Making Sense of Social Problems: New Images, New Issues
  • 2013/335 pages
  • Social Problems, Social Constructions

Making Sense of Social Problems:

New Images, New Issues

Joel Best and Scott R. Harris, editors
Hardcover: $75.00
ISBN: 978-1-58826-855-6
Paperback: $28.50
ISBN: 978-1-58826-880-8
Ebook: $28.50
ISBN: 978-1-62637-430-0
Internet addiction. Cell-phone-distracted drivers. Teen suicide. Economic recession. The health risks of trans fats. The carefully selected collection of case studies in Making Sense of Social Problems is designed to help students understand and critically evaluate a wide range of contemporary social issues.

The cases are organized to highlight a series of key elements:
    • why "objective" claims deserve critical attention
    • how advocates bring attention to issues
    • why expert interpretations may change over time
    • the role of the media in shaping or distorting concerns
    • the consequences of public policy

The introduction, conclusion, and section notes provide a coherent framework for the text. Reflecting the promise of the constructionist approach, the result is a powerful set of tools for systematically investigating social problems. It can be used to advantage as a "stand-alone," as well as with such texts as Joel Best's Social Problems.
Joel Best is professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware. Scott R. Harris is professor of sociology at Saint Louis University.

Also in the series:
Confronting Homelessness: Poverty, Politics, and the Failure of Social Policy by David Wagner with Jennifer Barton Gilman; Judging Victims: Why We Stigmatize Survivors, and How They Claim Respect by Jennifer L. Dunn; Responding to School Violence: Confronting the Columbine Effect, edited by Glenn W. Muschert, Stuart Henry, Nicole L. Bracy, and Anthony A. Peguero; and Meth Mania: A History of Methamphetamine by Nicolas L. Parsons.

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