Social Problems: Community, Policy, and Social Action

With an engaging writing style that has made it a popular choice at both 2 and 4-year schools, the Second Edition of Anna Leon-Guerrero’s Social Problems textbook humanizes social problems and addresses their consequences while emphasizing community awareness and action. The text focuses on inequalities, examining how race and ethnicity, gender, social class, sexual orientation, and age determine our life chances. Each chapter includes a discussion of relevant social policies or programs and highlights how individuals or groups have made a difference in their communities. Although the book looks primarily at the United States, global perspectives are interwoven where appropriate. Pedagogical features and a companion study site provide a platform for discussion that encourages critical thinking about the problems presented.

Key Features Retained and New to This Edition

• Coverage of social inequalities is expanded to five new chapters at the start of the text: New Chapters 2 through 6 (“Social Class and Poverty,” “Race and Ethnicity,” “Gender,” “Sexual Orientation,” and “Age and Aging”) focus on the bases of social inequality and how each contributes to our experience and understanding of social problems.
• Four theoretical perspectives (including feminism) are include throughout.
• A new full-color page design and larger trim size allow for better displays of visual content.
• The book features an improved illustration program, including visual essays now introducing each part of the text, and an expanded photo program, with carefully selected images spread throughout the chapters.
• The text has an increased focus on globalization, including more comparative theoretical material and examples in the “Taking a World View” boxes.
• “Voices in the Community” features provide personal stories from people attempting to make a difference in their communities.
• The new "What Does It Mean To Me?" features ask students to personalize the problems and solutions under study.
• The concluding chapter, “Social Problems and Social Action,” identifies ways in which students can become more involved in helping resolve issues in their own communities.
• “Internet and Community Exercises” at the end of each chapter include questions or activities that can be completed individually or by small student groups. These exercises take students out of the classroom, away from the textbook, and into their communities!

Anna Leon-Guerrero is Professor of Sociology at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. She teaches courses in statistics, social theory, and social problems. She is a recipient of the university's Faculty Excellence Award and the K. T. Tang Award for Excellence in Research. She received her PhD in sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles. As a social service program evaluator and consultant, she has focused her research on welfare reform, employment strategies for the working poor, and program assessment. She is also the co-author of Social Statistics for a Diverse Society, and co-editor of Contemporary Readings in Social Problems.