Our Hard Days’ Night
Sleep on this: sleep is a highly social endeavor, posing a puzzle and a prism through which to view life in the wired era. Read More
health
Social Control of Mothers
Drinking during pregnancy is not a good predictor of fetal alcohol disorders. Yet, public health campaigns urge women to stay alcohol-free before, during, and after pregnancy, and burden mothers with the responsibility of delivering a healthy child. Read More
50 Years of Medical Sociology
A look at contributions of medical sociologists in the last half century reveals the importance of sociological thought for understanding key issues in today’s health discussions. Read More
Beyond Mendel’s Ghost
Working together, geneticists and sociologists are showing that there is a dynamic, complex relationship between genes and social behavior. Read More
Labeled
A personal essay about how deviant labels, such as “mentally ill,” create stigma, negatively affecting how people are treated and how they view themselves. Read More
Public Opinion and Health Care
Health care debates preoccupied the American political scene during the first year of Obama's presidency. Data from November 2008 anticipates what proved to be many fault lines on the road to reform. Read More
Pills and the Pursuit of Normalcy
Whether happiness or height, what constitutes normal has been increasingly defined in medical terms. Two books, Happy Pills in America and Normal At Any Cost, trace how pills such as Prozac and human growth hormone have reshaped our health and cultural definitions of pathology. Read More
Happiness and the Social Sciences
Happiness has long been a popular subject but increasingly social scientists are weighing in. The two books reviewed here---Happiness: A Revolution in Economics and The Psychology of Happiness: A Good Human Life ---broaden our collective understanding of this sought-after state of being. Read More
The Scarcity Fallacy
There's more to world hunger than lack of food. More pressing problems include inequality, conflict, and corruption that limit access to affordable food. The authors describe the basicas of a sociological approach to hunger and more effective food policies. Read More
Breastfeed At Your Own Risk
The cultural ideal that "breast is best" has fueled an increase in the breastfeeding rate among mothers in the U.S. since the 1970s. Many mothers, especially those who are white and middle-class, experience pressure to be "good mothers," including the imperative to breastfeed their children. Despite this, breastfeeding rates vary by race and class, and the scientific evidence for breastfeeding's superiority is murky. This article questions whether recommendations and policies that encourage breastfeeding lead to undue guilt and stress for mothers in the U.S. Read More
