Clinical sociology: Social rehabilitation of schizophrenia in china and implications for aging research

Abstract

This article illustrates a clinical sociology approach to psychosocial inquiry and a heuristic analytical grid as a methodological guide. Key concerns of clinical sociology including the notion of self, individual-society relationship, a priority on experience and meaning (including implicit language), action/inter- vention, and other theoretical and methodological issues are reviewed. The heur- istic analytical grid is depicted in seven themes: the individual, the society, the time dimension, "levels" or types of communication, social representation (of mental health/illness), intervention, and organizational dimension of (medical) intervention. Relevance to the study of gerontology is indicated by highlighting the similarities between the study of personal experience of psychiatric rehabili- tation and the study of aging. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed. © Canadian Journal of Sociology/Cahiers canadiens de sociologie.