Social Problems

Sara Towe Horsfall is associate professor of sociology at Texas Wesleyan University. She is coeditor of Chaos, Complexity, and Sociology and author of A Neighborhood Portrait. She has also worked as a foreign correspondent and international journalist, giving her unique insight into social problems and their solutions around the world.

SECTION I: THE THEORETICAL BASIS OF THE STUDY OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS CHAPTER ONE What Is a Social Problem? Six Ingredients of Social Problems How Do Social Problems Occur? Levels of Social Problems Information and Claims Making CHAPTER TWO Understanding Advocate Groups Who Are the Advocate Groups? Why Do Advocate Groups Form? Three Views of Human Nature Dynamics Within Advocate Groups Growth and Development of Advocate Groups A Typology of Advocate Group Change CHAPTER THREE Ameliorating Actions, Reactions, and Consequences PART I: Ameliorating Actions Legal Reform Government Programs Professional Agencies, Nonprofits, and Special Interest Groups Education and Public Awareness Campaigns Interpersonal Interaction, Apology, Reparation Independent, Individual Actions PART II: Reactions and Consequences Opposition Groups: Campaigning Against Reform Consequences for the Target Group Unintended Consequences Assessing Overall Social Benefit CHAPTER FOUR Social Dynamics: The Change Process and Models of Change PART I: Processes/Patterns of Change Change Is Linear: Progress and Evolution Change Is Cyclical: Growth and Decay Change Is Dialectical: Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis Other Ideas of Social Change Causes of Change PART II: Models for Social Change Human Interaction Organizational Principles Technology SECTION II: THE PROBLEMS CHAPTER FIVE Problems Addressed Through Government Programs Health Care Social Security Welfare CHAPTER SIX Problems Addressed Through Government Legislation Discrimination Illegal Immigration CHAPTER SEVEN Problems Addressed Through Professional Organizations, Nonprofit Groups, and Special Interest Groups Drugs and Alcohol Homelessness Domestic Violence (Spousal/Partner and Child Abuse) Teen Suicide and Gangs CHAPTER EIGHT Problems with Active Opposition Groups Abortion Gender Discrimination Euthanasia Homosexuality CHAPTER NINE Problems Addressed Through Education and Public Awareness, Interpersonal Interaction, Reparation, Apology, and Independent Individual Action Global Warming and Pollution Natural Resources: Water, Land, Energy, Endangered Species, and Rain Forests Sexually Transmitted Diseases/AIDS Rape, Date Rape, and Spousal Rape Prostitution Appendixes Social Problem Analysis Worksheet Advocate Groups Notes on Similarities and Contrasts of Social Problems Textbooks Glossary Sources Index