Foreword David Mechanic; Part I. Theoretical Perspectives on Mental Health and Illness Teresa L. Scheid and Eric R. Wright: 1. An overview of sociological perspectives on the definitions, causes, and responses to mental health and illness Allan V. Horwitz; 2. The measurement of mental disorder Jerome C. Wakefield and Mark F. Schmitz; 3. Defining mental disorders: sociological investigations into the classification of mental disorders Owen Whooley; 4. The dual continua model: the foundation of the sociology of mental health and mental illness Corey L. M. Keyes; 5. What outcomes should the study of mental health try to explain? Jason Schnittker; 6. Biological approaches to psychiatric disorders: a sociological approach Sharon Schwartz and Cheryl Corcoran; 7. Sociological approaches to mental illness Peggy Thoits; 8. Mental health in cross-cultural context Harriet P. Lefley; Part II. The Social Context of Mental Health and Illness Teresa L. Scheid and Eric R. Wright: 9. Studying stress in the twenty-first century: stress concepts and research Blair Wheaton and Shirin Montazer; 10. Understanding the connection between social support and mental health Robyn Lewis Brown and Gabriele Ciciurkaite; 11. Work and unemployment as stressors Laura Limonic and Mary Clare Lennon; 12. Socioeconomic stratification and mental disorder William W. Eaton and Carles Muntaner; 13. Gender and mental health Sara Rosenfield, Dena Smith and Kelly Kato; 14. Race and mental health David R. Williams, Manuela Costa (Wiedemeier) and Jacinta P. Leavell; 15. African American women and mental well-being: the triangulation of race, gender, and socioeconomic status Verna M. Keith and Diane R. Brown; 16. Marital status and mental health Kristi Williams, Adrianne Frech and Daniel L. Carlson; 17. Well-being across the life course John Mirowsky and Catherine Ross; 18. Mental health and terrorism Robert J. Johnson, Stevan E. Hobfoll and Isabelle Beulaygue; Part III. Mental Health Systems and Policy Teresa L. Scheid and Eric R. Wright: 19. Labeling and stigma Bruce G. Link and Jo Phelan; 20. The context and dynamic social processes underlying mental health treatment: classic and contemporary approaches to understanding individuals' responses to illness in light of the Affordable Care Act Bernice A. Pescosolido and Carol A. Boyer; 21. Community mental health care organizations Kerry Dobransky; 22. Integrating service delivery systems for persons with severe mental illness Gary S. Cuddeback and Joseph P. Morrissey; 23. Mental illness and the criminal justice system Virginia Aldigé Hiday and Bradley Ray; 24. Cultural diversity and mental health treatment Bonki Woo, Emily Walton and David T. Takeuchi; 25. Preventing adolescent suicidal behavior: integrating sociology and public health Alexander Crosby and Leigh A. Willis; 26. The mental health consumers/survivors movement in the US Athena McLean; 27. The HIV-mental health challenge James Walkup and Stephen Crystal; 28. Mental health policy in the United States: critical reflection and future directions for sociological research Dennis P. Watson, Erin L. Adams and Joanna R. Jackson; Epilogue: the three solitudes of the sociology of mental health William Avison.