ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the belated recognition and charts the various ways in which sociocultural analyses have and can enhance the understanding of issues related to concussion. It focuses on five areas of brain injury-related research: athlete experience; medical practice; medical knowledge; public health; and cultural representations. The chapter provides an overview of how concussion must be conceived of as impacting across a range of social domains—from cultural representations to public health, medical knowledge, medical practice, and athlete experience. It identifies how the peculiar social relations which form sports cultures shape the attitudes and behaviors of both the athletes and clinicians who negotiate the identification and management of concussion injuries. The chapter examines how peculiar social relations influence the construction and dissemination of medical knowledge and how an awareness of sociocultural factors can enhance psychologist design and delivery of public health messages designed to reduce the incidence and health costs of this particular sports injury.