Professional Documents
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51 4 Medical Sociology A Brief Review
51 4 Medical Sociology A Brief Review
AUGUST B. HOLLINGSHEAD
M e d ic a l S o c io lo g y : A S e le c tiv e V ie w
S o c io lo g y o f M e d ic in e
the costs of treatment, such as Blue Cross; and the impact of sick
ness on the patient and the family.
Coe explicitly states that his book is focused on an examina
tion of medicine as a system of behavior. This is a good introduc
tory text. It includes several topics, such as folk medicine and the
role of organized medicine in public health, which are ignored or
inadequately treated in the other volumes under review. Coe’s
textbook is more inclusive and contains more details than Mechan
ic’s. In my experience, students prefer Coe’s book to Mechanic’s.
H a n d b o o k o f M e d ic a l S o c io lo g y
P a tie n ts , P h y s ic ia n s , a n d I lln e s s
S o c i o l o g y in M e d i c i n e
The first edition of this textbook (Susser and Watson, 1971) was
published in 1962. The authors, a physician and a sociologist,
M M F Q / Health and Society / F a ll 1 9 7 3 539
as fo r m u la te d b y T a lc o tt P a r so n s, n e e d to be te ste d in non-
W estern u n d e r d e v e lo p e d so c ie tie s .
In fu tu re y e a r s, m e d ic a l s o c io lo g y w ill p r o b a b ly find th e
answ ers to th e se q u e stio n s a n d w ill r a ise m a n y n e w q u e stio n s.
W e e x p e c t th a t th e g r o w th o f th e fie ld w ill c o n tin u e a n d , as it
adapts to th e issu e s an d c h a lle n g e s o f th e tim e s, it w ill m e e t th e
needs o f so c ie ty .
A u gu st B . H o llin g s h e a d
W illiam G rah am S u m n er P r o fe sso r
Y ale U n iv e r sity , 1 9 6 5 Y a le S ta tio n
N ew H a v en , C o n n e c tic u t 0 6 5 2 0
References
American Sociological A ssociation
1965 Guide to Graduate Departments of Sociology. Washington, D.C.:
American Sociological Association.
1972-73 Guide to Graduate Departments of Sociology. Washington,
D.C.: American Sociological Association.
Blackwell, Elizabeth
1902 Essays in Medical Sociology. London: Ernest Bell.
Coe, Rodney M.
1970 Sociology of Medicine. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Goffman, Erving
1956 The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. University of Edin
burgh, Social Sciences Research Centre, Monograph No. 2 .
Hawkins, N orm an G.
1958 Medical Sociology: Theory, Scope, and Method. Springfield,
111.: C. C. Thomas.
542 F a ll 1 9 7 3 / Health and Society / M M F Q
Jaco, E. G artley
1972 Patients, Physicians, and Illness. 2nd ed. New York: The Free
Press.
R osen, G eorge
1972 “The evolution of social medicine.” P. 50 in Freeman, H. S.,
et al. (eds.), Handbook of Medical Sociology. 2nd ed. New
York: Prentice-Hall.
Strauss, R obert
1957 ‘T he nature and status of medical sociology.” American Soci
ological Review 22: 200-204.
V irch ow , R u d olf
1851 “Die Epidemien von 1848, Essen in der Jahressitzung der
Gesellschaft fur wissenschaftliche Medzin am 27 (November
1848).” Archiv. fur pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie
und fur klinische Medicin 3: 3-12.
W hite, K err L.
1973 “Life and death and medicine.” Scientific American 229: 25.
I N D E X to V o lu m e 51 (1973)