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Investigating Social Problems
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Investigating Social Problems

Third Edition
Edited by:

Other Titles in:
Social Problems

January 2021 | 592 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
For the Third Edition of Investigating Social Problems, editor A. Javier Treviño, has gathered a panel of top experts to thoroughly examine all aspects of social problems, providing students with a contemporary and authoritative introduction to the field. Each chapter is written by a well-known specialist on the topic being covered. This unique, contributed format ensures that the research and examples described are the most current and relevant available. In addition, the experts use both general theoretical approaches (structural functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism) as well as specialized theories chosen to bring additional insight and analysis to their assigned topics. The text is framed around three major themes: intersectionality (the interplay of race, ethnicity, class, and gender), the global scope of many problems, and how researchers take an evidence-based approach to studying problems.

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PART 1: THE SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS
Author: A. Javier Treviño
Chapter 1: Sociology and Social Problems
The Mobility Puzzle

 
The Sociological Study of Social Problems

 
The Sociological Imagination

 
Sociological Research

 
Three Sociological Theories

 
Sociological Research

 
Three Sociological Theories

 
Applying the Three Theories to Social Problems

 
Social Policy

 
Service Sociology and Social Problems

 
 
PART 2: PROBLEMS OF INEQUALITY
Authors: Leslie Hossfeld, E. Brooke Kelly,
Chapter 2: Poverty and Class Inequality
Patterns and Trends

 
Social Class

 
Inequality

 
Using Theory to Explain Poverty, Class, and

 
Specialized Theories Applied to Poverty

 
Social Change: What Can You Do?

 
Author: Saher Selod
Chapter 3: Race and Ethnicity
Defining Race and Ethnicity in a New

 
Patterns and Trends

 
Using Theory to Explain Racial Inequality

 
Specialized Theories About Racial Inequality

 
Social Change: What Can You Do?

 
Author: Tanetta Andersson
Chapter 4: Gender
Defining Sex and Gender

 
The Study of Gender as a Social Problem

 
Patterns and Trends

 
Using Theory to Understand Gender Inequality

 
Specialized Theory: Queer Theory

 
Social Change: What Can You Do?

 
Author: Elroi J. Windsor
Chapter 5: Sexualities
Understanding Social Problems Related to

 
Patterns and Trends

 
Using Theory to Understand Sexual Violence

 
Specialized Theories in Sexualities and

 
Social Change: What Can You Do?

 
Author: Duane A. Matcha
Chapter 6: Aging
Is Aging a Social Problem?

 
Patterns and Trends

 
Using Theory to Understand Aging

 
Specialized Theories About Aging

 
Social Change: What Can You Do?

 
 
PART 3: PROBLEMS OF INSTITUTIONS
Author: Jenny Stuber
Chapter 7: Education
Inequalities in Our Education System

 
Patterns and Trends

 
US Education System: A Brief History

 
Using Sociological Theories In Education

 
Specialized Theories in the Sociology of

 
Investigating Inequalities in Education

 
Efforts at Educational Reform

 
Authors: William Hoynes and Nicholas Hoynes
Chapter 8: Media
How Media Define Social Problems

 
Patterns and Trends

 
Debating Media as a Cause of Social Problems

 
Emerging Social Problems and New Media Technologies

 
Using Theory to Examine Media and Social

 
Specialized Theories In Contemporary

 
Social Change: What Can You Do?

 
Authors: Heather E. Dillaway and Nancy J. Mezey
Chapter 9: Families
Social and Historical Factors Shape Families

 
Patterns and Trends

 
Family Problems and Two Institutional

 
Using Theory to Understand Families

 
Specialized Theories for Understanding Families

 
Social Change: What Can You Do?

 
Author: Jacqueline M. Zalewski
Chapter 10: Work and the Economy
Work and the Labor Force

 
Patterns and Trends

 
Stakeholders

 
Using Theory to Examine Work and the

 
Specialized Theories: Weber and Scientific Management

 
Social Change: What Can You Do?

 
 
PART 4: PROBLEMS OF HEALTH AND SAFETY
Authors: Terrence T. Allen, Ahmed Whitt, and
Chapter 11: Crime
Crime as a Social Problem

 
Crimes Are Socially Defined

 
Data Sources and Correlates of Crime

 
Patterns and Trends

 
The US Criminal Justice System and Its

 
Using Theory to Examine Crime

 
Specialized Theories About Crime

 
Social Change: What Can You Do?

 
Authors: Carrie B. Oser, Dina Perrone, and
Chapter 12: Drugs
Drugs in Societies

 
Addiction and Associated Harms

 
Patterns of Drug Use Across Social Groups

 
Using Theory to Understand Drug Use

 
Specialized Theories on Drug Use

 
Social Change: What Can You Do?

 
Author: Valerie Leiter
Chapter 13: Health
What Are Disease and Illness?

 
Health Inequities

 
The US Health Care System and Its Stakeholders

 
Using Theory to Understand Health

 
Specialized Theories

 
Social Change: What Can You Do?

 
 
PART 5: PROBLEMS OF GLOBAL IMPACT
Author: J. M. Bacon
Chapter 14: The Environment
Environmental Problems as Social Problems

 
Patterns and Trends

 
Using Theory to Examine the Environment

 
Specialized Theories In Environmental Sociology

 
Social Change: What Can You Do?

 
Author: Michael Mascarenhas
Chapter 15: Science and Technology
Science and Technology as Socially Defined

 
Science and Technology as Social Problems

 
Patterns and Trends

 
Science, Technology, and Their Stakeholders

 
Using Theory to Examine Science and Technology

 
Specialized Theories

 
Social Change: What Can You Do?

 
Author: Ori Swed
Chapter 16: War and Terrorism
War as a Social Phenomenon

 
The Changing Face of War

 
The Cost of War

 
Terrorism as a Social Phenomenon

 
Counterterrorism

 
Using Theory to Examine War and Terrorism

 
Specialized Theories on War and Terrorism

 
Social Change: What Can You Do?

 
Author: Meghan Ashlin Rich
Chapter 17: Urbanization
Urbanization, Growth, and Social Problems

 
Patterns and Trends

 
Theoretical Perspectives in Urban Sociology

 
Specialized Theories in Urban Sociology

 
Social Change: What Can You Do?

 
 
GLOSSARY
 
REFERENCES
 
INDEX

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Diverse guest authorship, dives into social problems students care deeply about (ex: microaggressions, racism, mental illness), has great examples throughout the book, speaks TO the student/reader instead of AT them for a conversational feel while reading. My students loved the previous edition and I think this update will be just as successful.

Ms Heather Sue McDonald
Sociology Dept, University Of Georgia
July 14, 2022

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