No one textbook covers of the topics within the course. Below are some suggested textbooks, which include most of the themes we will be working on throughout the year. You should not feel restricted in your readings by the lists that follow.
Mental Illness by
Mental illness is a highly controversial and contested field, informed by the ideas and research of academics and practitioners working in psychiatry, psychology, pharmacology, sociology, genetics and the neurosciences. This book brings clarity to a complex field, exploring core issues ranging from debates about the way the concept has been developed and expanded over time to controversies over the causes of mental illness. The author evaluates critiques of the concept of mental illness and of the way its expanding boundaries now define a far wider range of mental states, experiences and activities as pathological. Arguing that these boundaries need to be restricted, the author contends that many of the phenomena identified as mental illness are normal reactions to life's difficulties and that, while individuals may need support, it is not appropriate or helpful for such phenomena to be treated as indicative of mental disorder. Other important topics covered include the way mental illness is measured, its distribution across populations and over time, and the different types of care provided for those with identified mental illness. Mental Illness will prove invaluable for intending practitioners in medicine, psychiatry, mental health nursing, social work, and clinical and health psychology, as well as for students in psychology, sociology and the health sciences.
A Sociology of Mental Health and Illness by
"A Sociology of Mental Health and Illness" is an intellectual 'tour de force'. Rogers and Pilgrim cogently dismantle professional pretensions towards mastery of mental illness, and in their place construct compelling arguments for the need to focus on the social, economic and political determinants of mental well-being." Professor Chris Dowrick, University of Liverpool, UK" How do we understand mental health problems and the concept of happiness in their social context? How have sociologists theorized and researched mental health and illness? A former BMA Medical Book of the Year award winner, this book provides a sociological analysis of major areas of mental health and illness and helps students to develop a critical approach to the subject. This new edition is fully updated, taking into consideration changes in the areas of sociology, social psychiatry and policy analysis and changes to policy and therapeutic law. A new chapter entitled 'public mental health and the pursuit of happiness', reflects the recent focus on the creation of mentally healthy societies. "A Sociology of Mental Health and Illness 4/e" is a key teaching and learning resource for undergraduates and postgraduates studying a range of medical sociology and health-related courses, as well as trainee mental health workers in the fields of social work, nursing, clinical psychology and psychiatry.
No specific websites have been recommended for this module.
Managing madness; changing ideas and practice. by 
Madness and civilization; a history of insanity in the age of reason by Reserve Asylums; essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates. by 
Mental Health Policy and Practice by
The revised edition of Mental Health Policy and Practice remains a comprehensive text containing an overview of recent UK mental health policy, ideas from a wide spectrum of mental health services and examples of successful evidence-based practice. As part of the Interagency Working series it promotes interdisciplinary collaboration.
Being Mentally Ill by
In incorporating social process into a model of the dynamics of mental disorders, this text questions the individualistic model favoured in current psychiatric and psychoanalytic theory. While the conventional psychiatric viewpoint seeks the causes of mental illness, Scheff views "the symptoms of mental illness" as the violation of residual rules - social norms so taken for granted that they are not explicitly verbalized. The sociological theory developed by Scheff to account for such behaviour provides a framework for studies reported in subsequent chapters. Two key assumptions emerge: first, that most chronic mental illness is in part a social role; and second, that societal reaction may in part determine entry into that role. Throughout, the sociological model of mental illness is compared and contrasted with more conventional medical and psychological models in an attempt to delineate significant problems for further analysis and research. This third edition has been revised and expanded to encompass the controversy prompted by the first edition, and also to re-evaluate developments in the field. New to this edition are discussions of the use of psychoactive drugs in the treatment of mental illness, changing mental health laws, new social science and psychiatric studies, and the controversy surrounding the labelling theory of mental illness itself.
Myth of Mental Illness by
A classic work that has revolutionized thinking throughout the Western world about the nature of the psychiatric profession and the moral implications of its practices. "Bold and often brilliant."--Science
