Rich with special feature sections and boxes, this broad, theoretically balanced introduction to contemporary social problems provides readers with a thorough understanding of major social problems facing the United Statestheir causes, consequences, likely future course, and what can be done about them. It provides the basic data and the sociological frameworks for interpreting those data. Features Social Maps and a variety of boxes: Technology and Social Problems; A Global Glimpse; Divided Society; Thinking Critically About Social Problems; and Issues in Social Problems. Covers a full range of social problems and how sociologists view and interpret them: Aging; Prostitution, Homosexuality, and Pornography; Alcohol and Other Drugs; Rape and Murder; Crime and Criminal Justice; Wealth and Poverty; Race and Ethnic Relations; Sex Discrimination; Problems of Physical and Mental Illness; Education; The Changing Family; Urban Problems; Population and Food; The Environmental Crisis; and War, Terrorism, and the Balance of Power. For anyone interested in acquiring a solid foundation in the kinds, causes, consequences, and solutions to a broad range of some of today's most pressing social problems.
I've been looking for a (text)book which will provide the mechanisms for looking at social problems without the interjecting ideological bias into it. Sadly, this book wasn't it. This book is also riddled with factual errors. DO NOT waste your time with it.
This book is written from a progressive point of view and looks at social problems in a way not often present in the popular media. It includes many thought provoking topics and questions that lead to healthy discussion, espcially among those who are not inclined to agree with this point of view.
A lot of just the author's opinions and poorly backed points. Makes the points in the book hard to believe because a lot of the time, the authors just drop an opinion without backing and expect the reader to just believe it.