This engaging Research Handbook offers a comprehensive overview of research on social factors and mental health, examining how important it is to consider the social context in which mental health issues arise, and are dealt with in the mental health care system. It illustrates how social factors affect the interactive process of psychiatric diagnosis and how society responds to people who are labelled as mentally ill.

The second edition of A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health provides a comprehensive review of the sociology of mental health. Chapters by leading scholars and researchers present an overview of historical, social and institutional frameworks. Part I examines social factors that shape psychiatric diagnosis and the measurement of mental health and illness, theories that explain the definition and treatment of mental disorders and cultural variability. Part II investigates effects of social context, considering class, gender, race and age, and the critical role played by stress, marriage, work and social support. Part III focuses on the organization, delivery and evaluation of mental health services, including the criminalization of mental illness, the challenges posed by HIV, and the importance of stigma. This is a key research reference source that will be useful to both undergraduates and graduate students studying mental health and illness from any number of disciplines.

This handbook describes ways in which society shapes the mental health of its members, and shapes the lives of those who have been identified as mentally ill. The text explores the social conditions that lead to behaviors defined as mental illness, and the ways in which the concept of mental illness is socially constructed around those behaviors. The book also reviews research that examines socially conditioned responses to mental illness on the part of individuals and institutions, and ways in which these responses affect persons with mental illness. It evaluates where the field has been, identifies its current location and plots a course for the future.

This handbook is currently in development, with individual articles publishing online in advance of print publication. At this time, we cannot add information about unpublished articles in this handbook, however the table of contents will continue to grow as additional articles pass through the review process and are added to the site. Please note that the online publication date for this handbook is the date that the first article in the title was published online.

This state-of-the-art Research Handbook provides a challenging and critical examination of the complex issues surrounding sports in contemporary societies. Featuring contributions from world-leading scholars, it focuses upon the impact of their research, together with significant social issues and controversies in sport.

This title integrates the conceptual, empirical and evidence-based threads of mental health as an area of study, research and practice. It approaches mental health from two perspectives - firstly as a positive state of well-being and secondly as psychological difference or abnormality in its social context.

Service user involvement in mental health research poses specific challenges for both researchers and service users. The book describes the relevant background and principles underlying the concept of service user involvement in mental health research, providing relevant practical advice on how to engage with service users and how to build and maintain research collaboration on a professional level. It highlights common practical problems in service user involvement, based on experience from various countries with different social policies and suggests ways to avoid pitfalls and common difficulties. The book helps researchers decide which level of service user involvement will be adequate for their research activities and what will be feasible in view of the practicalities involved. It is also ideal for service users who are interested in becoming involved in research, providing relevant background information on the possibilities of involvement in professional research.