PART ONE SOCIOLOGY OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS

CHAPTER 1 Definitions and Perspectives

Impediments to Defining Social Problems

What We Feel We Can Do

Societal Problems

The Fallacy of Inevitabihty

The Role of the Social Scientist

Value Judgments

The Limits of Observation

Objectivity and Theory

The Four Elements of a Social Problem

The Persistence of Social Problems

Individual or Social Damage

Offense to a Powerful Group's Standards

False Causes and Misdirected Interventions

Cultural Lags: Myth of the Undeserving

Quasi-Theories

The Myth of the Invisible Hand

Sociological Orientations to Social Problems

Introduction:Four Views of Social Order

Individual Faults and Deviant Behavior Emphasis

Institutional Faults and System Disorganization Emphasis

Inequality and Inevitable Conflict Emphasis

Interaction and Social Interpretation Emphasis

The Future of Social Problems

Rules for the Future

Methods for Studying the Future ed Social Problems

Summary

Suggested Readings

Glossary

CHAPTER 2 The Individual in Modem Society: Alienation and Anornie

The Quality of Individuals' Lives

Types of Life Satisfactions

The Impact of Society on the Individual

Shyness: A Cultural Fact

Embedded and Enmeshed in Society

Anoints: Disorganization, Separation, and Meaninglessness

The Loss of Community

Anemic Conditions

The Rust of Progress: Functionalists' Concerns

Vagueness and Specialization

Secularization and Search for Meaning

New Cults

Alienation: Powerlessness and Self-Estrangement

Powerlessness

False Values and Self-Estrangement

The Human Commodity

Searching for Meaningful Identities

Individual Negotiation and Social Change

The Future

Pessimistic Scenario

Optimistic Scenario

Suggested Readings

Glossary

PART TWO CHALLENGES TO INDIVIDUAL WELL-BEING

CHAPTER 3 Alcohol and Drug Abuse

What is a Drug?

Alcohol

Amphetamines

Caffeine

Cocaine

Depressants

Marijuana

Narcotics

Tobacco

Understanding Drug Attitudes

Individual Faults and Deviant Behavior

Institutional Faults and System Disorganization

Inequality and Inevitable Conflict

Interaction and Social Interpretation

Social Consequences of Drug Use

Crime

Automobile Accidents

Health

Economic Losses

Professional Sports

Social Control and Solution Attempts

Preventive Programs

Treatment Programs

Corrective Efforts

The British Approach

The Future

Pessimistic Scenario

Optimistic Scenario

Summary+

Suggested Readings

Glossary

CHAPTER 4 Sexual Expression

Sexual Conformity and Deviance

The Cross-Cultural Context

Homosexuality: Deviation or Variation?

