Doctors and patients, inter-professional rivalries, how sociologists might tackle the study of vital topics in health - all these are enduring themes in sociology and medicine. Posthumously gathered together in this volume are twelve of Philip M. Strong's major essays, many of which are difficult to find or have been out of print for some years.

Contents: Preface, Anne Murcott; Part 1 Doctors, Patients and Encounters: Aren't children wonderful?: the allocation of identity in developmental assessment; The management of therapeutic encounters with young children; Minor courtesies and macro structures; 2 types of ceremonial order. Part 2 Professional Place, Occupational Boundary: Sociological imperialism and the profession of medicine - a critical examination of the thesis of medical imperialism; The rivals: an essay on the sociological trades; The academic encirclement of medicine?; Doctors and nurses. Part 3 Models, Methods and Methodologies: A methodological appendix to The Ceremonial Order of the Clinic; Natural science and medicine: social science and medicine: some methodological controversies; Epidemic psychology: a model; One branch of moral science: an early modern approach to public policy; Bibliography; References; Index.