Health Psychology: A Critical Introduction aims to provide students with a stimulating alternative to the textbooks currently available, placing the discipline within the context of the social world and encouraging them to question some of the assumptions and values underlying much current research. A comprehensive survey of the discipline is provided, framed within a lifespan approach, and emphasising social-cultural factors such as gender, ethnicity and social-economic status. This book will be an invaluable resource for students of health psychology across a range of disciplines including psychology, anthropology and health studies.

Antonia Lyons is Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology, Massey University. She was a founding member of the International Society of Critical Health Psychology and has published numerous articles and book chapters in this field.

Preface; 1. Locating the field: introducing health psychology; 2. Thinking about health and the body; 3. Choosing lifestyles; 4. Controlling the body; 5. Becoming ill; 6. Comprehending bodily experience; 7. Interacting with health professionals; 8. Treating illness; 9. Being ill; 10. Dying; 11. Relocating the field: critical health psychology; Glossary; References; Author index; Subject index.