Poetic inquiry, or poetic research, is a literary and performance arts–based approach that combines arts and humanities with scientific inquiry to enhance social research. This groundbreaking collection shows how using poetry from diverse traditions in the Global South can promote innovative research on pressing social justice issues such as inclusion and decolonization. To that end, each    More >

Reflecting a concern with the high rates of gendered and sexual violence in South Africa, the authors of this innovative book explore the experiences of and identifications with gender and sexuality of a diverse group of young people, as well as how those experiences/identifications intersect with race, class, age, and place. The research presented in the book is based on the use of photovoice,    More >

During the Nuremberg Medical Trial (1946-1947), the perpetrators of the Nazi euthanasia program were barely prosecuted. The program, also known as Aktion T4, was essentially a campaign of mass murder, designed to cleanse society of individuals who were deemed undesirable: incurably ill, physically or mentally disabled, or simply old. Emmeline Burdett's close reading of the trial transcript and    More >

Drawing on her own experiences, Tumi Mampane provides deep insights into the daily lives of women in a South African Pentecostal community. Equally, she relates those insights to Black/African feminist and womanist theory. Her autoethnographic study exposes the complexities and contestations that exist not only in Charismatic discourses, but also in the relationships that the community's women    More >

Today's headlines are rife with reports of hate crimes, domestic terrorism, drug abuse, police malfeasance, and many other profound social problems. Equally, there are discussions, often contentious, about how best to respond to the issues raised. Stacy Burns and Mark Peyrot explore government efforts to address social problems in the context of the criminal justice system.       More >

One of the most durable myths of US political economy is that we take from the rich and give to the poor—penalizing the rich for their hard work and rewarding the undeserving. Mark Mattern turns that story on its head. Documenting the everyday, institutionalized ways that income and wealth are transferred upward in the United States, Mattern shows how in fact the bottom subsidizes the    More >

What is diversity? How does prejudice show itself? What are the societal consequences of discrimination? Has anything changed over the past 50 years? These are just some of the questions addressed in Understanding Diversity, an introduction to the issues and controversies surrounding concepts of class, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. This new edition has been    More >

The new edition of this acclaimed text is an up-to-date introduction to the key themes, research, and controversies in disability studies.                  The authors' innovative approach offers thorough coverage of:     • diverse theoretical perspectives     • historical context, from    More >

The very existence of homosexual working-class men in South Africa has long-been suppressed—or worse. Iain Edwards and Marc Epprecht have recovered representative stories of these men who were previously deemed "outside of history." Based on a previously unpublished primary source from the early twentieth century, as well as unique interviews with men remembering their lives in    More >

For centuries, people have been drawn to true stories of crime and the justice system. But what began primarily as a literary genre focusing on murder has evolved. From docuseries and podcasts to Facebook groups and events such as CrimeCon, modern true crime has become diverse, complex, and interactive. In Fear, Justice, and Modern True Crime, Dawn Cecil examines the genre to uncover the messages    More >

A large portion of South Africa's population remains double rooted—many South Africans live in an urban area, but also have access to a rural homestead to which they periodically return and often retire. The authors of Migrant Labour After Apartheid explore this rural-urban reality, showing that internal migrancy continues to have profound impacts on social cohesion, family life, gender    More >

Choice Outstanding Academic Book! Who is "multiracial"? And who decides? Addressing these two fundamental questions, Melinda Mills builds on the work of Heather Dalmage to explore the phenomenon—and consequences—of racial border patrolling by strangers, family members, friends, and even multiracial people themselves.    More >

Mass killings. Gang violence. Street crimes. Suicides. Accidental shootings. The United States is enduring a literal epidemic of gun violence. Howard Rahtz, drawing on decades of experience as a police officer all too familiar with the horrors that guns can cause, delves deeply into the nature and impact of this epidemic. Rahtz explores each element of the triangle of ability, desire, and    More >

For many decades and for many reasons, people who are homeless have chosen to live in camps or other makeshift settings, even when shelters are available. Is this an act of resistance? Of self-preservation? Or are they simply too addicted, too mentally ill, or too criminal to adapt to the rules and regulations of shelter life? To address these questions, Michele Wakin explores the evolution of    More >

How do individuals move from being homeless to finding safe, stable, and secure places to live? Can we recreate the conditions that helped them most? What policies are needed to support what worked—and to remove common obstacles? Addressing these questions, Jamie Rife and Donald Burnes start from the premise that the most important voices in efforts to end homelessness are the ones most    More >

