SOC 308 - Sociology of Mental Health

Credits: (3)
The sociology of mental health is a well-established research and teaching area that has occupied the attention of scholars, advocates, educators, and others for many decades. While mental health, like so many other issues, is typically considered an individual or personal matter (which it certainly is), sociologists rightly point to the cultural, systemic, and structural components of mental health. Put simply, mental health is a social matter as much as it is a personal or private matter. In this course, we will examine issues like stigma, demographic group differences in rates of mental illness, and the social construction of mental health and mental illness.