Seeing Social Problems: Readings on Contemporary Issues in the United States

Seeing Social Problems: Readings on Contemporary Issues in the United States provides students with engaging, thought-provoking articles that examine a wide array of current social issues, the types of behaviors that perpetuate such problems, and how these issues affect the daily lives of Americans. Students are invited to critically consider how key issues have evolved and changed over time and to devise new ways for society to improve, both as people and as a nation.

The reader is divided into eight sections. Opening sections address socioeconomic inequality and poverty; racial and ethnic inequality; gender inequality and homophobia; and crime. Later sections explore social problems related to medicine and health, families, education, and the environment.

The revised first edition features up-to-date information on several important issues, including race, gender, crime, health care, drug abuse, and pollution. Recent developments related to the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements, Obamacare, and environmental justice are addressed. A new reading concerning the American opioid crisis has also been added.

Developed to inspire critical thought and a greater understanding of contemporary issues, Seeing Social Problems is an ideal resource for courses in sociology.

Brandon Lang earned his Ph.D. in sociology at North Carolina State University. He is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Criminal Justice at Bloomsbury University. Dr. Lang’s areas of interest include the sociology of sports, and community, public, and environmental sociology. His writing has appeared in numerous journals including Culture and Agriculture, Technology in Society, and Journal of Environmental Education. Dr. Lang is a member of the International Sociology of Sport Association and the Eastern Sociological Society.

Molly Monahan Lang earned her Ph.D. in sociology at North Carolina State University. She is an assistant teaching professor of sociology at Penn State Behrend. Dr. Monahan Lang’s research interests include the intersections of race, social class, and gender within social institutions with particular emphasis on marriages and death/dying.