Choice Outstanding Academic Book! Rosalyn Darling offers a sweeping examination of disability and identity, parsing the shifting forces that have shaped individual and societal understandings of ability and impairment across time. Darling focuses on the relationship between societal views and the self-conceptions of people with mental and physical impairments. She also illuminates the impact    More >

While existing scholarship addresses the influence of religious affiliation on political attitudes and behaviors in the United States, a number of puzzling questions remain unanswered. In response, Matthew Miles demonstrates that a more complete conceptualization of religion as a social identity can help to explain many of those puzzles. As he explores the impact, both positive and negative, of    More >

There has been considerable controversy and debate in South Africa (and elsewhere) in recent years over an apparent crisis of the family, including appeals for a return to "traditional" family values. To promote a better understanding of this supposed crisis, Family Matters draws on public opinion data to explore the diverse realities of contemporary family life in South Africa and    More >

Winner of the American Society of Criminology’s Division on Women & Crime Book Award! The underlying argument of this groundbreaking study is this: Sexual orientation and gender identity influence how sexual assault is experienced, how it is perceived, and ultimately, how victims (and perpetrators) are treated by the criminal justice system. Focusing much of their work on the queer    More >

Homelessness once was considered an aberration. Today it is a normalized feature of US society.  It is also, argue Elizabeth Beck and Pamela Twiss, an industry: the embrace of neoliberal policies and piecemeal efforts to address the problem have ensured a steady production of homeless people, as well as a plethora of disjointed social services that often pathologize individuals instead of    More >

In the United States today, 50 million people don't have enough food. How is this possible in one of the world's wealthiest countries? Why hasn’t the problem been solved? Is it simply an economic issue? Challenging conventional wisdom, the authors of Hunger in the Land of Plenty explore the causes and consequences of food insecurity; assess some of the major policies and programs    More >

As individuals who historically have faced multiple forms of oppression, queer people of color often find themselves struggling to "fit in." What impact does this have on their sociopolitical involvement within their communities of color? Within the queer community? And to what effect? Based on one of the largest surveys to date of African American, Latina/o, Asian American, and Pacific    More >

Fully revised and expanded to reflect more than a decade of new developments and data, the second edition of this widely acclaimed book presents an up-to-date, comprehensive portrait of the second largest Latino group in the United States. Edna Acosta-Belén and Carlos Santiago trace the trajectory of the Puerto Rican experience from the early colonial period, through a series of waves of    More >

Women who use social media are often subjected to blatant sexual harassment, facing everything from name calling to threats of violence. Aside from being disturbing, what does this abuse tell us about gender and sexual norms? And can we use the Internet to resist, even transform, destructive misogynistic norms? Exploring the language of shaming and silencing women in the cybersphere, Tania    More >

New technology has offered the public the opportunity to witness police use of force far more frequently than in the past—and has brought into sharp focus a number of big questions. Where does police power to use force come from? How have the federal courts ruled on the subject?  What sort of guidelines have police departments given their officers, and are they appropriate guidelines?    More >

The authors of Young Families present an unparalleled view of the realities of teenage pregnancy in South Africa. Drawing on empirical data, multilevel approaches, and interdisciplinary perspectives on the dynamics that underpin young peoples' experiences of having and caring for a child, they explore the contexts in which young families are constituted and shaped, as well as the kinds of    More >

What is it about basketball that makes it "the black man’s game"? And what about pickup basketball in particular: can it tell us something about the state of blackness in the United States? Reflecting on these questions, Rafik Mohamed presents pickup games as a text of the political, social, and economic struggles of African American men. In the process, he tells a story about    More >

Choice Outstanding Academic Book! What is the lived experience of previously healthy older adults as they face disability in late life, and how is disability assimilated in their identity? How do prevailing practices facilitate—or limit—options for elders living with new disabilities? To address these questions, Jeffrey Kahana and Eva Kahana uniquely synthesize disability and    More >

Though a majority of mothers of young children are employed outside the home, countless articles have been devoted to anecdotes about highly educated women in high-status occupations "opting out" of the labor force. Are mothers in these occupations in fact the most likely to opt out or reduce their work hours? Do race, ethnicity, or age of children play a role? Addressing these questions    More >

