Madness and Society: The Sociology of Mental Health and Illness

Catalog description

This course will explore the role that social and cultural factors play in the occurrence, diagnosis, experience, and treatment of mental illness. It will compare sociological perspectives to those of biology and psychology. The course will examine the intersection of mental health systems with other systems, such as the broader health care and the criminal justice systems. Finally, it will critically analyze psychiatry, policy, and popular culture depictions of the mentally ill.