Joan Busfield – författare

The Oxford Modern Britain series comprises authority introductory books on all aspects of the social structure of modern Britain. Lively and accessible, the books will be the first point of reference for anyone interested in the state of contemporary Britain. They will be invaluable to those taking courses in the social sciences. This volume has been developed for the large number of students studying the sociology of health and health care at an introductory level. It may also be read by nursing, medical students, and post-graduate public health students. Joan Busfield, well known for her expert and original work in the field, examines key issues affecting healthcare in contemporary Britain. These include: concepts and measures of health and illness; patterns of health and illness; changing health care provisions; explanations of health care systems; and a concluding analysis of current problems and prospects.

This book focuses on the complex patterning of mental disorder identified in men and women. The first part of the book examines the gendered landscape of mental disorder, key concepts and approaches, and the way in which gender is embedded in constructs of mental disorder. The second part considers theories of the causes of mental disorder and the extent to which the different causes can account for the gendered landscape of disorder. It concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of the analysis.

This book brings together a collection of essays which look creatively and imaginatively at issues of research methods and methodology in sociology. The diversity of research approaches discussed in this reader should make it an important contribution to research methods teaching for undergraduate and graduate students of sociology.

The dynamics of population change in general and changes in family size and spacing in particular are long-standing issues of intense controversy and concern. So too, are the methods of explanation employed by social scientists in studying these and other social phenomena. Originally published in 1977, this book offered an account of a research programme designed to explain the changes in fertility in post-war England, and it offered a contribution to both debates. First, the authors provide an account of the factors that influenced family size and spacing in the post-war period, rejecting both classical population theory on the Malthusian model and more recent economic theories of fertility. Second, the authors discuss the weaknesses of the survey techniques and the associated methods of inference that formed the basis of their research design, as methods for producing explanations of social phenomena.

Rethinking the Sociology of Mental Health is a collection of original papers introducing new ways of thinking sociologically about the terrain of mental health. There are more general papers about mental health and mental health policy and papers about specific types of mental illness and particular policy issues such as dangerousness.

Mental illness is a highly controversial and contested field, informed by the ideas and research of academics and practitioners working in psychiatry, psychology, pharmacology, sociology, genetics and the neurosciences. This book brings clarity to a complex field, exploring core issues ranging from debates about the way the concept has been developed and expanded over time to controversies over the causes of mental illness. The author evaluates critiques of the concept of mental illness and of the way its expanding boundaries now define a far wider range of mental states, experiences and activities as pathological. Arguing that these boundaries need to be restricted, the author contends that many of the phenomena identified as mental illness are normal reactions to life's difficulties and that, while individuals may need support, it is not appropriate or helpful for such phenomena to be treated as indicative of mental disorder. Other important topics covered include the way mental illness is measured, its distribution across populations and over time, and the different types of care provided for those with identified mental illness.Mental Illness will prove invaluable for intending practitioners in medicine, psychiatry, mental health nursing, social work, and clinical and health psychology, as well as for students in psychology, sociology and the health sciences.

Mental illness is a highly controversial and contested field, informed by the ideas and research of academics and practitioners working in psychiatry, psychology, pharmacology, sociology, genetics and the neurosciences. This book brings clarity to a complex field, exploring core issues ranging from debates about the way the concept has been developed and expanded over time to controversies over the causes of mental illness. The author evaluates critiques of the concept of mental illness and of the way its expanding boundaries now define a far wider range of mental states, experiences and activities as pathological. Arguing that these boundaries need to be restricted, the author contends that many of the phenomena identified as mental illness are normal reactions to life's difficulties and that, while individuals may need support, it is not appropriate or helpful for such phenomena to be treated as indicative of mental disorder. Other important topics covered include the way mental illness is measured, its distribution across populations and over time, and the different types of care provided for those with identified mental illness.Mental Illness will prove invaluable for intending practitioners in medicine, psychiatry, mental health nursing, social work, and clinical and health psychology, as well as for students in psychology, sociology and the health sciences.

Psychiatry regularly comes under attack as a way of caring for and controlling the mentally ill. Originally published in 1986, this title explores the history and theory of psychiatry to illuminate current practice at the time, and shows why mental health services had developed in particular ways. The book was invaluable for all those who needed to understand the problems and processes behind current psychiatric practice at the time – sociologists and psychologists, psychiatrists and doctors, social workers, and health service planners and administrators – and will still be of historical interest today.