What explains the well-documented racial disparities in rates of homicide and other acts of criminal violence in the United States? Critically confronting the conventional narratives that purport to answer this question, the authors of Roots of African American Violence offer an alternative framework—one that acknowledges the often hidden cultural diversity and within-race ethnocentrism    More >

Exploring a paradox, Shawn Bingham and Sara Green show how humor has been used both to challenge traditional views of disability and to reinforce negative stereotypes and social inequalities. Seriously Funny ranges from ancient Greek dramas to medieval court jesters to contemporary comedy, from stage performances to the experiences of daily life. Rich with insights into issues of identity and    More >

Despite widespread recognition that the majority of homeless women suffer from severe mental and emotional trauma, our healthcare system has essentially left them untreated—other than to mask their symptoms with psychiatric drugs. Why? And what can be done about it? Addressing this issue, Laura Huey and Rose Ricciardelli not only present an integrated analysis of  the ways that the    More >

Despite billions of government dollars spent in the attempt, we are no closer than we were three decades ago to solving the problem of homelessness. Why? Tackling these questions, the authors of Ending Homelessness explore the complicated and often dysfunctional relationship between efforts to address homelessness and the realities on the street.    More >

Choice Outstanding Academic Book! Marvin Free and Mitch Ruesink reveal the distinctive role that gender dynamics so often play in the miscarriage of justice.        Examining more than 160 cases involving such charges as homicide, child abuse, and drug trafficking, the authors explore systemic failures in both policing and prosecution. They also highlight the    More >

Though often overlooked in heated debates, nearly 1.8 million undocumented immigrants are under the age of 18. How do immigration policies shape the lives of these young people? How do local and state laws that are seemingly unrelated to undocumented communities negatively affect them? Marisol Clark-Ibáñez delivers an intimate look at growing up as an undocumented Latino immigrant,    More >

Choice Outstanding Academic Book! In this investigation of some 350 wrongful convictions of African American men, Marvin Free and Mitch Ruesink critically examine how issues of race undercut the larger goals of our criminal justice system. Free and Ruesink expand the focus of wrongful conviction studies to include not only homicide, but also sexual assault, drug dealing, and nonviolent    More >

Does everyone in the US have an equal chance to "make it"?  What explains the enduring power of racism and sexism? How does our sociopolitical system generate inequality? These are just a few of the questions explored in this accessible introduction to the complex problem of social stratification. Kasturi DasGupta clearly explains the social and economic mechanisms that serve to    More >

Is bullying an innocent part of growing up ... or a serious problem requiring large-scale policy remedies? What is behind our rapidly changing perceptions of  "acceptable" behavior? And when is the remedy worse than the problem? In their in-depth view of school bullying, Jeffrey Cohen and Robert Brooks navigate between empirical evidence and breathless media accounts to make sense    More >

Jessica Pardee documents and examines the experiences of low-income African American women during Hurricane Katrina to uncover the ways that race, class, and gender shape the experiences of disasters. Drawing on intimate interviews to explore the complex challenges that these women faced in the course of the hurricane and its aftermath, Pardee reveals how, with so few material resources, they    More >

With more than a million immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean, Miami, Florida, boasts the highest proportion of foreign-born residents of any US city. Charting the rise of Miami as a global city, Elizabeth Aranda, Sallie Hughes, and Elena Sabogal provide a panoramic study of the changing dynamics of the immigration experience.             More >

Nicholas Guittar draws on deeply personal interviews with young people to enhance our understanding of "coming out," revealing the changing dynamics of sexual identity. Guittar explores how mainstream norms continue to assert their influence over those with nonnormative sexualities. He also highlights the wide spectrum of coming out experiences. His important work sheds light on why,    More >

A half-century ago, women comprised only a tiny fraction of practicing attorneys. Today, nearly half of law school graduates are female. Phyllis Kitzerow explores the experiences of women in the legal profession over the past fifty years, charting the sometimes surprising impact of shifting social norms on pathways to professional and personal success.            More >

Ice. Methedrine. Crank. Crystal. Whatever its guise, the social and political contexts of methamphetamine share a certain uniqueness. Nicholas Parsons chronicles the history and mythology of methamphetamine in the United States from the 1940s—when it was hailed as a wonder drug—to the present. In an intriguing analysis, he also makes an important contribution to our understanding of    More >

