Includes bibliographical references (p. 585-658) and indexes.

Part I. Approaches to Mental Health and Illness: Conflicting Definitions and Emphases: 1. The nature of mental health and illness David Mechanic; 2. Measuring Mental Illness Jerome C. Wakefield; 3. The prevalence of mental illness Ronald C. Kessler and Sanyang Zhao; 4. Biological approaches to psychiatric disorders Sharon Schwartz; 5. Psychological approaches to mental illness Christopher Peterson; 6. Sociological approaches to mental illness Peggy A. Thoits; 7. The labeling theory of mental disorder (I): the role of social contingencies in the application of psychiatric labels Jo C. Phelan and Bruce C. Link; Part II. The Social Context of Mental Health and Illness; 8. Stress and mental health: a conceptual overview Leonard Pearlin; 9. The Nature of Stressors Blair Wheaton; 10. Social Support and Coping Jay Turner; 11. Outcomes of the stress process Carol S. Aneshensel; 12. Family structure and processes William R. Avison; 13. Social networks and mental health Nan Lin and M. Kirsten Peek; 14. Socioeconomic stratification and mental disorder William W. Eaton and Carles Muntaner; 15. Work and unemployment as stressors Mary Clare Lennon; 16. Race and mental health: emerging patterns and promising approaches David R. Williams and Michelle Harris-Reid; 17. Social stressors in childhood and adolescence Elizabeth G. Menaghan and Frank L. Mott; 18. Well-being across the life course John Mirowsky and Catherine E. Ross; 19. Gender and mental health: do women have more psychopathology, men more, or both the same (and why) David A. Rochefort; 20. The labeling theory of mental disorder (II): The consequences of labeling Bruce C. Link and Jo C. Phelan; Part III. Mental Health Systems and Policy: 21. How do people come to use mental health services? Current knowledge and changing perspectives Bernice A. Pescosolido and Carol A. Boyer; 22. Contemporary mental health systems and managed care Ronald W. Manderscheid, Marilyn J. Henderson, Michael J. Witkin and Joanne E. Atay; 23. Institutional care and its consequences for the delivery of mental health services Mark Schlesinger and Bradford Gray; 24. Integrating service delivery systems for persons with a severe mental illness Joseph P. Morrissey; 25. Mental health policymaking in the intergovernmental system David A. Rochefort; 26. Psychiatric rehabilitation services and outcomes: an overview Susan A. Pickett, Judith A. Cook and Lisa Razzano; 27. An introduction to the mental health consumer movement Caroline L. Kaufmann; 28. Mental illness and the criminal justice system Virginia Aldige Hiday; 29. The HIV-mental health challenge Stephen Crystal and Lori R. Schlosser; 30. Cultural diversity and mental health treatment David T. Takeuchi, Edwina Uehara and Gloria Maramba; 31. Mental health systems in cross-cultural context Harriet P. Lefley; References.