Sociology of Mental Disorder

This book presents the major issues and research findings on the influence of race, class, gender, age and social class on the incidence of mental disorder. It also examines the institutions put in place to help those with mental disorders.

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Updating earlier editions from 1981 to 2000, Cockerham (U. of Alabama- Birmingham) summarizes the major issues and research findings in the sociological literature on mental disorder. Though the field is a subspecialty of medical sociology, he believes the information to be relevant to sociologists in general. He discusses such aspects as types of mental disorder, urban versus rural living, the mental hospital patient, and the law. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

William C. Cockerham received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley and is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is also Co-Director of the UAB Center for Social Medicine and holds secondary appointments in medicine and public health. He is the recipient of the UAB Connors Prize in the History of Ideas and the Ireland Award for Distinguished Scholarship. Currently, he is serving as the President of the Research Committee on Health Sociology of the International Sociological Association and is on the Editorial Board of the American Sociological Review. Dr. Cockerham has published numerous peer-reviewed papers in academic journals and is author or editor of fourteen books. His most recent books published by Pearson Prentice-Hall include Medical Sociology, 11^th edition (2010) and the Sociology of Mental Disorder, 8^th edition (2010).