Synopses & Reviews
A unique and groundbreaking collection of 54 articles organized in 11 thematic sections, SOCIAL PROBLEMS: READINGS WITH FOUR QUESTIONS, Third Edition, combines a rigorous structural/conflict approach with a strong emphasis on the real-life experiences of those impacted by social problems. The articles include both classic and contemporary readings covering a wide range of issues in the United States and around the world. The introductory article, written by Joel M. Charon, introduces four questions that students are urged to apply throughout the reader: What is the problem? What makes the problem a "social problem"? What causes the problem? What can be done? These questions give students a consistent sociological framework to help them analyze the readings and think critically about social problems. The articles have been painstakingly selected to hold student interest while illuminating key topics; most come from books and trade publications rather than dry academic journals. As a whole, the collection powerfully explores a wide range of contemporary social problems while providing the tools and context to help students think sociologically about the social problems around us.
Synopsis
A unique and groundbreaking collection of 54 articles organized in 11 thematic sections, SOCIAL PROBLEMS: READINGS WITH FOUR QUESTIONS 2e takes a structural/conflict approach yet lets the voices of those impacted by social problems be heard. The articles are a mix of classic and contemporary readings, covering a wide range of issues in the United States and the world. The introductory article, written by Joel Charon, focuses on four questions that students are urged to apply throughout the reader: What is the problem? What makes the problem a "social problem"? What causes the problem? What can be done? This four questions approach gives students a consistent sociological framework within which to analyze social problems. The articles have been painstakingly selected to hold student interest, highlight contemporary social problems, and help professors show students how to think sociologically about the social problems around us.
About the Author
Joel M. Charon is a successful author and a professor of sociology at Moorhead State University in Minnesota. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He has published numerous textbooks and readers, and TEN QUESTIONS: A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE has gone through three editions. He is a member of the ASA and the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction.Lee G. Vigilant is a professor at Minnesota State University at Moorhead. He received his Ph.D. from Boston College (1995).
Table of Contents
Part I: AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS. 1. An Introduction to the Study of Social Problems--Joel M. Charon. 2. Whats Wrong with Declaring War on Social Problems-- Joel Best. 3. Somebodies and Nobodies: Rankism and What It Means-- Robert W. Fuller. Part II: SOCIAL PROBLEMS: ECONOMIC INEQUALITY AND POVERTY. 4. Whats Wrong with the American Dream?--Jennifer L. Hochschild. 5. The Global Economy and the Privileged Class--Robert Perrucci and Earl Wysong. 6. Inheritance and Privilege--Thomas Shapiro. 7. Poverty in the United States--John Iceland. 8. Why Are All People Poor in America?--Harrell L. Rodgers. 9. The Silver Spoon: Inheritance and the Staggered Start--Steven J. McNamee and Robert K. Miller, Jr. Part III: SOCIAL PROBLEMS: WORK AND UNEMPLOYMENT. 10. The Demeaning of Work--Barry Schwartz. 11. Globalization and the Race to the Bottom--Jeremy Brecher and Tim Costello. 12. The Vanishing Middle Class--Griff Witte. 13. Latino Immigration and Work in the United States--Roger Waldinger and Michael I. Lichter. 14. Technology and the African-American Experience--Jeremy Rifkin. Part IV: SOCIAL PROBLEMS: RACIAL AND ETHNIC INEQUALITY. 15. Laissez-Faire Racism--Lawrence D. Bobo and Ryan A. Smith. 16. Latino Lives in a Changing America--Roberto Suro. 17. From Institutional to Jobless Ghettos--William Julius Wilson. 18. International Migration and the Future of the United States--Douglas S. Massey. 19. Facing Up to Race--Michael K. Brown, Martin Carnoy, Elliott Currie, Troy Duster, David B. 20. Segregation in 21st Century America--John E. Farley and Gregory D. Squires. Part V: SOCIAL PROBLEMS: GENDER INEQUALITY AND ISSUES IN SEXUAL ORIENTATION. 21. Socialization into Gender--Barbara J. Risman. 22. The Betrayal of the American Man--Susan Faludi. 23. Violence and Exploitation of Women and Children--Michael L. Penn and Rahel Nardos. 24. Flat Broke with Children--Sharon Hays. 25. Selling Women Short--Louise Marie Roth. 26. Homosexuality and American Citizenship--Michael Bronski. 27. From Outsider to Citizen--Seven Seidman. Part VI: SOCIAL PROBLEMS: CRIME AND DRUGS. 28. Violence and the Inner-City Code--Elijah Anderson. 29. White Collar Crime--Stephen M. Rosoff, Henry N. Pontell, and Robert Tillman. 30. Three Fatal Flaws in the War on Drugs--Eva Bertram, Morris Blachman, Kenneth Sharpe, and Peter Andreas. 31. Incarceration and Returning to Society--Jeremy Travis and Michelle Waul. 32. Thinking about Crime--Michael Tonry. Part VII: SOCIAL PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE FAMILY. 33. Divorce in Perspective--Stephanie Coontz. 34. The Incidence and Causes of Wife Abuse--Maxine Baca Zinn and D. Stanley Eitzen. 35. Whats Wrong with Child Care in America--Barbara Bergmann and Suzanne Helburn. 36. Middle-Class Culture and the Crisis of Adolescence. Part VIII: SOCIAL PROBLEMS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 37. What No School Can Do--James Traub. 38. The Debasing of Education--Barry Schwartz. 39. The Social Roots of School Shootings--Katherine S. Newman, Cybelle Fox, David Harding, Jal Mehta, and Wendy Roth. 40. The Best Schools in America--William G. Ouchi and Lydia G. Segal. 41. The College Dropout Boom--David Leonhardt. 42. The Shame of the Nation--Jonathan Kozol. Part IX: SOCIAL PROBLEMS RELATED TO HEALTH CARE. 43. The Cultural Revolution in Health Care--Ronald W. Dworkin. 44. Protection of the Least Well-Off--Charles J. Dougherty. 45. Social Policy in Health Care: Europe and the United States--James W. Russell. Part X: SOCIAL PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS, VIOLENCE, AND TERRORISM. 46. The Corporation as Invisible Government--From Opposing System, 1995. 47. The Origins of Group Violence--Ervin Staub. 48. The Global Rise of Religious Violence--Mark Juergensmeyer. 49. White Male Militia--Abby L. Ferber and Michael S. Kimmel. 50. Terrorism and the Politics of Fear--David Altheide. Part XI: SOCIAL PROBLEMS RELATED TO POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT. 51. The Elderly: A Demographic Tidal Wave--Laurence Kotlokoff and Scott Burns. 52. Three Views of the Future--Allen Hammond. 53. Ecology for the Money--Michael Parenti. 54. A Very Special Moment--Bill McKibben.