Understanding Social Problems

Linda A. Mooney, Ph.D., is an emeritus faculty member at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. In addition to social problems, her specialties include sociology of law, criminology and juvenile delinquency. Dr. Mooney has served as senior author for eleven editions of this prominent text. She has also published more than 30 professional articles in such journals as Social Forces, Sociological Inquiry, Sex Roles, Sociological Quarterly and Teaching Sociology. Dr. Mooney has won numerous teaching awards, including the University of North Carolina, Board of Governor's Distinguished Professor for Teaching Award. Marieke Van Willigen, Ph.D., is professor of sociology at Georgia Southern University, where she teaches global sociology, family, social statistics, medical sociology and sociology of mental health. She recently concluded eleven years of serving as university administrator at two different universities. She is the author or co-author of numerous articles published in such journals as the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Journal of Gerontology, Journal of Marriage and Family and the International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters. More than 20 of Dr. Willigen's students have earned doctoral degrees and now serve in faculty positions across the country. Molly Clever, Ph.D., is an associate professor of sociology and social justice at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, WV. She teaches on social conflict, war, social movements, community engagement and issues related to political and economic inequality. She has recently published in Teaching Sociology and has authored numerous articles and book chapters focused on community engagement teaching and learning practices as well as the changing nature of war and military organizations.

Part I: SOCIOLOGY AND THE STUDY OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS.
1. Thinking about Social Problems.
Part II: PROBLEMS OF WELL-BEING.
2. Physical and Mental Health and Health Care.
3. Alcohol and Other Drugs.
4. Crime and Social Control.
5. Family Problems.
Part III: PROBLEMS OF INEQUALITY.
6. Economic Inequality, Wealth, and Poverty.
7. Work and Unemployment.
8. Problems in Education.
9. Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration.
10. Gender Inequality.
11. Sexual Orientation and the Struggle for Equality.
Part IV: PROBLEMS OF GLOBALIZATION.
12. Population Growth and Aging.
13. Environmental Problems.
14. Science and Technology.
15. Conflict, War, and Terrorism.