Читать книгу The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Medical Sociology - Группа авторов - Страница 22

In this paper, we argued that the sociological study of health in the US has failed to identify a contemporary disciplinary structure (an “island of meaning”) that adequately represents the field. Instead of defining medical sociology conceptually, we defined its structure in terms of four major subfields: Social Epidemiology, Social Psychology of Health and Illness, Sociology of Medicine, and Sociology in Medicine. While recognizing an underlying unity driven by common training in sociological theory and research, we reviewed the unique contributions of each subfield. Specifically, medical sociology examines (1) the social causes of health-related outcomes and behaviors, (2) the social psychological processes that mediate and moderate the social causes and social consequences of health, (3) issues linked with health care delivery and health care experiences, medical knowledge, and health social movements, including social inequality, social institutions, and health policy/law, and (4) problems within institutions of medicine, including medical treatment, health professions, and the marketing of health care. We also recommended efforts toward a more refined and directed conceptualization of the field, including the establishment of a more explicit disciplinary structure that is supported by consistent research identities, relevant graduate program, and greater attention to Sociology in Medicine. Ultimately, we argued for a more efficient and representative organization of the field that more clearly demonstrates our contributions to the study of health. This is not the final statement on the organization of medical sociology. Our hope is to reintroduce these discussions as a matter of regular discourse. Much has changed since Straus (1957), and even more developments are on the horizon.