Sociology Of Health Research Articles

Complete tooth loss as status passage.

The aim of this article is to add to the literature on the sociology of oral health and dentistry by presenting the relevance of status passage to the study of complete tooth loss. The article reports on an analysis of data taken from participants residing in the Nelson region of New Zealand. In total the data include interviews from 20 participants, all of whom had their remaining natural teeth removed before 1960. In total, 12 women and eight men were interviewed. All were from a European background with an age range of 71 to 101 years. Following a narrative approach, participants were interviewed on the nature of the social factors that resulted in complete tooth loss by starting with their family history and then focusing on the factors and events leading up to their total tooth loss. Data were analysed using the methods and techniques of grounded theory. This article provides an outline of the importance of scheduling, prescribing, social factors, 'compound awareness contexts' and reversibility to the status passage into complete tooth loss. We conclude by arguing that the theory of status passage may enable a detailed analysis of the 'time-space extensionality' of trajectories into complete tooth loss.

Book Review: V. Sujatha. 2014.Sociology of Health and Medicine: New Perspectives.

Book Review: V. Sujatha. 2014.<i>Sociology of Health and Medicine: New Perspectives</i>.

From Sociopathy to Social Recognition

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article CommentaryFull AccessFrom Sociopathy to Social RecognitionMichael Miller, M.D.Michael MillerSearch for more papers by this author, M.D.Published Online:16 Mar 2017https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp-rj.2016.111002AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail The Supreme Court's Obergefell v. Hodges guarantees the right of homosexual individuals to marry, a nearly unbelievable event when one considers that just over 40 years ago, being homosexual itself was considered a mental illness. Until 1974, homosexuality was listed in the DSM as a mental disorder. Originally classified as sociopathic and “ego-dystonic,” homosexuality remained a diagnosis until 1987. Today, the American Psychiatric Association explicitly states its view on homosexuality, indicating that same-sex orientation has unclear origins, does not impair an individual's judgment or functioning in itself, and does not (and should not) call for psychiatric treatment (1).The case of homosexuality raises an uncomfortable but critical question: What is mental illness? This is not a new question, and the answer remains unclear. The DSM draws the line at when clinical distress or functional impairment occurs, using criteria “based largely on social norms, with 'symptoms' that all rely on subjective judgments” and “reflect current normative social expectations” (2). Concerns about pathologizing the normal have come up repeatedly, embodied by the British Psychological Society's statement noting the “continued and continuous medicalisation of [the public's] natural and normal responses to their experiences […] which do not reflect illnesses so much as normal individual variation” (2).Homosexuality is not the first condition dubiously deemed a mental disorder. In the 19th century, African slaves who attempted to run away were said to suffer from drapetomania, with the prescribed treatment of the removal of both great toes (3). Instances have also been described of housewives refusing to do housework, with resulting hospitalization and ECT (3). In the 1970s, accusations of corruption by the U.S. Attorney General's wife toward the Nixon administration were dismissed as delusions, only to be later verified in the Watergate investigation. The case coined the eponymous “Martha Mitchell effect,” in which mental health providers dismiss true claims by their patients as symptoms of illness (4). This effect was seen more recently when psychiatrists used a Long Island woman's descriptions of her Twitter account as evidence for her mania. Her claims were later found to be factual, but only after her 8-day involuntary stay at a hospital with medication (5).What can be done to help circumvent such “diagnoses”? Clinicians should attempt an objective exam using the form of the presenting phenomenology, rather than the content, while acknowledging cultural context and attempting to gain collateral information. Concurrently, psy­chiatry as a field should continue its search for specific biomarkers and imaging through projects like the BRAIN [Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies] Initiative, both for more valid measures of disease and to avoid fad diagnoses or clinician bias.Views on homosexuality have shown a remarkable turnaround: what was once considered a “sociopathy” is now socially recognized. Psychiatric syndromes are almost always idiopathic, and questions of moral perception or social acceptance are irrelevant to accurate diagnosis. Clinicians must strive for a diagnosis based on the patient's presenting symptoms, rather than social or personal bias, to ensure that treatments are helpful to patients and to avoid the misuse of authority by the psychiatric profession.Dr. Miller is a fourth-year resident in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.References1 Scasta D, Bialer P: Position Statement on Issues Related to Homosexuality. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Publishing, 2013. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ZH2nn3tkT-UJ:https://www.psychiatry.org/File%2520Library/About-APA/Organization-Documents-Policies/Policies/Position-2013-Homosexuality.pdf+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us Google Scholar2 British Psychological Society: Response to the American Psychiatric Association: DSM-5 Development. http://www.bps.org.uk/news/society-statement-dsm-5 Google Scholar3 White K: An Introduction to the Sociology of Health and Illness. Thousand Oaks, Calif, SAGE Publications 2002, 41–43 Crossref, Google Scholar4 Bell V, Halligan PW, Ellis H: Beliefs about delusions. Psychologist 2003; 16: 418–423 Google Scholar5 http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/exclusive-woman-held-psych-ward-obama-twitter-claim-article-1.2159049 Google Scholar FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited byNone Volume 11Issue 10 October 01, 2016Pages 3-3 PDF download History Published online 16 March 2017 Published in print 1 October 2016

