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.

While the balance between private and public sectors are based primarily on the experiences of the wealthy societies in Western Europe and North America, the global reach and increased political weight of East Asian economies is bound to influence other societies as well. Contemporary Social Issues in East Asian Societies: Examining the Spectrum of Public and Private Spheres focuses on modern highly developed East Asian societies and their social issues, particularly ones that are related to family, institution, and health. By examining the modernized global society and its connectedness, this book is a vital resource for researchers, students, and academicians interested in the distinctive features connected with local, social and cultural traditions of East Asian society.

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.

This book explores the major contemporary social issues in modern society with a clear focus on major facets of social life. The book examines the relevance of crime, employment, social care and family life - and suggests that in different ways each major theme is essential for understanding the past, present and future.

This best-selling text emphasizes that social and cultural changes are the pervasive realities of our era. One of the main themes of Contemporary Society is that the transition from an industrial to a post-industrial order in the modern world is fraught with difficulties, as was the transition from an agricultural to an industrial order in an earlier era. Within this framework, we can observe the increasing fragmentation of the social order, which tends to lead people away from community and a common purpose and often invites conflict and disunity. At the same time, countervailing social forces are also at work, providing some stability, some shelter in the storm. Finally, societies are faced with the rapid and transformative power of information technology, a fact that propels separate groups of people into a global entity.

This volume provides teachers with a variety of readings in all of the areas covered in a mainstream Social Problems course. The reader uses a global approach with examples drawn from around the world. However, the book's focus is on the social problems of the United States.