SOC412H1

Medicalization of Deviance

This course examines the sociological implications associated with the growing dominance of psychiatry over designating and managing the margins of ‘normality’ and ‘deviance.’ It covers the evolution of the DSM and rise of deinstitutionalization, the importance of stigma and symbolic interactionist understandings of psychiatric diagnoses, and the methods of social control used to mitigate risk and reduce social deviance within the psychiatric and criminal justice systems. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the social implications of mental health labels. Restricted to 4th-year sociology majors and specialists.