Sociology of Mental Disorder

The twelfth edition of the Sociology of Mental Disorder presents the major issues and research findings on the influence of race, social class, gender, and age on the incidence and prevalence of mental disorders. The text also examines the institutions that help those with mental disorders, mental health law, and public policy.

Many important updates are new to this edition:

• The mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are examined.
• Aging and mental health is discussed in more detail.
• Updated review of gender differences in mental disorder.
• A revised and more in-depth discussion of mental health and race.
• Problems in the community care of the mentally ill are covered.
• Updates of research and citations throughout.

Blending foundational concepts and sociological perspectives on mental health issues with newer studies and accounts in an accessible and authoritative survey of the field, the new edition of Sociology of Mental Disorder remains an essential text and an invaluable resource for students and scholars.

William C. Cockerham is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Chair Emeritus at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Research Professor, Department of Sociology, at the University of Maryland, College Park. He previously held a joint appointment in sociology and psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is past President of the Research Committee on Health Sociology of the International Sociological Association and formerly served on the editorial boards of the American Sociological Review, the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Society and Mental Health, Social Currents, and other journals. Dr. Cockerham has published numerous peer-reviewed papers in academic journals and is author or editor of 20 books. His most recent books from Routledge include Sociological Theories of Health and Illness (2021), Medical Sociology, 15th edition (2021), and The COVID-19 Reader: The Science and What It Says About the Social (2021).