Understanding the meaning and role of gifts given to Ugandan mothers in maternity care settings: 'The help they give when they've seen how different you are'.

The provision of gifts to new mothers in Uganda is laden with significance that varies by the social location of the giver and receiver and the context and conditions under which the gift is made available. Here, we examine the act of gift giving and receiving within a Ugandan maternity care setting, describing the connections between these material objects and social relations. A study investigating the social organisation of maternity care in post-conflict northern Uganda found that gift-giving to new mothers functioned to create a material and discursive context wherein women's desire to access these goods was leveraged to create an incentive to attend formal maternity care during pregnancy and for delivery. In this article we describe the material and discursive processes surrounding gift-giving to new mothers in this global South health care setting. This article contributes critical analyses of the function of gifts in healthcare settings as constructing shared identities, social differences and normative values about health citizenship, and an incentive politic that affects equitable access to maternity care. Drawing on intersectional theory and analysis of how specific practices function ideologically to reward or incentivise pregnant women, we integrate material culture studies into the sociology of women's reproductive health.

‘Gain with no pain’: Anabolic-androgenic steroids trafficking in the UK

Anabolic-androgenic steroids are performance and image enhancing drugs (PIED) that can improve endurance and athletic performance, reduce body fat and stimulate muscle growth. The use of steroids has been studied extensively in the medical and psychological literature, as well as in the sociology of sport, health and masculinity. From the late 2000s, the worldwide trade in steroids increased significantly. However, trafficking in steroids remains a largely under-researched criminological phenomenon with a few notable exceptions. Currently in the UK there are only small and fragmented pieces of information available relating to steroids trafficking in autobiographical accounts of professional criminals. Drawing on original empirical data, the purpose of this article is to provide an account of the social organization of the steroids trafficking business in the UK. The trade in steroids is decentralized, highly flexible with no hierarchies, and open to anyone willing to either order the merchandise online or travel to producing countries and obtain steroids in bulk from legitimate manufacturers. The patterns of trafficking of this specific type of substance are patently conditioned by its embeddedness in the gym/bodybuilding scene and this greatly affects relations between actors in the business. In the steroids market, one typically encounters a multitude of individuals likely to drift between legality and illegality, online and offline, use and supply.

Situating preparedness education within public pedagogy

Both ‘disaster preparedness’ and ‘public pedagogy’ have been broadly defined and diversely utilised. Preparedness has been dealt with in disciplines such as civil engineering, the sociology of disasters, public health and psychology, rather than education. Recently, inquiries into the learning and teaching of preparedness have increased in the field of education. Some position preparedness education within the field of public pedagogy. However, conceptual discussion as to how and why the two fields are associated has been limited. The primary aim of this paper is to fill this gap by drawing on public pedagogy literature that conceptualises ‘publics’ and ‘pedagogies’. In doing so, the paper attempts to respond to call for Problematizing Public Pedagogy.

Nature, menstrual suppression, and the value of material feminism

ABSTRACTThis article revisits women’s accounts of menstrual suppression and considers the value in using material feminist theory to discuss the concept of nature in this context. Whilst a sociological, poststructuralist framing of nature as discourse has been useful in challenging essentialist claims about women’s bodies, I argue now that engaging with material feminism acknowledges both the material and discursive ways in which women talk about menstruation and its suppression. This article draws on qualitative data gathered in the aftermath of the approval of the first extended cycle oral contraceptive. In their narratives women struggled to unite the desire to frame their perceptions as natural whilst at the same time upholding the right to use synthetic interventions to control menstruation. Building on poststructural and embodiment theory, as well as drawing on the concept of ‘naturecultures’ [Haraway, D. (1991). Simians, cyborgs and women: The reinvention of nature. New York: Routledge], I argue it is helpful for health sociology to incorporate material feminism in order to advance understanding of ambivalence in relation to new reproductive technologies.

