Social Problems: A Down-to-Earth Approach, 13th edition
Title overview
For courses in Social Problems.
A straightforward approach that helps students see the relevance of social problems
Social Problems: A Down-to-Earth Approach explores the major social problems we face today, at home and abroad, with an emphasis on how these issues are relevant to students' lives. Utilizing a consistent chapter structure and a balanced approach, author Jim Henslin seeks to instill in students a lasting sociological perspective that they can take out of the classroom and into their everyday lives.
The 13th Edition offers updated data as well as examples of social problems drawn from recent headlines in order to emphasize the relevance of the course to students' daily lives.
Hallmark features of this title
- Spotlight on Social Research features help students understand how research on social problems is actually done.
- Social Maps allow students to see how social characteristics are distributed among the 50 US states and among the nations of the world.
- A Global Glimpse features focus on international topics such as Japan's Tidal Wave of Elderly and The Giant Roulette Wheel of Environmental Disaster.
- Issues in Social Problems features explore topics including The Gray Panthers and Rape Kits: A Shameful Neglect.
- Technology and Social Problems features delve deeper into topics like Superbugs in the Global Village and Biological Terrorism.
- Thinking Critically about Social Problems features focus on issues such as The Opioid Crisis and Steroids and Athletes.
New and updated features of this title
- UPDATED: All topics, figures, and tables have been updated with the latest information and data in order to provide students with an up-to-date overview of social problems. Examples of fresh topics include:
- How apps connect prostitutes and customers, allowing them to negotiate prices and services
- How marijuana is being used to relieve chronic pain and various medical conditions, including multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, but we don't know marijuana's effects on health
- How rape victims continue to be disbelieved by the legal system
- How a universal basic income might work in the future
- How the Internet, especially online discussion groups for rare diseases, has helped patients gain some control over their medical care
Key features
Highlights of the DIGITAL UPDATE for Revel (available for Fall 2021 classes)
Instructors, contact your sales rep to ensure you have the most recent version of the course.
- NEW: Coverage of recent events and trends includes how the COVID-19 pandemic may make structural causes of poverty more visible (which may lead to greater equality) and how the US suicide rate has jumped 40 percent since the year 2000.
- UPDATED: All figures, tables and interactive maps have been updated with the latest data.
- UPDATED: Many of the text's references have been updated to reflect the most recent information.
Features of Revel for the 13th Edition; published 2019
- Make a Guess interactive graphs allow students to see trends in social life and to make predictions on how they might even affect their own lives.
- Interactive Social Maps illustrate how social problems vary among the states and by regions of the country.
- Hearing from the Author audio clips personalize text content, reinforcing how social problems affect us on a personal and global level.
- Documentary Sociology videos help students connect to the concepts that matter most today.
- Sociology Explained videos illustrate complex sociological concepts in a simplified and entertaining way.
- Interactive Review the Chapter summaries allow students to review the chapter content.
Table of contents
2. Interpreting Social Problems: Aging
3. Social Problems Related to Sexual Behavior
4. Alcohol and Other Drugs
5. Violence in Society: Rape and Murder
6. Crime and Criminal Justice
7. Economic Problems: Poverty and Wealth
8. Racial—Ethnic Relations
9. Inequalities of Gender and Sexual Orientation
10. Medical Care: Physical and Mental Illness
11. The Changing Family
12. Urbanization and Population
13. The Environmental Crisis
14. War, Terrorism, and the Balance of Power
Author bios
About our authors
James M. Henslin, who was born in Minnesota, graduated from high school and junior college in California and from college in Indiana. Awarded scholarships, he earned his Master’s and doctorate degrees in sociology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. After this, he was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health, and spent a year studying how people adjust to the suicide of a family member. His primary interests in sociology are the sociology of everyday life, deviance and international relations. Among his numerous books are Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach (Pearson, available in 3 versions); Social Problems (Pearson); and Down-to-Earth Sociology: Introductory Readings (Free Press). He has also published widely in sociology journals, including Social Problems and American Journal of Sociology.
While a graduate student, Jim Henslin taught at the University of Missouri at St. Louis. After completing his doctorate, he joined the faculty at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, where he is Professor Emeritus of Sociology. His 2 favorite activities are writing and traveling. He especially enjoys visiting and living in other cultures, for this brings him face to face with behaviors and ways of thinking that he cannot take for granted, experiences that “make sociological principles come alive.”