Handbook of Organizations (RLE: Organizations)

CHAPTER 22	Hospitals: Technology, Structure, and Goals1
	CHARLES PERROW

INTRODUCTION

1. Background and Outline of Argument

This is a critical review of sociological studies of mental and general hospitals. Hospitals constitute the fourth largest business in our nation. In 1961, the operating costs of our nation's hospitals were almost 9.4 billion dollars. There are about 7,000 hospitals in the United States, with about 25 million people admitted each year. They have become big business for social scientists, too. Medical sociology, a good part of which is devoted to studies of, or in, hospitals, is the fastest growing section of the American Sociological Association. The National Institutes of Health, as well as many other foundations, ...