Preface to the Second Edition -- Acknowledgements -- Chapter 1. The Sociology of Mental Health: Surveying the Field; Carol S. Aneshensel -- I. CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF MENTAL HEALTH AND ILLNESS -- Chapter 2. Listening to Voices: Patient Experience and the Meanings of Mental Illness; David A. Karp and Lara B. Birk -- Chapter 3. Mental Illness as Psychiatric Disorder; Martha L. Bruce amd Patrick J. Raue -- Chapter 4. The Medicalization of Mental Disorder; Peter Conrad and Caitlin Slodden.- Chapter 5. Public Beliefs about Mental Illness; Jason Schittker.- Chapter 6. The Sociological Study of Mental Illness:A Critique and Synthesis of Four Perspectives; Allan V. Horwitz.-II. METHODOLOGY -- Chapter 7. Issues in Mental Health Assessment; Galan E. Switzer, Mary Amanda Dew and Evelyn J. Bromet -- Chapter 8. Analyzing Associations between Mental Health and Social Circumstances; John Mirowsky -- III. THE SOCIAL DISTRIBUTION OF MENTAL HEALTH AND ILLNESS -- Chapter 9.  Overview of Descriptive Epidemiology of Mental Disorders; Ronald C. Kessler.- Chapter 10. Age, Aging and Mental Health; Kenneth F. Ferraro and Lindsay A. Rinaldo -- Chapter11. Social Stratification, Social Closure and Social Class as Determinants of Mental Health Disparities; Charles Muntaner, Edwin Ng, Christophe Vanroelen, Sharon Christ, and William W. Eaton -- Chapter 12. Social Stratification and Inequality; Jane D. McLeod -- Chapter 13. Race, Nativity, and Cultural Influences in the Sociology of Mental Health; Tony N. Brown, Katharine M. Donato, Mary Therese Laske, and Ebony M. Duncan -- Chapter 14. Gender and Mental Health; Sarah Rosenfield and Dawne Mouzon -- IV. SOCIAL ANTECEDENTS -- Chapter15. Social Stress in the 21st Century; Blair Wheaton, Shirin Montazer, Marisa Young, and Catherine Stuart -- Chapter 16. Current Issues and Future Directions in Research into the Stress Process; Leonard I. Pearlin and Alex Bierman -- Chapter 17. Social Relations, Social Integration, and social Suppoort; J. Blake Turner -- Chapter 18. Self, Identity, Stress and Mental Health; Peggy A. Thoits -- Chapter 19. The Sense of Personal Control: Social Structural Causes and Emotional Consequences; Catherine E. Ross and John Mirowsky -- V. INSTITUTIONAL ANTECEDENTS -- Chapter 20. Family Status and Mental Health: Recent Advances and Future Directions; Debra Umberstone, Mieke Beth Thomeer, and Kristi Williams -- Chapter 21. The Sociology of Work and Well-Being; Mark Tausig -- Chapter 22. Religion and Mental Health; Scott, Schieman, Alex Bierman, and Christopher G. Ellison -- Chapter 23. Neighborhood Context and Mental Health; Terrence D. Hill and David Maimon -- VI. SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES -- Chapter 24. The Social Dynamics of Responding to Mental Health Problems: Past, Present and Future Challenges to Understanding Individuals' Use of Services; Bernice A. Pescosolido, Carol A. Boyer and Tait R. Medina -- Chapter 25. Labeling and Stigma; Bruce G. Link and Jo C. Phelan -- Chapter 26. The Impact of Mental Illness on the Family; William R. Avison and Jinette Comeau -- Chapter 27. Mental Health and the Law; Virginia Aldigé Hiday and Heathcote W. Wales -- VII. SOCIAL CONTINUITIES -- Chapter 28. Life Course Perspectives on Mental Health; Linda K. George -- Chapter 29. Mental Illness as a Career: Sociological Perspectives; Carol S. Aneshensel.-.

This second edition of the Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health features theory-driven reviews of recent research with a comprehensive approach to the investigation of the ways in which society shapes the mental health of its members and the lives of those who have been diagnosed as having a mental illness The award-winning Handbook is distinctive in its focus on how the organization and functioning of society influences the occurrence of mental disorder and its consequences. A core issue that runs throughout the text concerns the differential distribution of mental illness across various social strata, defined by status characteristics such as gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and age. The contributions to this volume shed light on the social, cultural, and economic factors that explain why some social groups have an elevated risk of disorder. They also address the social repercussions of mental disorder for  individuals, including stigmatization within the larger society, and for their families and social networks. The second edition of this seminal volume includes substantial updates to previous chapters, as well as seven new chapters on: -The Individual’s Experience of Mental Illness.--The Medicalization of Mental Illness.---Age, Aging, and Mental Health.- -Religion and Mental Health.- -Neighborhoods and Mental Health.- -Mental Health and the Law—and Public Beliefs about Mental Illness.