Social Problems

by Joel Best

In his new textbook, Joel Best gives readers a complete set of tools for analyzing any social problem. Best helps readers think carefully about how activists, experts, and their opponents frame social problems through the logic that they use, the rhetoric of claims-making, and the ways that access to resources determines who gets their claims heard. In order to help students connect theory to everyday life, the text includes colorful examples and case studies from the real world.

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction, Read For School, School, Textbooks

392 pages, Paperback

First published April 19, 2007

Reviews

[Steve]

As a basic intro book to social problems, Best has done an excellent job of using both standard academic language to teach students and a solid cadre of case studies as examples. On top of that, in an age where the cost of text books has gone through the roof, Best has kept the cost very reasonable.

[Fran D]

3.5⭐️

My prof recommended this book to me in my social policy class. Was a bit technical and drawn out at times but I really enjoyed the case studies the most. Without those I probably wouldn’t have finished the book tbh. Made me see social problems in a different light. How do we define social problems? Who gets to determine that? Why are some issues made social problems while some are not? How do we come to that conclusion?

[Shay Allen]

I assigned the 4th edition of this text to my Social Problems course. The students seemed to enjoy the book. It was a bit repetitive at times, and some of the included figures were not always intuitive, but the overall structure of the book made teaching the social problems process relatively smooth!

[Lindsey]

Read this book for a sociology course focusing on the construction and perception of social problems. This book was very straight forward, easy to read, and had wonderful diagrams to go along with more abstract concepts. I would read this again!

[Ginger M]

Social Problems

This is the book for my social problems class, however I thought we would be discussing actual social problems such as homelessness, drug abuse, racial inequality and so on. I must say this book just drones on and on. This class has been a real disappointment.

[Jada McWhite]

Read it for my social problems class. It was very readable compared to other social science books, but it can get repetitive, especially if you have a class that is lecture-heavy. I would recommend only as additional material, not for the main text of the class.

[Lex]

Very informative.

[Gregory Colley]

Very technical

[Samantha]

Good for class

[Piper]

actually sociological!

[Brittany]

An interesting and look at the social construct and policy making. Easier to read than many textbooks I've experienced, but not most captivating either.

[Em (Makenna)]

Textbook for one of my classes- clear and concise. Probably my favorite reading we've done so far.

[Noa Levine]

same as the other one by him: a bit too number dense- liked the concept but couldn’t keep me engaged

[Rook]

I used this as the main textbook for a Social Problems course. It's an analytically useful way of approaching the construction of social problems, and very readable for students, but I wouldn't recommend making it the core text for a course, mainly because if you stretch it out over a full semester, you'll start belaboring the point halfway through. Better to excerpt a couple of chapters at the beginning of the semester and then use it as a theoretical framework for addressing specific social problems/conditions.

[Ly]

this book changes my perspective about social problems and the role of the media in shaping social problems today.

[Amy Layton]

Very informative, and very easy to read. It was almost pleasurable to read this for my class.