Professional Health Sociologists and the Crisis of the Italian Health System: A Pilot, Exploratory Study within Mental Health and Addiction Departments through an Electronic-DELPHI

This qualitative, pilot and exploratory study 1 is part of an ongoing research project conducted by Societa Italiana di Sociologia della Salute, (Italian Society of Health Sociology, hereinafter SISS) 2 including academic and professional Italian health sociologists. The Literature on interprofessionalism/managerialism and the various roles of these health professions as boundary spanners, gate-keepers and mediators, is still lacking in relation to the Italian Healthcare System (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, hereinafter SSN) and its prolonged poli-crisis, from the point of view of Italian Health Sociologists employed within the SSN. In particular, in Italian Literature, empirical study does not exist on the representations and perceptions of interprofessionalism within this field. The aim of this qualitative essay is to present a counterpoint in the form of an explorative pilot study focused on a group of 17 Italian Professional Health Sociologists working in Mental Health and Addiction departments in the SSN. Here we consider the Professional Italian SSN Sociologist as an agent of change in the SSN transformation plan, and as a vehicle for interprofessionality.

Autismus jako společenskovědní téma

Knowledge on autism has undergone a rapid development over the past few decades, as well as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis rates increasing dramatically. These changes emphasize the need for increased services and wider specialised support for people with ASD and their families. Autism is not only a medical, psychological or special pedagogical topic it is also a social issue. There have been several sociological studies on the topic conducted abroad, however the Czech case is specific in several aspects due to the political-cultural context of the country. Apart from a few exceptions, the topic has not been reflected in Czech social science. The present paper will introduce five approaches to autism based on research which has been conducted abroad and will also discuss to which extent they are applicable in the Czech Republic. The ideas presented are a multidisciplinary combination of sociology of knowledge, historical sociology, sociology of health and illness, cultural anthropology and disability studies. The subtopics discussed include: the social construction of autism, the development of knowledge on autism, social movements related to autism, autism across cultures and lastly, causes of the increasing prevalence of autism.

Understanding the promises and premises of online health platforms

This article investigates the claims and complexities involved in the platform-based economics of health and fitness apps. We examine a double-edged logic inscribed in these platforms, promising to offer personal solutions to medical problems while also contributing to the public good. On the one hand, online platforms serve as personalized data-driven services to their customers. On the other hand, they allegedly serve public interests, such as medical research or health education. In doing so, many apps employ a diffuse discourse, hinging on terms like “sharing,” “open,” and “reuse” when they talk about data extraction and distribution. The analytical approach we adopt in this article is situated at the nexus of science and technology studies, political economy, and the sociology of health and illness. The analysis concentrates on two aspects: datafication (the use and reuse of data) and commodification (a platform’s deployment of governance and business models). We apply these analytical categories to three specific platforms: 23andMe, PatientsLikeMe, and Parkinson mPower. The last section will connect these individual examples to the wider implications of health apps’ data flows, governance policies, and business models. Regulatory bodies commonly focus on the (medical) safety and security of apps, but pay scarce attention to health apps’ techno-economic governance. Who owns user-generated health data and who gets to benefit? We argue that it is important to reflect on the societal implications of health data markets. Governments have the duty to provide conceptual clarity in the grand narrative of transforming health care and health research.

Editorial: Childbirth and Reproduction

Editorial: Childbirth and Reproduction

Unsafe Abortion and Women's Health: Change and Liberalization

Unsafe abortion remains one of the most neglected sexual and reproductive health problems according to the World Health Organisation. In recent years it has been estimated that nearly 44 million abortions occur annually leading to around 47,000 deaths. At this rate a woman will die of an unsafe abortion every 11 minutes. Bringing together a wealth of information from around the world, this book argues that the time has come for a great change in legislation, advocating a shift towards the legalization of abortion to improve the health of women in poorer countries. With attention to circumstances in each of the major continental regions, an outline of the global situation is provided to reveal the major trends in the provision and procurement of abortion, as well their effects. Presenting data drawn from over a hundred countries covering over ninety per cent of the world’s population, based on published statistical information, changes to legal frameworks, court cases and the accounts of local commentators and activists, Unsafe Abortion and Women's Health will be of interest to scholars and students of the sociology of medicine, gender and reproductive health, social and health policy and feminist studies.

