Troubled Times

Description

Lauer and Lauer's provocative anthology, Troubled Times: Readings in Social Problems, introduces students to a wide-ranging spectrum of social problems in the United States. The editors have selected articles that are informative, stimulating, and particularly relevant to student's lives.

Students are encouraged to think critically about social problems through introductions for each unit and each article. Each section's thought-provoking introduction provides a general overview and grounds each selection in a larger context, which helps readers understand the relevance of the selections that follow. These introductions also identify and explain central issues, key concepts, and relationships among topics.

Troubled Times: Readings in Social Problems offers the following benefits to instructors as well as students:

*A focus on macro and micro factors involved in social problems. This volume takes into account the interplay of social structural and social psychological factors for each problem covered.
*Personal application and involvement projects. At the end of each section is a project for personal application and involvement. These projects guide students in thinking about both how their lives may be affected by the problems discussed and how to engage in further research on their own.
* Stimulates critical thinking and class discussion. Each selection begins with a focus question and concludes with critical thinking questions.
*A focus on diversity. Most social problems have a severe impact on women and racial/ethnic minorities. The selections chosen in this reader reflect an emphasis on gender and race/ethnicity issues.
*A discussion of solutions as well as problems. Several articles include discussion of possible solutions. Additionally, the Epilogue offers some guiding principles for beginning to deal with social problems.

Table of Contents

Part I: Troubled Institutions: Problems in the System
The Government and Power
1. The $150 Billion "Welfare" Recipients: U.S. Corporations, Charles M. Sennott
2. The FBI and Covert Repression, Kevin Gotham
3. Can Local Governments Solve All Our Problems?, Rob Gurwitt
The Economy and Work
4. Overworked and Underemployed, Barry Bluestone and Stephen Rose
5. Race and Gender Wage Gaps, Catherine J. Weinberger
6. When Workers Become Victims
a. More Downsized Workers Are Returning as Rentals, Louis Uchitelle
b. Fat and Mean: The Corporate Squeeze of Working Americans, David Gordon
Education
7. Quality Counts, But Do We Have It?, Education Week
8. The Fearful, the Truant and the Suspended/Expelled, Sarah Ingersoll and Donni LeBoeuf
9. The Computer Delusion, Todd Oppenheimer
10. School Vouchers--Panacea or Pandora's Box?, Joseph S. C. Simplicio
The Family
11. Who's Minding the Baby?, Susan Walzer
12. The Children of Divorce, Demie Kurz
13. Violence Against Children
a. Answers to Frequently Asked Questions on Child Abuse and Neglect, National Child Abuse and Neglect Data Systems
b. The Cycle of Violence Revisited, Cathy Spatz Widom
Health Care
14. Health Against Wealth: Problems of HMOs, George Anders
15. Minority Health, Dale F. Pearson
16. Teens and Tobacco: Facts Not Fiction, Centers for Disease Control
The Environment
17. Pesticides: Nowhere to Hide, Martha Honey
18. Can We Stop Global Warming?, John Harte
19. Environmental Racism, Timothy Maher
Part II: Troubled Groups: Problems or Inequality
Gender
20. Sex Discrimination and Affirmative Action, Madeline Heilman
21. How Beauty Myths Damage Women's Health, Jane Sprague Zones
22. Running in Place, Virginia Valian
Race and Ethnicity
23. The Land That Never Has Been Yet, Anthony M. Platt
24. The Hispanic Dropout Mystery, Susan Headden
25. The Covert War: Stealth Racism in America, Jerelyn Eddings
26. Affirmative Action Works!, Robert C. Davidson and Ernest L. Lewis
Poverty
27. Images of Poverty: The Disreputable Poor, Judith A. Chafel
28. A Profile of the Working Poor, Samantha Quan
29. Education as a Weapon in the Hands of the Restless Poor, Earl Shorris
Part III: Troubled Behavior: Problems of Deviance
Abuse of Alcohol and Other Drugs
30. Perceived College Drinking Norms and Alcohol Abuse, H. Wesley Perkins and Henry Wechsler
31. Women Who Smoke , Centers for Disease Control
32. Adolescence: The Danger Zone Years for Substance Abuse, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University
Crime and Delinquency
33. Sex Offenses and Offenders, Lawrence A. Greenfeld
34. Controlling Crime Before It Happens, J. David Hawkins
35. The Impact of Federal Sentencing Reforms on African Americans, Marvin D. Free, Jr.
Epilogue: Can Social Problems Be Solved?