Privacy, mobility, dignity—living in a vehicle offers many advantages over life in a shelter or on the street. Michele Wakin broadens our understanding of homelessness by exploring the growing phenomenon of vehicle living and how it differs from other forms of makeshift housing.     Incorporating both quantitative data and ethnographic work in California, Wakin takes us into    More >

Why do so many school antiviolence programs backfire? And why do policymakers keep making the same mistakes? The authors of Responding to School Violence examine the pervasive rise of school security measures since the Columbine shootings, highlighting the unintended consequences of policymaking too often shaped by fear and sensationalism. Probing an array of now ubiquitous tactics and    More >

Gilbert Mireles explores the legendary United Farm Workers' campaign to organize laborers—predominantly Latino immigrants—in California's strawberry industry. Tracing the UFW's actions from the picking fields to the world of government offices and corporate boardrooms, Mireles shows how the very traits that made the union such a successful advocate for farm workers also    More >

What does it mean to be gay, lesbian—or anyone else considered a sexual "other"—in the arena of competitive sports? With what consequences? The authors of Sexual Minorities in Sports shed light on the dynamics of sexual prejudice in venues ranging from high school athletics to the Olympics and the major leagues. Case studies of the experiences of LGBT athletes, coaches, and    More >

Heather Ridolfo and Brian Ward explore the experiences of people with impaired mobility, enhancing our understanding of why some embrace a disabled identity, why others reject it, and the personal and societal implications of both choices. Drawing on a combination of intimate interviews and statistical data, the authors unpack the ways that physical and social barriers shape personal ideas of    More >

A weary-looking man stands at an intersection, backpack at his feet. Curled up nearby is a mixed-breed dog, unfazed by the passing traffic. The man holds a sign that reads, "Two old dogs need help. God bless." What's happening here?         Leslie Irvine breaks new ground in the study of homelessness by investigating the frequently noticed, yet    More >

Internet addiction. Cell-phone-distracted drivers. Teen suicide. Economic recession. The health risks of trans fats. The carefully selected collection of case studies in Making Sense of Social Problems is designed to help students understand and critically evaluate a wide range of contemporary social issues. The cases are organized to highlight a series of key elements:        More >

Choice Outstanding Academic Book! Claims of a postracial society notwithstanding, there are enormous and even expanding differences in the level of assets owned by various racial and ethnic groups—and black families are vastly overrepresented among the asset poor. Lori Martin provides an in-depth exploration of the causes and consequences of racial wealth inequality. Drawing on both    More >

Erin Heil explores the global problem of human trafficking in the context of a small Florida town—one typical of the many rural communities that confront modern day slavery in their own backyards. Drawing on two years of interviews and observation, Heil lays out the dynamics that allow both agricultural and sexual forced labor to flourish. She also highlights community antitrafficking    More >

Choice Outstanding Academic Book! Whose fault is homelessness? Thirty years ago the problem exploded as a national crisis, drawing the attention of activists, the media, and policymakers at all levels—yet the homeless population endures to this day, and arguably has grown. David Wagner offers a major reconsideration of homelessness in the US, casting a critical eye on how we as a society    More >

If a church resists rules, rituals, and dogma, what holds it together? Josh Packard explores the inner workings of the Emerging Church, revealing how a movement that rejects organizational trappings and embraces a do-it-yourself ethic has managed to create a distinctive place for itself at the margins of mainstream Christianity.         Packard demystifies the    More >

Bronwen Lichtenstein draws on cases around the world to illustrate how sexual epidemics continue to be shaped by powerful forces of race, gender, and the lingering consequences of history. Illuminating the continuity of ideas and dynamics that affect both individual behavior and public health responses, Lichtenstein reveals a vicious interplay between the stigmas of social status and the    More >

Judith Grant explores the experiences of men who grapple with drug and alcohol abuse, illuminating the interplay between individual identity and social environment that shapes the processes of addiction and recovery. Grant draws on the voices of the men themselves as she traces and analyzes their paths to both addiction and desistance. Documenting the full sweep of their journeys, she also    More >

Roddrick Colvin assesses the impact of lesbian and gay police officers on law enforcement in the US and the UK, as well as the policies that enable a diverse work environment. Colvin tracks the evolution of police agencies toward being more "gay friendly" both as employers and as service providers. He also provides insights into the day-to-day barriers and opportunities that lesbian    More >

