disregarded by researchers	219	(1)
Framing patient views in terms which suit professionals	219	(1)
Users as consumers	220	(5)
Literature on psychiatric patient satisfaction and dissatisfaction	224	(1)
Users as survivors	225	(4)
The phenomenology of surviving the psychiatric system	225	(1)
Survivors as a type of new social movement	226	(3)
Users as providers	229	(3)
The tension between advising, providing and campaigning	231	(1)
Discussion	232	(1)
Questions	233	(1)
For discussion	234	(1)
Further reading	234	(1)
References	235	(30)
Index	265