Social problems such as unemployment, poverty and drug addiction are a fact of life in industrialised societies. This book examines the sociology of social problems from interesting and challenging perspectives. It analyses how social problems emerge and are defined as such, who takes responsibility for them, who is threatened by them and how they are managed, solved or ignored. The authors examine and critique existing theories of social problems before developing their own theoretical framework. Their 'theory of residualist conversion of social problems' explains how certain social problems threaten legitimate power structures, so that problems of a social or political nature are transformed into personal problems, and the 'helping professions' are left to intervene. This book will become a key reference on class, inequality and social intervention and an important text for students in sociology and social work courses.

It is widely observed that societies are changing, and new social issues are raising. The relationship between actors in the global environment and in the local as well, is changing because of financial crisis, new technological revolution, climate change, richness reallocation and concentration. We can see that value creation and management models in organizations are often uncoherent with the satisfaction of needs. The ability to create competitive advantages on a financial level seems to be increasingly developed. This can be sustained by the clear trend that leads companies to grow in size or create strong groups by shifting uncertainty over the weaker part of the market and unorganized systems and citizens. In this misalignment, empty spaces in the economic environment are opened. These spaces are those where the action of the public system can no longer be effective (or where it has never been) and where, more and more, the private interests are weak or absent. New wants are emerging in these areas and traditional models are no longer able to answer many of these needs. The book "The Social Issue in Contemporary Society: relations between Companies, Public Administrations and People" originates from a huge number of questions with the social issue as "fil rouge". In this perspective, the book is divided in four parts: "Introduction", "New Models and Tools for Public Administration", "New Models for New Companies" and "New Models for New Societies". A range of scholars that authored that book provide us with a different point of view about the problem that is underlined in the book title. We hope it will be a worthy inspiration for who dream a new idea of society.

Contemporary Social Problems and Your World: An Anthology provides students with engaging and enlightening readings that help them better understand what sociology is, how social problems emerge in society, the ways inequality impacts people, and the forces that enable social change. The anthology is organized into thematic units that introduce sociological concepts as they relate to social problems. In Unit One, students are introduced to sociological thought and the ways social problems are constructed through social actors. Unit Two focuses on sociological theory and core concepts, helping readers understand how social problems operate. In Unit Three, students examine how aspects of inequality, including homelessness, poverty, gender, and race, affect society. In Unit Four, students are encouraged to explore how social change happens and how we can move to a more equitable future. Designed to help students examine their place in the world through exploring the interrelationships between history, political structures, institutional power, culture, and individual agency, Contemporary Social Problems and Your World is an ideal anthology for introductory courses in sociology.

This volume provides teachers with a variety of readings in all of the areas covered in a mainstream Social Problems course. The reader uses a global approach with examples drawn from around the world. However, the book's focus is on the social problems of the United States.

Seeing Social Problems: The Hidden Stories Behind Contemporary Issues shows students how to think about social problems in a new way, by carefully analyzing headline-making issues they are already familiar with and illustrating the connection between individual problems and larger social forces. Each chapter engages students in thinking about the world sociologically by focusing on a specific case study that represents a more general social problem. The chapters always start with the knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and personal experiences that students bring to the case—what author Ira Silver refers to as the conventional wisdom—and effectively demonstrate to them the "first wisdom" of sociology: "things are not what they seem." In each instance, Silver shows how sociologists ask questions, gather empirical data, use multiple perspectives, and consider larger social forces to discover the "hidden stories" behind individual behavior. Included with this title: The password-protected Instructor Resource Site (formally known as SAGE Edge) offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides.