”Tools of the Trade,” Berkeley 1980-03

"Health, Stress, and Coping. Aaron Antonovsky. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 1979.227 pp. $13.95.
Antonovsky offers detailed, research-based examinations
of people's ability to deal with the inevitable stresses of everyday
life. Noting that people differ in their abilities to manage
stress and maintain health, Antonovsky examines the social
and psychological resources people have to combat stress and
resist illness. From recent findings in medical sociology,
psychiatry, ego psychology, and cultural anthropology, he
develops a theory to explain the relative success of certain
people in certain social groups coping with stress.
Most of these people seem to share what Antonovsky
calls "the sense of coherence" -a general orientation that sees
life as meaningful and manageable. To find the sources of
this orientation, he investigated the upbringings, social relationships,
and cultural backgrounds of these people, and he
shows that a wide variety of medical data tends to confirm
his theory of how social structures and relationships foster
coping and health.
He then demonstrates how these insights can be used
to improve personal and social lives, relationships between
health workers and patients, and the organization of health
care services. Finally, he considers the general outlook for
human health-both mental and physical-in the years ahead."
from, "Tools of the Trade," Berkeley 1980-03