Natural disasters push ordinary gender disparities to the extreme—leaving women not only to deal with a catastrophe's aftermath, but also at risk for greater levels of domestic violence, displacement, and other threats to their security and well-being. Elaine Enarson presents a comprehensive assessment, encompassing both theory and practice, of how gender shapes disaster vulnerability    More >

How are guns used and viewed by criminals? Where do criminals obtain guns? And how do laws make firearms more or less accessible? Confronting these contentious questions, Guns, Violence, and Criminal Behavior offers a comprehensive exploration of the social processes surrounding illegal firearm use and criminal behavior.  The authors draw on in-depth interviews with felons convicted of    More >

Choice Outstanding Academic Book! "Why didn't she resist?" "Why is he telling us only now?" "Why can't she move on?" Unpacking the questions that cast victims as deviants, Jennifer Dunn critically examines why we stigmatize survivors of rape, battering, incest, and clergy abuse—and how they reclaim their identities. Dunn explores the shifting    More >

It is often said that sex sells, but who pays the price? Jennifer Wesely probes the sources and consequences of sexualization in girls' and women's lives. Offering new insights into an enduring problem, she documents the increasingly pervasive and powerful nature of raunch culture and demonstrates how females are being sexualized in ways that are more extreme and damaging than ever    More >

Why do affluent, upwardly mobile college students—who have everything to lose and little to gain—choose to sell drugs? Why do law enforcement officers largely overlook drug dealing on college campuses? With rich, lively details, A. Rafik Mohamed and Erik Fritsvold deliver unprecedented insight into the world of college drug dealers—and offer an important corrective to the    More >

Jeff Torlina challenges the conventional wisdom about the attitudes of blue-collar men toward their work. Torlina highlights the voices of pipe fitters, welders, carpenters, painters, locomotive assemblers, and factory workers to reveal the complexities—and advantages—of working-class life. This book is a penetrating critique of many commonly held assumptions, and a compelling case    More >

What does it mean for an Asian American to be part white—or part black? Bruce Hoskins probes the experience of biracial Asian Americans, revealing the ways that our discourse about multiracial identities too often reinforces racial hierarchies. Hoskins explores the everyday lives of people of Asian/white and Asian/black heritage to uncover the role of our society's white-black    More >

In this exploration of intimate relationships between people with physical disabilities and those without, Sarah Smith Rainey shatters the myth of sexless, burdensome partnerships—and in its place reveals a rich and rewarding continuum of emotional and physical intimacies. Rainey draws on interviews, autobiographies, and films to show how disabled/nondisabled couples not only build    More >

Winner of the Midwest Sociological Society Distinguished Book Award, 2013! Is a teenage violent offender a dangerous predator—or a vulnerable innocent that we should rescue from a life of crime? J. William Spencer probes our ambivalent response to youth violence to show how deeply entwined issues of crime, age, race, and class distort our understanding of an important social    More >

A person may be legally blind, yet not "blind enough" to qualify for social services. Beth Omansky explores the lives of legally blind people to show how society responds to those who don’t fit neatly into the disabled/nondisabled binary. Probing the experience of education, rehabilitation, and work, as well as the more intimate spheres of religion, family, and romantic    More >

How has the dramatic influx of Latino populations in the US South challenged and changed traditional conceptions of race? Are barriers facing Latinos the same as those confronted by African Americans? The authors of Being Brown in Dixie use the Latino experience of living and working in the South to explore the shifting complexities of race relations. Systematically considering such central issues    More >

Do Tupperware parties and Mary Kay sales empower individual women, or do they exploit personal relationships for corporate gain? Looking through the overlapping lenses of gender, work, and culture, Susan Williams and Michelle Bemiller critically explore the world of party plan sales.                            More >

Is postraciality just around the corner? How realistic are the often-heard pronouncements that mixed-race identity is leading the United States to its postracial future? In his provocative analysis, Rainier Spencer illuminates the assumptions that multiracial ideology in fact shares with concepts of both white supremacy and antiblackness. Spencer links the mulatto past with the mulatto present    More >

In his masterful study of the relationship between refugees and the United States, covering seven decades of immigration history, David Haines shows how both the refugees and their new communities have struggled with national and ethnic identities, and also the effect that this struggle has had on US institutions and attitudes.    More >

Women and minorities have entered higher-paying occupations, but their overall earnings still lag behind those of white men. Why? Looking nationwide at workers across all employment levels and occupations, Robert Kaufman examines the unexpected ways that prejudice and workplace discrimination continue to plague the labor market. Kaufman probes the mechanisms by which race and sex groups are    More >