Definitions of Homosexuality: Past and Present

Homosexuality in America: Stigma, Sanctions, and Gay Reactions

Differential Treatment of Homosexual Men and Women

The Nature of the Homosexual Relationship

The Gay Subculture

Female Homosexuality

Impersonal Sex: A Gay Male Phenomenon

Other Variations

Transsexualism

Transvestism Defined

Rape

The Crime of Rape Defined

The Plight of the Rape Victim

Preventing Rape

Commercial Exploitative Sex

Pornography

Prostitution

The Sexual Career of a Prostitute

Professional Prostitutes

Sociological Perspectives

Individual Faults and Deviant Behavior

Institutional Faults and System Disorganization

Inequality and Inevitable Conflict

Interaction and Social Interpretation

The Future

Pessimistic Scenario

Optimistic Scenario

Summary

Suggested Readings

Glossary

CHAPTER 5 Deviance and Crime

Deviance and Crime Defined

Crime and Punishment in Historical Perspective

Crime, Laws, and Prosecution

Reported Crime

Measuring the Extent of Crime

Crime That Is Not Systematically Monitored

White-Collar Crime

Computer Crime: A Rapidly Growing Threat

Unique Problems Associated with Combatting Computer Crime

Juvenile Delinquency

Explaining Crime and Delinquency

Discredited Physical Explanations

Psychological Explanations

Sociological Explanations

The Criminal Justice System

The Police

The Prisons

Solutions Past, Present, and Future

Solutions Aimed at the Offender and Potential Offender

Solutions Aimed at the Criminal Justice System

The Future

Pessimistic Scenario

Optimistic Scenario

Summary

Suggested Readings

Glossary

CHAPTER 6 Violence, Terrorism, and War

Vigilantism in American History

Violence as a Social Problem

Three Common Justifications of Violence

Criminal Violence

Criminal Violence in the United States

Homicide

Murderers and Their Victims

Rape Is Violence

Terrorism

Terrorism Past and Present

Societal Reaction to the Terrorist

Political Terrorism

How Effective is Terrorism?

International Terrorism

Nuclear Terrorism

War

Reasons for War

War in America's Past and Present

The Special Case of Nuclear War

Sociological Perspectives

Individual Faults and Deviant Behavior

Institutional Faults and System Disorganization

Inequality and Inevitable Conflict

Interaction and Social Interpretation

The Future

Pessimistic Scenario

Optimistic Scenario

Summary

Suggested Readings

Glossary

PART THREE CHALLENGES TO SOCIAL EQUALITY

CHAPTER 7 Aging in a Youth-Oriented Society

The Graying of America

Demographic Factors

Values About Age

Myths and Stereotypes

Mental Capacities

Sexuality

Negative Attitudes

Problems of the Elderly

Retirement

Economic Problems

Housing

Health Care

Exploiting the Elderly

Sociological Perspectives

Individual Faults and Deviant Behavior

Institutional Faults and System Disorganization

Inequality and Inevitable Conflict

Interaction and Social Interpretation

The Future

Pessimistic Scenario

Optimistic Scenario

Conclusion

Summary

Suggested Readings

Glossary

CHAPTER 8 Race and Ethnic Relations

Institutionalized Discrimination

Education

Employment

Housing

Legal Justice

Specific Problem Areas

Native Americans

Black Americans

Hispantcs

Migrant Workers

lllegal Aliens

Sociological Perspectives

Individual Faults and Deviant Behavior

Institutional Faults and System Disorganization

Inequality and Inevitable Conflict

Interaction and Social Interpretation

The Future

Pessimistic Scenario

Optimistic Scenario

Summary

Suggested Readings

Glossary

CHAPTER 9 Poverty

The Nature of Poverty

Absolute Deprivation

Relative Deprivation

Who Are The Poor?

Minority Status

Family Structure

Age

Locale

The Impact of Poverty

Health

Housing

Family Life

Psychological Scars

Education

Work

Who Is To Blame For Poverty?

Individual Faults and Deviant Behavior

Institutional Faults and System Disorganization

Inequality and Inevitable Conflict

Interaction and Social Interpretation

Work and Welfare

The Nonworking Poor

The Welfare Poor

The Welfare Rich

Eliminating Poverty

The "Trickle-Down" Approach

The "Robin-Hood" Approach

The Interventionist Approach

The Future

Pessimistic Scenario

Optimistic Scenario

Summary

Suggested Readings

Glossary

CHAPTER 10 Sexism

Biological Justifications for Sexism

Weakness of the Biological Argument

Socialization and Sexism

Values and Goals

Internalization of Roles

Effects of Sexism

Women as a Minority Group

Biological Limitations and Deformations

Powerlessness in Interaction

Sexual Harassment

Arenas of Change

Edtication

Working for Less

Political and Legal System Sexism

Sociological Perspectives

Individual Faults

Institutional Faults

Inequality and Inevitable Conflict

Interaction and Social Interpretation

The Future

Pessimistic Scenario

Optimistic Scenario

Summary

Suggested Readings

Glossary

PART FOUR CHALLENGES TO SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

CHAPTER 11 The Family

Contemporary Families in Transition

Social Change or Social Problem?

