Solutions to Social Problems: Lessons from Other Societies

Solutions to Social Problems: Lessons from Other Societies, fourth edition, examines how other advanced industrial societies have dealt with social problems with relative success and looks at how these strategies may be applicable to the United States. For each social problem considered, several articles have been selected. These articles either describe the situation in a single country or in multiple countries, or expressly contrast the situation of a country or countries with the United States.

Comprised of thirty-six readings, this reader is divided into five parts:

• Part One focuses on two important foundational issues–first, a comparison of the United States with other advanced industrial societies on a number of dimensions and, second, a consideration of why the United States fails to adopt social policies that appear to solve social problems elsewhere.
• Part Two examines problems of inequality–poverty, income and wealth inequality, gender, sexual orientation, and age.
• Part Three looks at institutional problems affecting families, schools, work, and health care.
• Part Four concentrates on problems of people, resources, and places, focusing on cities and the environment.
• Part Five addresses the attempts by societies to control individual deviance related to crime and drugs.