Why do some people get ahead in the workplace, while others, equally qualified, fall behind? Rochelle Parks-Yancy uses the experience of African American workers across the US to reveal how the forces of inequality and social capital shape long-term occupational success. Parks-Yancy's mixed-methods approach probes the ways that people find jobs, lose jobs, and get promoted, illuminating the    More >

Although millions of people are affected each year by brain injuries, what it is like to live with these injuries is often misunderstood. Laura Lorenz delves into the experience of acquired brain injury (ABI) survivors to reveal how they make sense of their changed circumstances—and how social policies and medical expectations can enhance, or detract from, their quality of life. As she    More >

Winner of the SSSI Charles Horton Cooley Award! Has constructionism become a victim of its own success? Scott Harris argues that, as more scholars adopt the approach, its key concepts are being used in differing and even contradictory ways—thus undercutting the vitality of its application as a research tool. To help clear the waters, he critically examines current debates and delivers a    More >

In their compelling examination of what it means to be truly at home on the street, Jason Wasserman and Jeffrey Clair argue that programs and policies addressing homeless people too often serve only to alienate them. Wasserman and Clair delve into the complex realities of homelessness to paint a vivid picture of individuals—not cases or pathologies—living on the street and of their    More >

This new anthology offers a comprehensive overview of the essential topics in juvenile delinquency and justice. The selections encompass both landmark scholarship and cutting-edge research to expose students to a wide range of theoretical and methodological approaches. Thematic section introductions and editors’ notes provide context and draw attention to how a sociological perspective can    More >

Can a recovery program like Alcoholics Anonymous inadvertently discourage women from seeking treatment? Are there ways that it can more effectively contribute to their sobriety? Combining individual personal narratives with statistical data, Jolene Sanders offers valuable insight into how women adapt the twelve-step program and interact with the masculine culture of AA in ways that allow them to    More >

In this comprehensive introduction to the study of substance use and abuse, the authors explore both the personal and the societal consequences of alcohol and drug problems. A series of provocative chapters also helps students to navigate the unique problems facing women, adolescents, college students, the elderly, racial minorities, and the GLBT community. Trends in diagnosis, treatment,    More >

Why do well-educated young professionals engage in frequent and intensive drug use at dance clubs? And how do they protect themselves from drug-related illnesses and involvement with the criminal justice system? Dina Perrone's vivid ethnographic research on New York City "club kids" illuminates their distinctive subculture, describes their patterns of drug use, and explores the    More >

Living Our Religions sheds important light on the lives of Hindu and Muslim American women of South Asian origin. As the authors reveal their diverse and culturally dynamic religious practices, describe the race, gender, and ethnic boundaries that they encounter, and document how they resist and challenge these boundaries, they cut through the myths and ethnocentrism of popular portrayals to    More >

What happens to long-term employees when their jobs are unexpectedly eliminated? In this richly detailed study of a major layoff and its aftermath, Kenneth Root and Rosemarie Park address head-on the ramifications of job loss for older workers. The authors follow the experiences of 173 factory workers—from first thoughts on being forced out of work to reflections several years later.    More >

Susan Dewey draws on her field research in Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and India—where she spoke with actors ranging from bar workers in Bombay to US embassy employees in Armenia to senior officials at international NGOs—to shed light on the trade in women’s bodies and efforts to stop it. In her rich ethnographic study, she focuses on the structural flaws in place that allow,    More >

With rising numbers of immigrants of color in the United States, sheer demographic change has long promised—falsely, it now seems—to solve the "race problem." Directly connecting the issues of race relations and immigrant incorporation, Beth Merenstein sheds light on what the changing contours of the US's racial and ethnic makeup mean for our dearly held concept of    More >

How is the racial divide in US society reflected in the practices of the nation's criminal justice system? Documenting a persistent pattern of institutionalized racial and ethnic discrimination at every stage of the system, the authors focus on issues of policing, the adult and juvenile court systems, prisons, the application of the death penalty, the science of forensics, and the incidence of    More >

In this thought-provoking analysis, George Yancey reevaluates the controversial "contact hypothesis" as he explores if and when interracial contact can combat the racial animosity and inequality permeating US society. Yancey draws on quantitative and qualitative investigations of interracial religious congregations, families, and friendships to demonstrate that extensive interactions    More >

