Investigating Social Problems

General editor A. Javier Treviño, working with a panel of experts, thoroughly examines all aspects of social problems, providing a contemporary and authoritative introduction to the field. Each chapter is written by a specialist on that particular topic and the unique, contributed format ensures that the research and examples provided are the most current and relevant available.

Table of Contents:
Preface PART I: The Sociological Study of Social Problems 1. Sociology and Social Problems - A. Javier Treviño SETTLING FOR LESS THE SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH THREE SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES APPLYING THE THREE THEORIES TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS SOCIAL POLICY SPECIALIZED THEORIES SERVICE SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY TERMS PART II: Problems of Inequality 2. POVERTY AND CLASS INEQUALITY - Keith M. Kilty, Leslie Hossfeld, E. Brooke Kelly, and Julia Waity WHO IS HUNGRY ON CAMPUS? POVERTY, CLASS, AND INEQUALITY ARE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS PATTERNS AND TRENDS SOCIAL CLASS INEQUALITY USING THEORY TO EXPLAIN POVERTY, CLASS, AND INEQUALITY: THE VIEWS FROM THE FUNCTIONALIST, SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST, AND CONFLICT PERSPECTIVES SPECIALIZED THEORIES APPLIED TO POVERTY AND INEQUALITY SOCIAL CHANGE: WHAT CAN YOU DO? CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY TERMS 3. RACE AND ETHNICITY - Eileen O’Brien WHITE RACIAL PRIVILEGE DEFINING RACE AND ETHNICITY IN A NEW MILLENNIUM PATTERNS AND TRENDS USING THEORY TO EXPLAIN RACIAL INEQUALITY: THE VIEWS FROM THE FUNCTIONALIST, SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST, AND CONFLICT PERSPECTIVES SPECIALIZED THEORIES ABOUT RACIAL INEQUALITY SOCIAL CHANGE: WHAT CAN YOU DO? CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY TERMS 4. Gender - Robin Ryle and Katie Ann Hasson WAVES OF PROTEST AND PINK HATS DEFINING GENDER INEQUALITY FEMINISM, MEN, AND THE STUDY OF GENDER AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM LOOKING AT GENDER ON CAMPUS AND BEYOND USING THEORY TO UNDERSTAND GENDER INEQUALITY: THE VIEWS FROM THE FUNCTIONALIST, SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST, AND CONFLICT PERSPECTIVES QUEER THEORY: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE ON GENDER SOCIAL CHANGE: WHAT CAN YOU DO? CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY TERMS 5. SEXUALITIES - Rebecca F. Plante and Elroi J. Windsor AND THEN, SHE WAS GONE UNDERSTANDING HOW SEXUALITIES CAN BE SOCIAL PROBLEMS PATTERNS AND TRENDS USING THEORY TO UNDERSTAND SEXUAL VIOLENCE: THE VIEWS FROM THE FUNCTIONALIST, CONFLICT, AND SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVES SPECIFIC THEORIES IN SEXUALITIES AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS SCHOLARSHIP SOCIAL CHANGE: WHAT CAN YOU DO? CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY TERMS 6. Aging - Duane A. Matcha HOMESHARING: MILLENNIALS AND OLDER INDIVIDUALS IS AGING A SOCIAL PROBLEM? PATTERNS AND TRENDS USING THEORY TO UNDERSTAND AGING: THE VIEWS FROM THE FUNCTIONALIST, CONFLICT, AND SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVES SPECIALIZED THEORIES ABOUT AGING SOCIAL CHANGE: WHAT CAN YOU DO? CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY TERMS PART III: Problems of Institutions 7. EDUCATION - Ryan W. Coughlan, Alan R. Sadovnik, Susan F. Semel, and Jenny Stuber IDRIS AND SEUN PATTERNS AND TRENDS U.S. EDUCATION SYSTEM: A BRIEF HISTORY USING SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES IN EDUCATION SPECIALIZED THEORIES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION EXPLANATIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITY EDUCATIONAL REFORM FROM THE 1980S TO 2017 SOCIAL CHANGE: WHAT CAN YOU DO? CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY TERMS 8. Media - William Hoynes THE DRAMA OF “ROAD RAGE” PATTERNS AND TRENDS DEBATING MEDIA AS A CAUSE OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS EMERGENT SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES TRADITIONAL THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON MEDIA AND SOCIAL PRO THEORIES IN CONTEMPORARY MEDIA AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS SCHOLARSHIP SOCIAL CHANGE: WHAT CAN YOU DO? CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY TERMS 9. Family - Meg Wilkes Karraker A RETREAT FROM MARRIAGE AND FAMILY PATTERNS AND TRENDS FAMILY PROBLEMS AND THREE INSTITUTIONAL STAKEHOLDERS USING THEORY TO EXPLAIN FAMILY PROBLEMS: THE VIEW FROM THE FUNCTIONALIST, CONFLICT, AND SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVES FOUR SPECIALIZED THEORIES BEYOND FUNCTIONALISM, CONFLICT, AND SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM