Kendall's Social Problems in a Diverse Society Author's Choice Crossroads Reader

1. Nickel-and-Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, Barbara Ehrenreich. Accompanies Chapter 2, Wealth and Poverty: U.S> and Global Economic Inequalities. Ehrenreich effectively captures what it means to be one of the working poor who, despite full-time employment, cannot make ends meet. The experiences set forth in this article highlight the persistent problem of economic inequality and its social consequences. 2. White Racism: A Sociology of Human Waste, Joe R. Feagin, et al. Accompanies Chapter 3, Racial and Ethnic Inequality. Feagin and Vera describe how the widely-held ideologies and practices of white Americans who believe that they are not racist actually can support patterns of racism and discrimination. The topic of white racism is particularly relevant to our understanding of why racial and ethnic inequality persists in the United States. 3. Running in Place, Virginia Valian. Accompanies Chapter 4, Gender Inequality. Valian''s discussion of the gains that women have made in the United States makes us aware that, although improvements in the economic and social conditions of some women have occurred, many other women have made few gains as they, in essence, have found themselves running in place. 4. The World Turns Gray: How Global Aging Will Challenge the World''s Economic Well-Being, Phillip J. Longman. Accompanies Chapter 5, Inequality Based on Age. As Longman''s article points out, the age of the population is an important topic on a global basis. The combination of a lower birth rate and higher life expectancies in high-income countries will produce problems for the elderly, who will have only a limited number of younger workers to contribute to their support during their retirement years. 5. Proceeding with Gay Unions, The Christian Century. Accompanies Chapter 6, Inequality Based on Sexual Orientation. This article from The Christian Century discusses one of the issues that is central to the topic of gay rights: Should same-sex unions be legal in this country? The question raises larger issues about equal treatment under the law for all people, regardless of their sexual orientation. 6. Workaday World, Crack Economy, Philippe Bourgois. Accompanies Chapter 8, Alcohol and Other Drugs. Bourgois'' study of the sale of crack in the barrio raises important issues not only about substance abuse but also about the lack of economic opportunities for many people who experience racial and ethnic prejudice and reside in economically depleted central cities. 7. Cracking Down on Corporate Crime, Russell Mokhiber. Accompanies Chapter 9, Crime and Criminal Justice. Mokhiber''s discussion of cracking down on corporate crime makes us aware that, unlike many people''s perceptions about crime, great economic and social losses occur through the criminal conduct of individuals in the top tiers of society. 8. Healing in a Hurry: Hospitals in the Managed-Care Age, Suzanne Gordon, et al. Accompanies Chapter 10, Health Care: Problems of Physical and Mental Illness. Gordon''s examination of hospitals in the era of managed care provides us with the opportunity to look at larger concerns about how health care is delivered and financed in this country. The future of U.S. health care institutions and the well-being of all our residents is linked to such concerns as how we pay for medical treatment. 9. The Way We Weren''t: The Myth and Reality of the Traditional Family, Stephanie Coontz. Accompanies Chapter 11, The Changing Family. Coontz provides interesting insights on our beliefs about families, especially the current notion that families were somehow better in the good old days. By challenging this myth, the article opens up new ways for us to think about today''s families. 10. The Hispanic Dropout Mystery: A Staggering 30 Percent Leave School, Far More Than Blacks or Whites. Why?, Susan Headden. Accompanies Chapter 12, Problems in Education. Headden discusses an important concern regarding equal access to education when she examines the causes and consequences of the high dropout (or push out) rate for Latinas and Latinos in U.S. public education. 11. Sweatshops Behind the Labels: The Social Responsibility Gap, Laurie Udesky. Accompanies Chapter 13, Problems in Politics and the Global Economy. Top clothing labels in U.S. department stores may represent the toil of workers in sweatshops on the global assembly line. When we think of the economic and political implications of the manufacture of products and how we consume them, we can no longer view our purchasing decisions as isolated from global economic conditions. 12. Television Violence: The Power and the Peril, George Gerbner. Accompanies Chapter 14, Problems in the Media. Gerbner has studied the problem of violence on television for many years, and his article stimulates us to think about the influence that the many forms of contemporary media have on people''s thinkingand, in some cases, on their actions. 13. Just Transportation: New Solutions for Old Problems, Robert Bullard. Accompanies Chapter 15, Population and the Environmental Crisis. Bullard, an authority on the social aspects of environmental problems, describes how we might cope with traffic problems and improve the quality of our environment at the same time. 14. America''s Cities: They Can Yet Be Resurrected, The Economist. Complements Chapter 16, Urban Problems. The decline of American cities is discussed in this article from The Economist, which shows how many problems in our cities are longstanding and in need of relevant solutions as soon as possible.Kendall, Diana is the author of 'Kendall's Social Problems in a Diverse Society Author's Choice Crossroads Reader', published 2002 under ISBN 9780205378395 and ISBN 0205378390.