The experiences and voices of multiracial individuals are challenging current categories of race, profoundly altering the meaning of racial identity and in the process changing the cultural fabric of the nation. Exploring this new reality, the authors of Mixed Messages examine what we know about multiracial identities—and the implications of those identities for fundamental issues of justice    More >

What is multiracialism—and what are the theoretical consequences and practical costs of asserting a multiracial identity? Arguing that the multiracial movement bolsters, rather than subverts, traditional categories of race, Rainier Spencer critically assesses current scholarship in support of multiracial identity.    More >

Now priced for course use! In the United States today, quality of life depends heavily on where one lives—but high levels of racial segregation in residential communities make it frustratingly difficult to disentangle the effects of place from those of race. Gregory Squires and Charis Kubrin tackle these issues head-on, exploring how inequities resulting from the intersection of race and    More >

The widespread presence of successful African Americans in virtually all walks of life has led many in the United States to believe that the races are now on an equal footing—and that color blindness is the most appropriate way to deal with racial difference. In strong contrast, Benjamin Bowser argues that the seemingly comparable black and white middle classes, while inextricably linked, in    More >

Although a regular occurrence for millions of women, menstruation is typically represented in US culture as an illness or a shameful episode—to the benefit of an entire industry. Elizabeth Kissling reveals how corporations capitalize on long-standing negative attitudes about menses to sell solutions for nonexistent problems. The commercialization of menstruation, Kissling acknowledges, has    More >

They are part of rebel factions, national armies, paramilitaries, and other armed groups and entrenched in some of the most violent conflicts around the globe. They are in some ways still children?yet, from Afghanistan to Sierra Leone to Northern Ireland, you can find them among the fighters. Why? Young Soldiers explores the reasons that adolescents who are neither physically forced nor abducted    More >

Women scientists working in small, for-profit companies are eight times more likely than their university counterparts to head a research lab. Why? Laurel Smith-Doerr reveals that, contrary to widely held assumptions, strong career opportunities for women and minorities do not depend on the formal policies and long job ladders that large, hierarchical bureaucracies provide. In fact, highly    More >

This exciting new book is about the narrative turn in sociology, an approach that views lived experience as constructed, at least in part, by the stories that people tell about it. The book is organized around four themes—family and place, the body, education and work, and the passage of time—that tell a story about the life course and touch on a wide range of enduring sociological    More >

Have recent US and Canadian reforms changed institutional responses to the crime of rape and the treatment of rape victims? Exploring this issue, the authors present multidisciplinary perspectives on the effectiveness of rape law reforms, debates on chemical castration, the policing of sexual violence, cyber rape, the role of sexual assault treatment programs, sexual assault among prisoners, the    More >

As the cost of higher education continues to rise, students increasingly rely on borrowing to pay for college. But is the result the improved socioeconomic position that they anticipate? Borrowing Inequality explores the real impact of loans on minority and low-income students. Drawing on a national study of student-borrowing patterns, Derek Price finds that racial and ethnic minorities and    More >

Conservatives and liberals agree that President Bill Clinton's effort to lift the military's gay ban was perhaps one of the greatest blunders of his tenure in office. Conservatives argue that Clinton should have left well enough alone; liberals believe that he should have ordered the military to accept homosexuals rather than agreeing to the compromise "don't ask, don't    More >

"By the year 2050, whites will be a numerical racial minority, albeit the largest minority, in the United States." This statement, asserts George Yancey, while statistically correct, is nonetheless false. Yancey marshals compelling evidence to show that the definition of who is "white" is changing rapidly, with nonblack minorities accepting the perspectives of the current    More >

Choice Outstanding Academic Book! How pervasive is reverse discrimination in the United States today? What exactly is "affirmative action"? Fred Pincus investigates the nature and scope of reverse discrimination, questioning what effect affirmative action actually has on white men. Beginning with the early opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Pincus traces the evolution of the idea    More >

It is old news that the conditions and policies of women's prisons are different from those of incarcerated men. Less evident, however, is how gender differences shape those policies, and how gender identity and roles shape women's adaptation and resistance to prison culture and control. Women in Prison explores how the gender-based attitudes that women bring to prison frame how they    More >

