Contemporary Social Problems and Your World: An Anthology provides students with engaging and enlightening readings that help them better understand what sociology is, how social problems emerge in society, the ways inequality impacts people, and the forces that enable social change. The anthology is organized into thematic units that introduce sociological concepts as they relate to social problems. In Unit One, students are introduced to sociological thought and the ways social problems are constructed through social actors. Unit Two focuses on sociological theory and core concepts, helping readers understand how social problems operate. In Unit Three, students examine how aspects of inequality, including homelessness, poverty, gender, and race, affect society. In Unit Four, students are encouraged to explore how social change happens and how we can move to a more equitable future. Designed to help students examine their place in the world through exploring the interrelationships between history, political structures, institutional power, culture, and individual agency, Contemporary Social Problems and Your World is an ideal anthology for introductory courses in sociology.

Within the last four years, the death of George Floyd brought a new level of urgency to understanding police violence; the world experienced two of the three hottest years on record; drug overdose deaths in the U.S. surpassed 100,000 per year for the first time; the foreign-born percentage of the population became the highest ever; and COVID-19 transformed education, work, and public health. Seeing Social Problems: The Hidden Stories Behind Contemporary Issues, Second Edition shows students how to think about social problems in a new way, by exploring the connection between their own experiences and larger social forces. The personal relevance of this book’s content is at the forefront of every discussion. Chapters engage students in thinking about the world sociologically by focusing on case studies that represent broader social problems. In each chapter, learning objectives attune students to important concepts. Two sets of discussion questions— “First Impressions” and “What Do You Know Now?” — encourage students to recognize how the chapter has broadened their perspectives. An exploration of social policy at the end of each chapter shows students that how someone understands an issue influences the ways they go about addressing it. New to the Second Edition: - New chapter, “LGBTQ+ People and Their Critics,” explores different ways of understanding growing diversity in American society based on gender identity and sexual orientation - New chapter, “Education and Upward Mobility,” encourages readers to think more expansively about their schooling experiences, starting when they were very young and continuing through college - New chapter, “Immigration and Border Security,” exposes competing ways of seeing the rising influx of migrants entering the U.S. from Mexico - New chapter, “Health and the Environment,” draws on discussion about familiar topics including Covid-19, obesity, and climate change - New chapter, “Technology and Instant Pleasure” motivates students to recognize the wider societal impacts of their frequent usage of mobile devices to make life more convenient

Social problems such as unemployment, poverty and drug addiction are a fact of life in industrialised societies. This book examines the sociology of social problems from interesting and challenging perspectives. It analyses how social problems emerge and are defined as such, who takes responsibility for them, who is threatened by them and how they are managed, solved or ignored. The authors examine and critique existing theories of social problems before developing their own theoretical framework. Their 'theory of residualist conversion of social problems' explains how certain social problems threaten legitimate power structures, so that problems of a social or political nature are transformed into personal problems, and the 'helping professions' are left to intervene. This book will become a key reference on class, inequality and social intervention and an important text for students in sociology and social work courses.

This book is an economical introduction to social problems with a built-in study guide, emphasizing an applied approach that looks at the interplay between research and policy in finding solutions. This book explores the nature and extent of social problems, documents the advances and setbacks that we as a society have made, and analyzes what works and what doesn't work regarding solutions to todays problems. This straightforward book helps readers study this constantly changing field by applying social science research to the solutions of some of the most difficult and controversial problems confronting the United States and the world today. Designed for those interested in social problems, sociology or social sciences.

Written from a distinctly Canadian point of view, Understanding Social Problems, Fourth Canadian Edition, examines how the structure and culture of societies contribute to social problems and their consequences. This text has strong pedagogical features and is comprehensive in its coverage, progressing from micro to macro levels of analysis. It focuses first on problems of health care, drug use, and crime, and then broadens to the widening concerns of population, health and welfare, science and technology, large-scale inequality and environmental problems. Known for its inclusive approach, Understanding Social Problems, Fourth Canadian Edition, explores powerful stories of real life people struggling with the challenges society and its problems have thrust upon them.

Updated with recent issues such as the national debate on health care reform, this Second Edition of How Can We Solve Our Social Problems? gives students a sense of hope by demonstrating specific, realistic steps we can take to solve some of the most pervasive social problems in America today. Author James Crone maintains a sense of sociological objectivity throughout and helps students realize that we can take steps to solve such key social problems as poverty, racial and ethnic inequality, unequal education, and environmental issues. The book's first two chapters define "social problem,," provide a theoretical background, discuss the daunting barriers we face in attempting to solve social problems, and demonstrate how sociology can help.