Understanding Social Problems

Mooney, Knox, and Schacht's UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL PROBLEMS uses a theoretically balanced, student-centered approach to provide a comprehensive exploration of social problems. The text progresses from a micro- to macro-level of analysis, focusing first on such problems as illness and health care, drugs and alcohol, and family problems, and then broadening to the larger issues of poverty and inequality, population growth, aging, environmental problems, and conflict around the world. The social problem in each chapter is framed in a global as well as U.S. context. In every chapter, the three major theoretical perspectives are applied to the social problem under discussion, and the consequences of the problem, as well as alternative solutions, are explored. Pedagogical features such as "Animals and Society," "The Human Side," and "Self and Society" enable you to grasp how social problems affect the lives of individuals and apply your understanding of social problems to your own life.

Linda A. Mooney, Ph.D., is an associate professor of sociology at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. In addition to social problems, her specialties include law, criminology, and juvenile delinquency. She has published over 30 professional articles in such journals as Social Forces, Sociological Inquiry, Sex Roles, Sociological Quarterly, and Teaching Sociology, in addition to authoring several books. She has won numerous teaching awards, including the University of North Carolina, Board of Governor's Distinguished Professor for Teaching Award.

David Knox, Ph.D., is professor of sociology at East Carolina University, where he teaches courtship and marriage; marriage and the family; and sociology of human sexuality. He is a marriage and family therapist as well as the author or co-author of 12 books and over 100 professional articles.

Caroline Schacht, M.A. in Sociology and M.A. in Child Development and Family Relations, is Instructor Emeritus at East Carolina University. She retired from a career teaching sociology to become a certified Romana's Pilates instructor. She is co-author of several textbooks and balances her time writing and revising, teaching Pilates in her home studio, and writing children's verses and songs for her grandchildren.