Winner of the ASA Oliver Cromwell Cox Award Judith Blau's disturbing study presents strong evidence that our schools, assumed by many to be an equalizing force in U.S. society, are in fact racialized settings that reproduce white advantage—to the detriment of all students. Drawing on rich, longitudinal databases, Blau explores the values, activities, and educational experiences of a    More >

A comprehensive guide to the current race-class debate in sociology, Race,Class, and the State traces the evolution of the controversy and analyzes current trends in the field. Focusing on the work legacy of William Julius Wilson and the arguments of his longstanding critics, Niemonen deftly illustrates the strengths, weaknesses, and influence of Wilson's work. His fair-minded but critical    More >

This comprehensive reader is the first to cover sexual deviance in its many forms, including topics as diverse as abstinence, public sex, sex work, and cybersex. Illustrating pathological, sociological, and "normal" sexual deviance, the editors identify key strands of research within the contemporary literature. Brief introductions to each selection underscore the importance of the    More >

AIDS has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people in the United States, becoming the focus of intense social activism. Brett Stockdill reveals that people living with HIV/AIDS are often multiply oppressed—women of color, for example—and explores how interlocking oppressions fragment activism and thus impede AIDS prevention and intervention. Demonstrating that a unified approach to    More >

Whistleblowers can ruin lives—and can save them. Is it worth it? Roberta Ann Johnson explores when and how—and to what effect—people make the choice to blow the whistle. Engrossing case studies from the tobacco industry, to NASA, to the FDA illustrate clearly how individual efforts can and do transform institutions, shape public policy, and serve as a force for democratization.    More >

Why does the right dominate debates on crime, family values, and economic freedom? Why does the left defend divisive aspects of affirmative action, while equivocating on questions of ecology and political empowerment for young people? The answer, Cummings believes, is that too many progressives have avoided politically sensitive issues, condemning themselves to intellectual atrophy and political    More >

What does it mean to be a Latino man in the United States today? David Abalos shows how the traditional cultural stories—the male roles of the mujeriego (the womanizer), the macho, and the patriarch—are becoming unlivable. Too many men choose manipulation, power, or violence in response, in an effort to restore the old order. But there is an alternative, argues Abalos. Demonstrating    More >

Co-Winner of the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award of the ASA Racial and Ethnic Minorities Section! Is a racial structure still firmly in place in the United States? White Supremacy and Racism answers that question with an unequivocal yes, describing a contemporary system that operates in a covert, subtle, institutional, and superficially nonracial fashion. Assessing the major perspectives that social    More >

Traditional homicide indicators are based on male violence—and do little to predict when, or whom, women will kill. Vickie Jensen shows that gender equality plays an important role in predicting female homicide patterns. Jensen's analysis of the occurrence of women's homicide reveals that lethal violence is most likely when severe gender inequalities exist in the family group. Her    More >

Updated and expanded in this revised edition to reflect twenty years of new research, when published in 1979 Black Bostonians was the first comprehensive social history of an antebellum northern black community. The Hortons challenged the then widely held view that African Americans in the antebellum urban north were all trapped in "a culture of poverty." Exploring life in black    More >

How advanced is our knowledge about the dynamics of political and social activism? What lessons can be learned by studying the rise and fall of particular political and social movements? What insights can be gained by applying the different frameworks and methodologies of political science, sociology, and communications? This original work employs multidisciplinary perspectives to better    More >

In the first analytical history of this important Jewish community, David G. Dalin and Jonathan Rosenbaum draw extensively on primary sources to place Hartford within the larger contexts of US social, urban, ethnic, and Jewish history.    More >

More than two thousand bibliographic entries and extensive cross-references make Women and Aging: A Guide to the Literature a valuable resource for anyone interested in women’s studies, gerontology, and related subjects. A notable feature of the guide is its inclusion of journal articles, book chapters, essays, and doctoral dissertations, as well as complete books. All book entries are    More >

What is critical theory, hermeneutics, deconstruction, positivism, and phenomenology? Is it true that "anything goes"  in the social sciences? This book provides answers to these questions. Each conception of social inquiry is framed within the context of an ongoing debate on its merits and limits. Conceptions of Social Inquiry is an indispensable compass for students, researchers    More >

Unique in its honest confrontation with real problems and its challenge to many assumptions and practices in education and public policy, this book rests on the conviction that equal opportunity in formal education is necessary but not sufficient to enable students to achieve socioeconomic success in mainstream adult life. Positive social relations as well as mutually shared values and    More >