Social Problems Fourth Edition by Joel Best, ISBN-13: 978-0393533040

Description

Social Problems Fourth Edition by Joel Best, ISBN-13: 978-0393533040

[PDF eBook eTextbook]

• Publisher: ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Fourth edition (October 15, 2020)
• Language: ‎ English
• ‎416 pages
• ISBN-10: ‎ 0393533042
• ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0393533040

An engaging, unconventional guide for how to think about social problems.

Table of Contents:

Cover

Publisher’s Notice

Half-title Page

Recent Sociology Titles from W. W. Norton

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Figures

Boxes

A Note to the Reader

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: The Social Problems Process

Two Ways to Define Social Problems

Social Construction

The Basic Framework

The Plan of the Book: The Natural History of Social Problems

Additional Themes

Summary

Chapter 2: Claims

The Rhetoric of Claims

Claims, Their Audiences, and the Social Problems Marketplace

Evolution and Opposition

Cultural Resources

Understanding Claims

Case Study: Battles over Bathrooms

Chapter 3: Activists as Claimsmakers

Framing

Resource Mobilization

Opportunity Structures

The Advantages of Ownership

Activists: Principles and Practicalities

Case Study: Fracking and Social Movements

Chapter 4: Experts as Claimsmakers

Medicalization

The Role of Science

Evidence, Interests, and Advocacy

Officials as Expert Claimsmakers

Expert Claimsmakers in the Social Problems Process

Case Study: Expertise and Opioids

Chapter 5: The Media and Claims

What’s the News?

Changing News Media

Packaging Social Problems in the News

Is it Just Entertainment?

What about Social Media?

The Media’s Impact

The Media in the Social Problems Process

Case Study: Fake News

Chapter 6: Public Reaction

Measuring Public Opinion

Focus Groups and Other Interviews

Using Social Media and Online Searches to Determine Public Opinion

Legends, Jokes, and Other Folklore

The Public’s Role in the Social Problems Process

Case Study: How Public Opinion Changes

Chapter 7: Policymaking

Policy Domains

Pressures on Policymakers

Symbolic Politics and the Rhetoric of Policymaking

Case Study: Popular Hazards and Policymaking

Chapter 8: Social Problems Work

On the Job

Constructing Cases

The Subject’s View

Looking Over Their Shoulders

Everyday Social Problems Work

Case Study: Campuses Deal with Sexual Assault Complaints

Chapter 9: Policy Outcomes

New Claims Based on Policy Evaluation

Actors, Evidence, and Evaluation

The Search for Impartial Evaluations

Ideological Predispositions

Case Study: Walls, Dreamers, and Immigration Policies

Chapter 10: Claims across Space and Time

Comparison

Diffusion

Cycles in Claimsmaking

The Problem of Progress

Extending Our Focus across Space and Time

Case Study: Statues, Flags, and the Reconstruction of Historical Problems

Chapter 11: The Uses of the Constructionist Stance

Is This Stuff Useful?

Glossary

References

Index

Joel Best is a professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware. Best’s research focuses on understanding how and why we become concerned with particular issues at particular moments in time. He’s written about the ways bad statistics creep into public debates and about dubious fears, such as the mistaken belief that poisoned Halloween candy poses a serious threat to our kids. His books include Damned Lies and Statistics, Kids Gone Wild, The Student Loan Mess and Flavor of the Month.

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