Seeing Social Problems: The Hidden Stories Behind Contemporary Issues

Within the last four years, the death of George Floyd brought a new level of urgency to understanding police violence; the world experienced two of the three hottest years on record; drug overdose deaths in the U.S. surpassed 100,000 per year for the first time; the foreign-born percentage of the population became the highest ever; and COVID-19 transformed education, work, and public health.

Seeing Social Problems: The Hidden Stories Behind Contemporary Issues, Second Edition shows students how to think about social problems in a new way, by exploring the connection between their own experiences and larger social forces. The personal relevance of this book’s content is at the forefront of every discussion. Chapters engage students in thinking about the world sociologically by focusing on case studies that represent broader social problems. In each chapter, learning objectives attune students to important concepts. Two sets of discussion questions— “First Impressions” and “What Do You Know Now?” — encourage students to recognize how the chapter has broadened their perspectives. An exploration of social policy at the end of each chapter shows students that how someone understands an issue influences the ways they go about addressing it.

New to the Second Edition:

• New chapter, “LGBTQ+ People and Their Critics,” explores different ways of understanding growing diversity in American society based on gender identity and sexual orientation
• New chapter, “Education and Upward Mobility,” encourages readers to think more expansively about their schooling experiences, starting when they were very young and continuing through college
• New chapter, “Immigration and Border Security,” exposes competing ways of seeing the rising influx of migrants entering the U.S. from Mexico
• New chapter, “Health and the Environment,” draws on discussion about familiar topics including Covid-19, obesity, and climate change
• New chapter, “Technology and Instant Pleasure” motivates students to recognize the wider societal impacts of their frequent usage of mobile devices to make life more convenient

Ira Silver is Professor of Sociology at Framingham State University. He also teaches during the summer at Wellesley College. He is the editor of Social Problems: Readings.