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Abstract: 

Medical sociology challenges the assumption that illness is primarily biological, showing how social class, race, gender, economic resources, and access to health care can shape both disease and life expectancy. Jennifer Singh traces the field’s development from its postwar focus on patient behavior and medical institutions to contemporary research on structural inequality, medicalization, disability, and health policy. Examples such as persistent racial disparities in autism diagnosis demonstrate how social forces can become health risks. The article argues that improving health requires looking beyond clinical care to the conditions in which people live—including education, employment, housing, transportation, and economic security.

Keywords: Medical Sociology; Health Inequalities; Social Determinants of Health; Health Disparities; Medicalization; Health Policy

Affiliations:  1: Georgia Institute of Technology.