Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Medical sociology and sociological theory / William C. Cockerham and Graham Scambler -- Health and culture / Stella Quah -- The sociology of the body / Sarah Nettleton -- Health and social stratification / Eero Lahelma -- Health status and gender / Ellen Annandale -- Health, ethnicity, and race / Hannah Bradby and James Y. Nazroo -- Health and religion / Ellen L. Idler -- Health lifestyles : bringing structure back / William C. Cockerham -- Social capital and health / Lijun Song, Joonmo Son, and Nan Lin -- Medicalization, social control, and the relief of suffering / Joseph E. Davis -- Stress / William R. Avison and Stephanie S. Thomas -- Stress in the workplace / Johannes Siegrist -- Emerging infectious diseases, urbanization, and globalization in the time of global warming / George J. Armelagos and Kristin N. Harper -- Chronic illness / Kathy Charmaz and Dana Rosenfeld -- Health professions and occupations / Elianne Riska -- Challenges to the doctor-patient relationship in the twenty-first century / Jennifer Vanderminden and Sharyn J. Potter -- Complementary and alternative medicine : processes of legitimation, professionalization, and cooption / Hans A. Baer -- The American health care system : beginning the twenty-first century with high risk, major challenges, and great opportunities / Bernice A. Pescosolido and Carol A. Boyer -- The British health care system / Michael Bury -- The convergence and divergence of modern health care systems / Fred Stevens -- Social policies and health inequalities / Amélie Quesnel-Vallée and Tania Jenkins -- A sociological gaze on bioethics / Krisina Orfali and Raymond G. DeVries -- Medical sociology and genetics / Paul A. Martin and Robert Dingwall -- New developments in neuroscience and medical sociology / Simon J. Williams.

"The New Companion to Medical Sociology offers insights into the substantive topics of central interest in medical and health sociology. Coverage ranges from standard subjects such as theory, health and social class, racial and gender stratification, stress and health professions, to relatively new and engaging topics like bioethics, genetics and society, newly emerging infectious diseases, and links to neuroscience."--BOOK JACKET.