SOCIAL CHANGE: WHAT CAN YOU DO? CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY TERMS 10. Work and the Economy - Rudi Volti FROM 500 TO 750 ENVELOPES WORK AND THE LABOR FORCE PATTERNS AND TRENDS STAKEHOLDERS USING THEORY TO EXAMINE WORK AND THE ECONOMY: THE FUNCTIONALIST, CONFLICT, AND SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVES SPECIALIZED THEORIES: WEBER AND SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT SOCIAL CHANGE: WHAT CAN YOU DO? CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY TERMS PART IV: Problems of Health and Safety 11. Crime - Kathleen Currul-Dykeman, Susan Guarino-Ghezzi, Kyle J. Thomas, and Benjamin C. Hamilton IN A HOODED SWEATSHIRT INTRODUCTION: CRIME AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM CRIMES ARE SOCIALLY DEFINED DATA SOURCES AND CORRELATES OF CRIME PATTERNS AND TRENDS THE U.S. CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AND ITS STAKEHOLDERS CRIME FROM THE STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALIST, SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST, AND CONFLICT PERSPECTIVES SPECIALIZED THEORIES ABOUT CRIME SOCIAL CHANGE: WHAT CAN YOU DO? CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY TERMS 12. Drugs - Brian C. Kelly, Dina Perrone, and Carrie B. Oser A CANARY IN A COAL MINE? DRUGS IN SOCIETIES DRUG DEPENDENCE AND ASSOCIATED HARMS PATTERNS OF DRUG USE ACROSS SOCIAL GROUPS USING THEORY TO UNDERSTAND DRUG USE: THE VIEWS FROM THE FUNCTIONALIST, CONFLICT, AND SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVES SPECIALIZED THEORIES ON DRUG USE SOCIAL CHANGE: WHAT CAN YOU DO? CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY TERMS 13. Health - Kevin White and Valerie Leiter SUFFERING FROM DRAPETOMANIA WHAT ARE DISEASE AND ILLNESS? PATTERNS AND TRENDS THE U.S. HEALTH CARE SYSTEM AND ITS STAKEHOLDERS USING THEORY TO UNDERSTAND HEALTH: THE VIEWS FROM THE FUNCTIONALIST, CONFLICT, AND SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVES SPECIALIZED THEORIES SOCIAL CHANGE: WHAT CAN YOU DO? CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY TERMS PART V: Problems of Global Impact 14. THE Environment - Katharine A. Legun and Michael M. Bell EXPERIENCING THE HEAT WAVE ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS AS SOCIAL PROBLEMS PATTERNS AND TRENDS THEORETICAL APPROACHES IN ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIOLOGY SPECIALIZED THEORIES IN ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIOLOGY SOCIAL CHANGE: WHAT CAN YOU DO? CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY TERMS 15. Science and Technology - Wenda K. Bauchspies and Michael Mascarenhas SCIENCE AND THE PUBLIC TRUST HACKING AND CYBERCRIME AROUND THE WORLD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AS SOCIALLY DEFINED PATTERNS AND TRENDS SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND THEIR STAKEHOLDERS USING THEORY TO EXAMINE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: THE VIEWS FROM THE FUNCTIONALIST, CONFLICT, AND SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVES SPECIALIZED THEORIES SOCIAL CHANGE: WHAT CAN YOU DO? CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY TERMS 16. War and Terrorism - Paul Joseph and Ori Swed THE ISLAMIC STATE AND THE BLURRING LINES BETWEEN WAR AND COUNTERTERRORISM WAR AS A SOCIAL CONCEPT PATTERNS AND TRENDS THE FUTURE OF WAR USING THEORY TO EXAMINE WAR AND TERRORISM: THE VIEWS FROM THE FUNCTIONALIST, CONFLICT, AND SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVES SPECIALIZED THEORY: THE TWO-SOCIETY THESIS TERRORISM SOCIAL CHANGE: WHAT CAN YOU DO? CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY TERMS 17. Urbanization - Michael Ian Borer and Tyler S. Schafer URBANIZATION AND CITY GROWTH IN GLITTER GULCH URBANIZATION, GROWTH, AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS PATTERNS AND TRENDS THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN URBAN SOCIOLOGY SPECIALIZED THEORIES IN URBAN SOCIOLOGY SOCIAL CHANGE: WHAT CAN YOU DO? CHAPTER SUMMARY KEY TERMS Glossary References Index

About the Author :
A. Javier Treviño is the author and editor of several books including The Social Thought of C. Wright Mills (SAGE, 2012), Investigating Social Problems (SAGE, 2014) and C. Wright Mills and the Cuban Revolution: An Exercise in the Art of Sociological Imagination (University of North Carolina Press, 2017). He has served as President of the Justice Studies Association (2000–2002) and as President of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (2010–2011). He was a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Sussex, UK (2006), a Fulbright Scholar to the Republic of Moldova (2009), and since 2014 has been a Visiting Professor in Social and Political Theory at the University of Innsbruck, Austria.