Religion and Social Problems

Although students and scholars of social problems have often acknowledged the role of religion, no thorough examinations of the relation between the two have emerged. This volume fills this gap by providing a definitive work on the role of religion in assessing, constructing, and solving social problems. Contributors chart the relation between religion and social problems, exploring such case studies as the impact of religion on drugs and alcohol use among Muslims, the rising importance that religion is given in social policy, the role of the Orthodox and Catholic churches in tackling social problems in post-communist East Europe, and the contested role of religion in the national and international politics of contemporary Japan. Religion and Social Problems is a broad and path-breaking contribution to the fields of sociology of religion, sociology of social problems, and religious studies.

Titus Hjelm is Lecturer in Finnish Society and Culture at University College London. His main areas of expertise are cultural sociology, sociology of religion, social problems, social theory, media and popular culture. His research focuses on the role of minority religions in contemporary societies and the media treatment of alternative religion. He is currently working on a book on social constructionism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) and has published several books in Finnish and articles in journals such as Social Compass and Journal of Contemporary Religion.