SO 248: Health and Society

How did depression become an “epidemic”? Why do many racial minorities get better healthcare in prison than in their communities? When did doctors become one of the richest professional groups in America? This course introduces students to medical sociology through three lenses. First, we examine the social determinants of health: the ways that race, class, and gender intersect to produce disease and disability for some and wellness for others. Second, we look at the social construction of illness, asking how cultural conceptions can help explain why – for example – people with schizophrenia live better in poor developing countries than in rich, Western ones. Finally, we explore the political economy of medicine: how our health care system does more than just heal, but also serves as a tool for social control and an engine for capitalist accumulation. Although many of our readings will refer to the United States, we will use examples from outside the United States to highlight alternatives to dominant ways of thinking about health, illness, and medicine.