Psychological and Sociological Approaches to the Study of Occupational Illness: A Critical Review

This article critically assesses both psychological and sociological research upon occupational illness. It is argued that the former has provided an important intellectual foundation for 'victim blaming' explanations of work-related illness. Further, while recent sociologi cal research has provided a counter to this a number of significant problems remain to be addressed. Most importantly, it is argued that there is a need for this research to make more use of insights obtained from the labour process literature. Indeed, it is within this context that the historical role of industrial psychology as a managerialist response to the problems of worker discipline, productivity and health can be more readily understood.