This book offers the first ever critical history of dementia studies.Focusing on the emergence of dementia studies as a discrete area of academic interest in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, it draws on critical theory to interrogate the very notion of dementia studies as an entity, shedding light on the affinities and contradictions that characterise the field. Drawing together a collection of internationally renowned experts in a variety of fields, including people with de...

This book explores how dementia studies relates to dementia’s growing public profile and corresponding research economy.The book argues that a neuropsychiatric biopolitics of dementia positions dementia as a syndrome of cognitive decline, caused by discrete brain diseases, distinct from ageing, widely misunderstood by the public, that will one day be overcome through technoscience. This biopolitics generates dementia’s public profile and is implicated in several problems, including...

A wide-ranging collection of both classic writings and more recent articles in the sociology of health and illness, this reader is organized into the following sections:* health beliefs and knowledge* inequalities and patterning of health and illness* professional and patient interaction* chronic illness and disability* evaluation and politics in health care.With a thorough introduction which sets the scene for the field as a whole, and section i...

The Handbook of the Sociology of Medical Education provides a contemporary introduction to this classic area of sociology by examining the social origin and implications of the epistemological, organizational and demographic challenges facing medical education in the twenty-first century.Beginning with reflections on the historical and theoretical foundations of the sociology of medical education, the collection then focuses on current issues affecting medical students, th...

This book is the first textbook dedicated to critically examining gender and sex in study designs, methods, and analysis in health research. In order to produce ethical, accurate, and effective research findings it is vital to integrate both sex (biological characteristics) and gender (socially constructed factors) into any health study. This book draws attention to some of the methodological complexities in this enterprise and offers ways to thoughtfully address these by drawing on empiri...

Exposing ethical dilemmas of neuroscientific research on violence, this book warns against a dystopian future in which behavior is narrowly defined in relation to our biological makeup.Biological explanations for violence have existed for centuries, as has criticism of this kind of deterministic science, haunted by a long history of horrific abuse. Yet, this program has endured because of, and not despite, its notorious legacy. Today's scientists are well beyond th...

This book puts the critical into dementia studies. It makes a timely and novel contribution to the field, offering a thought-provoking critique of current thinking and debate on dementia. Collectively the contributions gathered together in this text make a powerful case for a more politically engaged and critical treatment of dementia and the systems and structures that currently govern and frame it.The book is inter-disciplinary and draws together leading dementia scholars alongsi...

A provocative and timely case for how the science of genetics can help create a more just and equal societyIn recent years, scientists like Kathryn Paige Harden have shown that DNA makes us different, in our personalities and in our health—and in ways that matter for educational and economic success in our current society.In The Genetic Lottery, Harden introduces readers to the latest genetic science, dismantling dangerous ideas about racial superi...

"A wonderful antidote to the gene hysteria that is now so dominant! . . . What is most exciting about this book is the authors' ability to move seamlessly from research on how the brain works, to sociology, history, and philosophy. And that, I believe, is exactly how we need to understand gender--neither nature nor nurture, but a complex interplay." - Dr. Lynda Birke, author of Feminism and the Biological BodyThis work moves beyond the old nature/nurture debate concerning ...

Over the last forty years, the field of disability studies has emerged from the political activism of disabled people. In this challenging review of the field, leading disability academic and activist Tom Shakespeare argues that disability research needs a firmer conceptual and empirical footing.This new edition is updated throughout, reflecting Shakespeare’s most recent thinking, drawing on current research, and responding to controversies surrounding the first edition and the

This key textbook provides a firm grounding in theoretical and practical aspects of the study of sexual health for both undergraduates and post-graduates.

This book provides a sociological analysis of major areas of mental health and illness.