Social factors, mental illness, and psychiatric care: recent advances from a sociological perspective

The author reviews advances in the sociological perspective on mental health over the past four years. He examines research on such topics as community acceptance of the mentally ill, arrest rates among former psychiatric inpatients, and the effect of social factors on the type of mental health treatment received. Other research areas surveyed include the influence of social factors on service utilization and on life stress and psychological distress, sex differences in psychological problems, and the relationship between organization of service delivery systems and patient outcome.