This book provides a distinctive sociological inquiry into the perspectives and social issues surrounding the use of alternative therapies. Dr Low presents the experiences of twenty-one Canadians who use alternative approaches to health care. Her study foregrounds the lay perspective by using a symbolic interactionist approach, which emphasises individuals' own understanding of reality as a basis for their actions. Dr Low analyses how and why the participants in the study came to use alternative therapies; the ideologies informing the models of health and healing they espouse; the impact...

When the University of Chicago was founded in 1892 it established the first sociology department in the United States. The department grew rapidly in reputation and influence and by the 1920s graduates of its program were heading newly formed sociology programs across the country and determining the direction of the discipline and its future research. Their way of thinking about social relations revolutionized the social sciences by emphasizing an empirical approach to research, instead of the more philosophical "armchair" perspective that previously prevailed in American sociology. The...

When the University of Chicago was founded in 1892 it established the first sociology department in the United States. The department grew rapidly in reputation and influence and by the 1920s graduates of its program were heading newly formed sociology programs across the country and determining the direction of the discipline and its future research. Their way of thinking about social relations revolutionized the social sciences by emphasizing an empirical approach to research, instead of the more philosophical "armchair" perspective that previously prevailed in American sociology. The...

Sociology of the Body brings together forty-two classic and contemporary essays exploring the multitude of ways in which human bodies shape and are shaped by society. Employing an overarching intersectional approach, Claudia Malacrida and Jacqueline Low draw insightful connections among the diverse readings, revealing how different social constructs and relationships combine to influence how bodies are used, represented, understood, and managed. With an array of new readings and added coverage of the latest research and perspectives throughout, the second edition offers a thorough,...