UCL Discovery

Abstract

Introduction: Social Epidemiology has been defined as the branch of epidemiology that studies the social distribution and social determinants of health (Berkman and Kawachi 2000). As all aspects of human life are inextricably bound within the context of social relations, every conceivable epidemiological exposure is related to social factors. In this broad sense, all epidemiology is social epidemiology (Kaufman and Cooper 1999) with perhaps the latter discipline making explicit the analysis of the social determinants of health.The idea that social conditions influence health is not new. Chadwick (Flinn 1965) wrote about the insanitary conditions of the working classes and how overcrowding, damp and filth contributed to their lower life expectancy. Durkheim (1996) wrote about how social norms and conditions affect risks of suicide in the population. Social epidemiology builds and expands on this literature by posing new research questions, utilising new research methods and influencing government policy agenda. The rest of this chapter will discuss each of these three developments in social epidemiology.

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