Teresa L. Scheid is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has published widely on the organization and delivery of mental health services and the impact of legislative reforms to mental health care. She has a history of community engaged scholarship and mental health advocacy. Eric R. Wright is Distinguished University Professor of Sociology and Public Health at Georgia State University and specializes in medical sociology. His research focuses on community-engaged studies examining social responses to mental health, substance use, and sexual health, alongside analyzing public policy initiatives in these domains.

• Foreword Allan V. Horwitz; Preface Teresa L. Scheid and Eric R. Wright; Part I. Theoretical Perspectives on Mental Health and Illness: 1. Sociological approaches to mental illness Peggy A. Thoits; 2. Defining mental disorders Owen Whooley and Bianca Ruiz-Negrón; 3. How should we assess mental health problems? Jason Schnittker; 4. Socioeconomic stratification and mental disorder William W. Eaton and Carles Muntaner; 5. Labeling and stigma as it applies to mental illness Bruce G. Link and Jo C. Phelan; 6. Stigma resistance and mental illness identity: implications for theory and practice Kristen Marcussen; 7. The sociology of suicide Jason Manning; 8. Patterns, pathways, and correlates of care: classic and contemporary theories of utilization and findings Bernice A. Pescosolido and Elizabeth M. Anderson; Part II. The Social Context of Mental Health and Illness: 9. Major findings and new directions in the study of social support and mental health Robyn Lewis Brown, Christy L. Erving and Maria Rockett; 10. Gender and the pathways to mental health and illness Sarah Rosenfield, Dena T. Smith and Meleah Fekete; 11. Black American women and mental well-being: the intersection of race, gender, and socioeconomic status Verna M. Keith and Diane R. Brown; 12. Sexual and gender minority mental health Gabe H. Miller; 13. Sociology and public health applied to preventing adolescent suicidal behavior Leigh Willis and Alexander Crosby; 14. Mental health and the work-family interface Marisa Young and Ruth Repchuck; 15. Accessed status and mental well-being in cross-cultural context: competing theories Lijun Song and Zhe Zhang; Part III. Mental Health Systems and Policy: 16. Mental health care in the community Kerry Dobransky; 17. Mental illness and the criminal justice system Virginia Aldige' Hiday and Brad Ray; 18. Homelessness and mental illness Fred E. Markowitz; 19. Immigration, culture and mental health Andrea G. Perez Poritillo, Juliann Li Verdugo and David T. Takeuchi; 20. Mental health and the trauma of terrorism and extreme violence Robert J. Johnson, Olivia Yoh, Isabelle Beulaygue and Stevan E. Hobfoll; 21. Stigma in global context: cultural myths and realities that shape research and social change Emily A. Ekl and Bernice A. Pescosolido; Epilogue: critical reflection and future directions for sociological research Eric R. Wright and Teresa L. Scheid.