Divorce

Factors Contributing to the High Rate of Divorce

The Impact of Divorce on Adults

The Impact of Divorce on Children

Single-Parent Families

Families Headed by Women

Nonmarital Births

Violence and Abuse

Incidence of Family Violence

Social Factors Linked to Violence

Runaways

Sexual Violence and Victimization in the Family

Marital Rape

Incest

Violence and Victimization: The Need for Societal Intervention

Services for Battered Wives

Intervention in Child Abuse

The Police

Prevention of Family Violence

Why Are Families In Trouble?

Individual Faults and Deviant Behavior

Institutional Faults and System Disorganization

Inequality and Inevitable Conflict

Interaction and Social Interpretation

What Can Be Done To Help Families?

The Future

Pessimistic Scenario

Optimistic Scenario

Summary

Suggested Readings

Glossary

CHAPTER 12 Problems in Education

Characteristics and Contradictions

Compulsory and Universal Education

Community Control

The School as a Bureaucracy

Conformity and Obedience

Hierarchy of Authority

Education and Social Class

Dominance of Middle-Class Values

Ability Grouping

Integration and the Quality of Education

Busing

School Funding

The Declining Quality of Education

What's Wrong With Our Schools?

Subject Matter

Academic Standards

Sociological Perspectives

Individual Faults and Deviant Behavior

Institutional Faults and System Disorganization

Inequality and Inevitable Conflict

Interaction and Social Interpretation

How Can We Improve Education?

Equitable School Districts

Better Teachers

The Future

Pessimistic Scenario

Optimistic Scenario

Summary

Suggested Readings

Glossary

CHAPTER 13 The Concentration of Economic and Political Power

Corporate America

Who Owns The Corporations?

Engulf and Devour

The Irrelevance of Evil

Government-Corporate Alliances

Financial Benefits

The Military-Industrial Complex

Multinational Corporations

International Impact

Abuse of Power

Inequality and Inevitable Conflict

Interaction and Social Interpretation

The Future

Pessimistic Scenario

Optimistic Scenario

Conclusion

Summary

Suggested Readings

Glossary

CHAPTER 16 Population and Ecology

The Scope of the Problem: Images of the World System

Malthusian Pessimism

Earth as a System: The Limits to Growth Study

The Earth as a Lifeboat

Demographic Transition Theory

Population Pressure on the World

Continuing Growth

Resource Depletion: The Scarcity of Cropland

Hunger in Developing Nations

Extinction of Species

Transformation of Natural Processes: Acid Rain

Ecosystem Problems

Ecosystem Thinking

Current Ecosystem Problems

Dangerous Practices and Regulation Difficulties

What Can Be Done About Pollution?: New Jersey's Program

The Persistence of Ecological and Population Problems

Positions That Deny the Need for Action

Cultural Supports for Population Growth and Resource Depletion

Sociological Orientations and Solutions

The Individual Faults Emphasis: Excess/Unwanted Fertility

System Disorganization Emphasis: Changing institutions

Inequality and Inevitable Conflict Emphasis

Social Interaction: Interpretation Emphasis

Population Policy and the Control Dilemma

Beyond Family Planning

Policy Proposals for Population Reduction

The Future

Pessimistic Scenario

Optimistic Scenario

Summary

Suggested Readings

Glossary

CHAPTER 17 Work and Occupational Trends

Occupational Trends

Rise of the Service Sector

The Impact of Automation

Unemployment Problems

Who Is Unemployed?

Effects of Long-term Unemployment

Job Satisfaction

Measuring Workers' Satisfaction

Attributes of Job Satisfaction

Sociological Perspectives

Individual Faults and Deviant Behavior

Institutional Faults and System Disorganization

Inequality and Inevitable Conflict

Interaction and Social Interpretation

Occupational Health and Safety

Government Intervention

Health Hazard Occupations

The Future

Pessimistic Scenario

Optimistic Scenario

Summary

Suggested Readings

Glossary

Notes

Photo Credits

Index