Sociology of Medicine

The aim of this course is to give conceptual framework and some analytic tools to examine the context of health, illness and well-being at the micro, meso and macro levels. The focus of our attention will be on health inequalities: how they are produced, their relationships with socioeconomic status, and how to minimize their effects. Special attention will be given to the phenomenon of medicalization, to the ways in which a diagnosis is socially constructed, issues of social justice and equity, and the implications of biotechnological innovation and the rise of health and wellness-oriented culture.