The Social Causes of Health and Disease
4. Edition December 2025
306 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
This masterful guide to the social determinants of health has become a go-to text for understanding the role that social factors play in the experience of health and many diseases. In this updated edition, preeminent medical sociologist William C. Cockerham offers the most compelling case yet that stress, poverty, unhealthy lifestyles, and adverse living and working conditions can all be directly associated with illness.
Looking beyond individual explanations for health and disease, Cockerham marshals evidence and theory for those seeking a clear and authoritative overview of the social causes of health and illness. Of particular note in this revised edition are: updates on the power of social class to determine a person's health and life span; deeper consideration of how the social construction of race matters for a person's physical and mental health; new research on the role of lifestyles as a social determinant of health; and an analysis of the differential impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This engaging introduction to social epidemiology will be indispensable reading for all students and scholars of medical sociology, especially those with the courage to confront the possibility that society really does make people sick.
1. The Social Causation of Health and Disease
2. A Further Look at the Social Determinants of Health
3. Theorizing about Health and Disease
4. Health Lifestyles
5. The Power of Class
6. Class and Health: Explaining the Relationship
7. Age
8. Gender and Sexuality
9. Race and Ethnicity
10. Other Social Determinants of Health: Neighborhood Disadvantage and Social Capital
Concluding Remarks
Stefanie Mollborn, Stockholm University
"Cockerham compellingly demonstrates how social forces remain central to understanding patterns of health and illness, reinforcing the enduring relevance of sociological insight in confronting today's evolving public health challenges."
Bruce Link, University of California, Riverside
"This book offers a clear overview of the foundational social roots of health inequalities and demonstrates the explanatory power of sociological theories. A vital, timely contribution amid ongoing challenges to health equity and public understanding of structural inequality."
Lijun Song, Vanderbilt University