Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the 1976 British Sociological Association Conference, organised around the theme of health and illness. It deals with the production and maintenance of medical knowledge and medical policy. The book focuses on particularly upon themes of occupational control and the relationships which exist between the various groups which interact in the context. It offers contemporary analyses of the medical profession. The book studies the division of labour within the British medical profession, the first featuring the work of the general practitioner. It deals with ideological changes which have already resulted in considerable professional upheaval. The book takes its central theme the social division of labour within the field of health and illness. It presents a particular type of organisation of medical care at a particular period of history.