Part I. General Concerns and Orientations in the Study of Social Problems: 1. The challenges of conceptualizing social problems Joseph Schneider; 2. Research methods Amir Marvasti; 3. Participatory action research and social problems Randy Stoecker; 4. Public policy and social problems: recent trends in the formal control of individual behavior Mark Peyrot; 5. Social problems in global perspective Yvonne A. Braun and Michael C. Dreiling; 6. Bridging social movements and social problems Jaime Kucinskas; 7. Public sociology and social problems Joshua Meisel and Mary Virnoche; 8. Service sociology and social problems A. Javier Treviño; 9. Astrosociology: social problems on Earth and in outer space Jim Pass; 10. Prospects for the sociological study of social problems Joel Best, Donileen R. Loseke; Part II. Historical and Theoretical Issues in the Study of Social Problems: 11. Settlement sociology Patricia Lengermann and Gillian Niebrugge; 12. Chicago school: city as a social laboratory Roger Salerno; 13. Luhmann's sociological systems theory and the study of social problems Werner Schirmer and Dimitris Michailakis; 14. The conflict approach Steven E. Barkan; 15. Radical interactionism and the symbolism of methamphetamine Michael A. Katovich; 16. Social constructionism Peter R. Ibarra and Michael Adorjan; Part III. Problems of Discrimination and Inequality: 17. Racism Heather M. Dalmage; 18. Immigration Cecilia Menjívar and Andrea Gómez Cervantes; 19. Gender inequality William J. Scarborough and Barbara Risman; 20. Sexualities and homophobia Catherine A. Gildae; 21. Poverty and income inequality: a cross-national perspective on social citizenship Eiko Strader and Joya Misra; 22. Housing market discrimination W. Dennis Keating; 23. Hunger and food insecurity Stephen J. Scanlan; 24. Ageism, past and present W. Andrew Achenbaum; 25. Disabilities Robyn Lewis Brown; Part IV. Problems of Institutions: 26. Media and the construction of social problems William Hoynes; 27. Family problems Donna Holland; 28. Problems in education Peter A. J. Stevens, Vryonides Marios and A. Gary Dworkin; 29. Problems of the workplace and workforce Héctor L. Delgado; 30. Long-term unemployment in the United States Ofer Sharone, David Blustein and Carl E. Van Horn.