Editor's Choice Custom Crossroads Reader to Accompany Social Problems

Sociological Approach to Social Problems The Promise, C. Wright Mills. What does it mean to think sociologically? The sociological imagination, as described by Mills, requires its practitioners to ask three broad questions: (1) What are the components of the social structure of a society? (2) What is the historical era in which that society is located? and (3) What are the dominant values held by the members of that society? It is only by placing individual within their social and historical context (the intersection of history and biography) that social interaction can be adequately understood. Mills emphasized the importance of the distinction between personal troubles, that reside within the character of the individual, and public issues that are shaped by the larger social structures in which individuals operate. 2. Wealth and Power: The Bias of the System. Follow the Money, Dan Clawson, Alan Neustadtl, and Mark Weller. The authors begin with the assertion that the ability to raise campaign funds is the primary determinant of election outcomes. Corporate donations are singled out for attention. When compared to other interest groups corporations wield more power; give many times more money than other groups; attempt to shape day to day legislative activities rather than just supporting a candidates election; and are decidedly undemocratic organizations. The legislative history of the Clean Air Act is used as an example of how corporations are able to exercise undue influence on the legislative process. The primacy of money in elections not only helps to circumvent the democratic process but it also requires an extraordinary amount of time and effort on the part of candidates to raise these funds. 3. World Population and Global Inequality. Women in the Global Factory, Annette Fuentes and Barbara Ehrenreich. Exportation of light manufacturing jobs from industrialized to Third world countries continues to grow as corporations pursue reduced labor costs. This has led to a dramatic increase in the demand for women''s labor in these countries. Women are the preferred employees because they accept lower pay and are considered more malleable as workers due to patriarchal arrangements in these countries. The effects on women''s status appears mixed. While the factory system both depends on and reinforces patriarchal control, studies also suggest that women are developing a greater sense of personal identity and independence as they become engaged in paid employment. 4. Threats to the Environment. Ties that Bind: Native American Beliefs as a Foundation for Environmental Consciousness Annie L. Booth, And Harvey L. Jacobs. Exploring the possibilities for a sustainable future, this article supports the position that cultural belief systems shape social structure, human relationships, and the relationships humans have with their environment. The authors contrast Native American belief systems which emphasize reciprocity, kinship with all human beings, and living in harmony with the environment, with the belief systems of Western industrial societies. European cultures place more emphasis on individualism, human domination of the environment and separation of the spiritual from the physical. It is these differences that help to explain the lack of ecological consciousness in western societies. 5. Demographic Changes in the United States. Men and Women in the Caregiving Role, Rhonda J.V. Montgomery and Mary McGlenn Datwyler Research on caregiving has documented the primacy of family members as caregivers for the elderly. Women are most often the family members responsible for providing this care. The gendered nature of caregiving and its acceptance as normative by male dominated legislatures have made it easier for policy makers to ignore the need for structural supports. The convergence of several demographic trends which include: the aging of the population; the continued growth in women''s labor force participation; and reduction in custodial care services supported by the health care industry suggest that the problems of caregiving and caregivers will only increase in the future. The authors argue that failure to address these challenges pose serious consequences for the growing number of elderly in the U.S. 6. Urban Problems in the United States. American Social Policy and the Ghetto Underclass, William Julius Wilson. In this article Wilson describes the process of metropolitan deconcentration and the resulting spatial apartheid by race and social class within metropolitan areas. This process produces a downward spiral in cities which includes: further financial disinvestment growing joblessness, increased crime, decreased health and educational services, and decreased revenues for local governments. The experience of economic disadvantage in urban areas translates to the reduced political influence of cities on federal legislation and funding for social programs. 7. Poverty. Media Magic: Making Class Invisible, Gregory Mantsios. Given the magnitude of poverty in the United States and the extraordinary concentration of wealth, how is the perception of the U.S. as an egalitarian society maintained. The author suggests that social class is largely made invisible by the media ignoring the influence and class interests of the wealthy, promoting a vision of a universal middle class, and largely ignoring the hardships experienced by the poor that result from economic deprivation. When the media does cover poverty, the poor are typically treated in the abstractlargely faceless but also often blamed for their deprived circumstances. Political and economic systems that perpetuate economic inequality are largely ignored. 8. Racial and Ethnic Inequality. White Privilege and Male Privilege, Peggy McIntosh. The author confronts the reality of dominant group privilege: the rights and advantages (credibility, acceptance) that accrue to an individual based not on what they have earned or achieved, but on the basis of ascriptionparticularly by race, class, and sex. These privileges serve to maintain relative positions of power, yet at the same time are largely ignored by those who possess them. This illusion serves to maintain the myth of meritocracy. 9. Gender Inequality. Female Sexuality and the Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolfe. The author argues that advertising doesn''t sell sex and beauty. Rather sex is used to sell products by the creation of sexual insecurities and discontent. The beneficiaries of this commodification of human sexuality extend to industries as far reaching as defense. The potentially devastating effects on human interactions affect us all and are largely ignored. 10. Sexual Orientation. The New Republic; Separate but Equal? This editorial questions the expectations of traditional marriage (procreation and the enforcement of gender specific roles) and takes the position that modern marriage is (or should be) an institution intended to support the expression of committed and caring relationships with security and protection. The authors note that this protection should include children when present. Given this modern conception of marriage, the legalization of same sex marriages is not a radical step forward but rather a logical extension of this support to a diverse set of relationships. Domestic partnership legislation is viewed as a poor compromise and criticized as a modern form of separate but equal discrimination, whose primary purpose is to maintain stigma rather than social support. 11. Disability and Ableism. Coming to Terms: Masculinity and Physical Disability, Thomas J. Gerschick and Adam Stephen Miller. The authors explore the intersection of physical disability and hegemonic masculinity, the dominant cultural standards and expectations for men in our society. Three models are offered for coping with this double bind of conflicting identities. The fraEitzen, D. Stanley is the author of 'Editor's Choice Custom Crossroads Reader to Accompany Social Problems', published 2002 under ISBN 9780205392278 and ISBN 020539227X.