Murphy, J.Illness or Deviance? Drug Courts, Drug Treatment, and the Ambiguity of Addiction. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 2015. 219 pp $94.50 (cloth) $26.95 (paper) $26.95 (ebk) ISBN 978‐1‐4399‐1022‐1

Murphy, J.Illness or Deviance? Drug Courts, Drug Treatment, and the Ambiguity of Addiction. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 2015. 219 pp $94.50 (cloth) $26.95 (paper) $26.95 (ebk) ISBN 978‐1‐4399‐1022‐1

Embodying health identities: A study of young people with asthma

The embodiment of health identities is a growing area of interest. Questions posed in this literature include: how important is the body in our understandings/experiences of health, how are everyday definitions of health and self embodied despite chronic illness, and how do social relations influence these interpretations? Mindful of such questions, this paper draws on a qualitative study of mild to moderate asthma among young people in Ireland. In-depth interviews were undertaken with 31 respondents aged between 5 and 17, including boys (n = 15) and girls (n = 16) from different class and ethnic backgrounds. Core themes included: the importance of play, physical activity and sport; diet/nutrition; and physical appearance. Asthma sometimes presented challenges in relation to specific domains, notably strenuous physical activity, though in many other respects its potential impact was discursively minimised. Attentive to various modalities of the lived body, we illustrate how health identities are negotiated among young people diagnosed with a chronic illness. Connections are also made with the sociology of childhood and (ill) health, which views young people as active agents.

Nominations to the Editorial Board of the journal Sociology of Health &amp; Illness

Nominations to the Editorial Board of the journal <i>Sociology of Health &amp; Illness</i>

Patients' rights in ethnic cross-section

The perception of health and sickness are culturally determined and, therefore, ethnic and religious socialization forms attitudes toward the medical system. During everyday practice, patients' rights and obligations, which are based on the norms of the major society, confront Roma minority norms. The aim of the authors was to explore the main interferences of patients' rights and obligations during the medical care of the Roma. The authors analyzed the results of medical anthropology, health sociology, and the experience obtained from more than 40 courses about patients' rights. Cultural determinants, effects of the lower socioeconomic status and social-psychological mechanism equally form the situations of healthcare and the observance of patients' rights and obligations. Most of the misunderstandings between healthcare workers and Roma patients stem from the lack of knowledge about cultural differences. Therefore, transcultural approach and Romani studies should be significant part of graduate and postgraduate courses in the field of medical education.

Health social movements and the hybridisation of ‘cause regimes’: an ethnography of a British childbirth organisation

This article reports on an ethnographic study of the UK’s largest health advocacy organisation dedicated to pregnancy, childbirth and parenting, the National Childbirth Trust or NCT. Working from interview data, textual materials and fieldnotes, we articulate three key phases in the NCT’s historically shifting relationships to feminism, medicine, the state and neoliberal capitalism. The concept of folded cause regimes is introduced as we examine how these phases represent the hybridisation of the organisation’s original cause. We argue that for the NCT the resulting multiplicity of cause regimes poses significant challenges, but also future opportunities. The apparent contradictions between cause regimes offer important insights into contemporary debates in the sociology of health and illness and raises critical questions about the hybrid state of health advocacy today. Focussing on cause allows for a deeper understanding of the intense pressures of diversification, marketisation and the professionalisation of dissent faced by third-sector organisations under current social and economic conditions.

The Sociology of Health and Illness: Critical Perspectives, Ninth Edition

The Sociology of Health and Illness: Critical Perspectives, Ninth Edition

ILLNESS IS WORK: Revisiting the concept of illness careers and recognizing the identity work of patients with ME/CFS.

The concept of careers has an extensive history in the sociology of health and illness. Among other things, the notion of a career has been used to describe the changing identities of patients diagnosed with mental illness, to identify distinct stages in the progression of various illnesses, and to recognize the cooperative efforts of hospitalized patients. However, the career concept may be reanalyzed as part of an analytical metaphor that makes salient both the agency of people with illnesses and the social structures in which they are enmeshed. This metaphor, ILLNESS IS WORK, can valorize and aid understanding of the identity work and actions of patients with chronic illnesses, particularly illnesses with a low degree of social recognition and medical prestige such as myalgic encephalopathy and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Racially Associated Disparities in Hospice and Palliative Care Access: Acknowledging the Facts While Addressing the Opportunities to Improve.

