Wilkinson, R.G. (1996). Unhealthy societies: The afflictions
of inequality.  Routledge: New York and London. ISBN
0-415-09235-3 (pbk).

This book is especially timely.  It is required reading for
health promoters and/or policy makers who wish to identify
and document the major determinants of health in developed
nations.

It will be especially exciting for those who wish to counter
neo-conservative policy agendas.  It provides concrete,
compelling, and vivid examples of how increased economic
inequality nurtures the disintegrating of well functioning
societies.

From Chapter 1 (as far as I have gotten):

"Health is powerfully affected by social position and by the
scale of social and economic differences among the
population."

" In the developed world, it is not the richest countries
which have the best health but the most egalitarian."

"...the main explanations of health inequalities have to be
found in the effects of the different social and economic
circumstances in whcih people live."

Examples are provided from analyses of data from numerous
nations, including detailed analyses of US state by state
incidences of crime and violence as it is correlated with
economic disparity.



***********************************
That which is sure is not sure.
As things are, they shall not remain.
         -Bertolt Brecht
***********************************


Dennis Raphael, Ph.D., C.Psych.
Associate Professor
University of Toronto
Division of Community Health
Faculty of Medicine
Department of Behavioural Science
McMurrich Building, Room 101
Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8
Tel: (416) 978-7567
Fax: (416) 978-2087
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]