This reader offers an emphasis on solving social problems by looking at other countries, a topic that is lacking in most Social Problems books. The readings included are from other societies and demonstrate successful alternatives for overcoming the social problems that plague the United States. For anyone interested in cross-cultural sociology or social problems.
There is definitely a bias portrayed from the author of this book. There is a lot of talk about how social issues in Europe are going more smoothly than social issues here in the United States. In the beginning while I was reading, I felt the need to move to Europe because of the benefits and the way that they go about social problems; however, there is still a lot more to go off from. Europe may be doing better in some aspects, but not in others. The author had a great experience learning about European ways of going about problems, I feel that he put a lot of his opinion into this book which could have manipulated some of the facts. I am still not convinced that America is the best place to live, and I don't believe we do a good job at handling such social issues as the author discusses, but I still have a hard time believing what I can't see. I believe that America should look to Europe in order to come up with a solution for these social issues, such as, working families, class, minorities, drugs, health care, and education.