Journal of Palliative MedicineVol. 19, No. 2 EditorialsRacially Associated Disparities in Hospice and Palliative Care Access: Acknowledging the Facts While Addressing the Opportunities to ImproveRichard PayneRichard PayneSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:3 Feb 2016https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2015.0475AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail View articleFiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited by“Palliative Care Is the Only Medical Field That I Feel Like I'm Treated As a Person, Not As a Black Person”: A Mixed-Methods Study of Minoritized Patient Experiences with Palliative Care Julia I. Bandini, Lucy B. Schulson, Claude Messan Setodji, Jhacova Williams, Katherine Ast, and Sangeeta C. Ahluwalia16 August 2022 | Journal of Palliative Medicine, Vol. 0, No. 0“Death is as Much Part of Life as Living”: Attitudes and Experiences Preparing for Death from Older Adults with Sickle Cell Disease20 July 2022 | OMEGA - Journal of Death and DyingDoes Culture Matter? Young and Middle-Aged Iranian-American Adults’ Perspectives Regarding End-of-Life Care Planning9 August 2021 | American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®, Vol. 39, No. 5Drivers of racial/ethnic differences in perceived end‐of‐life care quality: More questions than answers28 February 2022 | Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Vol. 70, No. 4Preparedness for Serious Illnesses: Impact of Ethnicity, Mistrust, Perceived Discrimination, and Health Communication3 September 2021 | American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®, Vol. 39, No. 4Health Professionals Palliative Care Education for Older Adults: Overcoming Ageism, Racism, and Gender Bias30 October 2021 | Current Geriatrics Reports, Vol. 10, No. 4Valuing Black lives and the ‘Good Death’ in the United States5 July 2021 | Sociology of Health & Illness, Vol. 43, No. 8Racial Disparities in Utilization of Palliative Care Among Patients Admitted With Advanced Solid Organ Malignancies6 May 2020 | American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®, Vol. 38, No. 6Disparities in Palliative and Hospice Care and Completion of Advance Care Planning and Directives Among Non-Hispanic Blacks: A Scoping Review of Recent Literature8 December 2020 | American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®, Vol. 38, No. 6Spirituality and the Illness Experience: Perspectives of African American Older Adults19 January 2021 | American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®, Vol. 38, No. 6Invited Editorials6 May 2021 | Palliative Medicine, Vol. 35, No. 5Geographic Variation in Knowledge of Palliative Care Among US Adults: Findings From 2018 Health Information National Trends Survey6 August 2020 | American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®, Vol. 38, No. 3A Call to Action to Address Disparities in Palliative Care Access: A Conceptual Framework for Individualizing Care Needs Katie E. Nelson, Rebecca Wright, Marlena Fisher, Binu Koirala, Benjamin Roberts, Danetta H. Sloan, David S. Wu, and Patricia M. Davidson15 January 2021 | Journal of Palliative Medicine, Vol. 24, No. 2Developing and Testing the Feasibility of a Culturally Based Tele-Palliative Care Consult Based on the Cultural Values and Preferences of Southern, Rural African American and White Community Members: A Program by and for the Community Ronit Elk, Linda Emanuel, Joshua Hauser, Marie Bakitas, and Sue Levkoff26 March 2020 | Health Equity, Vol. 4, No. 1Integrative Palliative Care: A New Transformative Field to Alleviate Suffering Delia R. Chiaramonte and Shelley R. Adler18 September 2020 | The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Vol. 26, No. 9Dealing with cultural diversity in palliative care21 August 2020 | BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, Vol. 18Early for EveryoneAdvances in Neonatal Care, Vol. 20, No. 2Promoting advance care planning in African American faith communities: literature review and assessment of church-based programs7 December 2020 | Palliative Care and Social Practice, Vol. 14Apoyo con Cariño (support with caring): RCT protocol to improve palliative care outcomes for Latinos with advanced medical illness10 October 2018 | Research in Nursing & Health, Vol. 41, No. 6Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Palliative Care: A Systematic Scoping Review29 October 2018 | Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, Vol. 99, No. 4Culture and Palliative Care: Preferences, Communication, Meaning, and Mutual Decision MakingJournal of Pain and Symptom Management, Vol. 55, No. 5Quality of Hospice Care at Home Versus in an Assisted Living Facility or Nursing Home10 February 2018 | Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Vol. 66, No. 4 Volume 19Issue 2Feb 2016 InformationCopyright 2016, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.To cite this article:Richard Payne.Racially Associated Disparities in Hospice and Palliative Care Access: Acknowledging the Facts While Addressing the Opportunities to Improve.Journal of Palliative Medicine.Feb 2016.131-133.http://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2015.0475Published in Volume: 19 Issue 2: February 3, 2016PDF download