Social Problems, Social Issues, Social Science

James D. Wright is provost distinguished research professor in the department of sociology at the University of Central Florida, USA. He also serves as director of the University of Central Florida Institute for Social and Behavioral Sciences, and as editor-in-chief of the journal Social Science Research. He has published more than a dozen books, including Armed and Considered Dangerous and Under the Gun as well as many journal articles. His current research interests include violence, urban poverty and inequality, health and the homeless population, and the divorce reform movement.

Contents

Preface: "Nor Commit a Social Science . . . "

Acknowledgements

1 Public Opinion and the War in Vietnam
Introduction
"Life, Time, and the Fortunes of War"
In Retrospect

2 America's Homeless
Introduction
"The Worthy and Unworthy Homeless"
In Retrospect
"Address Unknown: Homelessness inContemporary America"
In Retrospect
"Science, Passion and Polemics"
In Retrospect

3 The Minimum Wage
Introduction
"Minimum Wage, Maximum Hokum"
In Retrospect

4 Popular Science and Social Science
Introduction
"Popular Science, Social Science, Metaphor,
and Deception"
In Retrospect

5 Guns in America
Introduction
"Ten Essential Observations on Guns in America"
"Kids, Guns and Killing Fields"
In Retrospect

6 Handsome Guys Don't Commit Crimes
Introduction
"Never Pick a Fight with an Ugly Person,
They've Got Nothing to Lose"
In Retrospect

7 America's Divorce Problem
Introduction
"America's Divorce Problem"
In Retrospect
Marriage Matters: A Report to Our Respondents

8 Small Towns in Mass Society
Introduction
"Small Towns, Mass Society, and the 21st Century"
In Retrospect

9 Sober Up, Take a Shower, Get a Job
Introduction
"Sobering Up on the Streets"
"How Can We Stay Sober"
In Retrospect

10 Food, Glorious Food
Introduction
"Food Deserts: What is the Problem,
What is the Solution?"
In Retrospect

11 Social Science in Review
Introduction
Daniel Yankelovich, "New Rules: Searching for
Self Fulfillment in a World Turned Upside Down"
In Retrospect
Seymour M. Lipset and William Schneider,
"The Confidence Gap"
In Retrospect
Wayne LaPierre, "Guns, Crime, and Freedom"
In Retrospect
John Shelton Reed, "Dixie Bohemia: A French
Quarter Circle in the 1920s"
In Retrospect

Index