Early Sociology of Health and Illness

Providing access to historical sources on the development of the sociology of medicine, this set includes documents and articles from the mid-nineteenth century through to the early twentieth. The period was one of transition - from a belief in the religious and natural causes of disease, to first a social then a scientific explanation. The set also charts the historical development of the sociology of health: the concept of health, its extension to workers, women and children, and its consolidation as a key social feature of nineteenth century capitalist societies.