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For courses in Social Problems
An exploration of contemporary social problems that inspires students to seek solutions
Social Problems helps students to see that many things they perceive as personal troubles are actually rooted in the social arrangements of society, and require social solutions to be resolved. Authors Karen Seccombe and William Kornblum bring our most pressing social problems to life through both personal vignettes and empirical data. By highlighting the issues that resonate today, the authors hope to make the work of social activists more effective, and to inspire some readers to take up their causes. Updated with the latest data, the 16th Edition highlights topics pulled from recent headlines ― such as health care, suicide, and mass shootings ― to emphasize the relevance of course material to students’ lives.
About our authors
Karen Seccombe is a proud community college graduate, receiving the mentoring and support needed to continue her education in sociology and social work. She earned her BA degree at California State University, Chico; her MSW in Social Work at the University of Washington; and her PhD at Washington State University, in Pullman. Karen is the author of several books, including So You Think I Drive a Cadillac? (4th Edition); Families and Their Social Worlds (4th Edition); Exploring Marriages and Families (3rd Edition); Families in Poverty; and Just Don’t Get Sick, with co-author Kim Hoffman, which won Honorable Mention from the Pacific Sociological Association.
Karen’s research focuses on the health and well-being of poor and vulnerable families. She has been a professor at the University of Alaska, University of Florida, and Portland State University in Oregon. She is a Fellow in the National Council on Family Relations and is active in the American Sociological Association and in the Pacific Sociological Association. She is a Fulbright Scholar and taught Health Policy in Hangzhou, China. She also recently taught in the Semester at Sea program, a shipboard community of nearly 600 students and 50 faculty and staff, traveling around the world to Japan, China, Vietnam, Myanmar, India, South Africa, Ghana and Morocco. While the ship was at sea, Karen taught Marriage and Family Relationships, Gender and Society, and Social Problems, enriching her courses with the in-port opportunities she and her students experienced. Karen is married to Richard Meenan, a health economist, and has 2 high school-age children, Natalie and Olivia, and 2 Australian Shepherds, Bart and Stella. She enjoys traveling the world, hiking, cycling and relaxing with her pack in the San Juan islands off the coast of Washington. She wants to hear from students and faculty, so please send any comments her way: karen.s.meenan@icloud.com.
William Kornblum conducts research on urban, social ecology, and community studies. Among his publications are: At Sea in the City: New York from the Water’s Edge; Blue Collar Community, a study of the steel mill neighborhoods of South Chicago; Growing Up Poor and Uptown Kids, written with Terry Williams, and West 42nd Street, the Bright Lights, which during the 1980s became a guide to understanding the street life of lower Times Square. He has served as a social scientist for the U.S. Department of Interior and worked on the development of national parks and environmental reserves in the nation's metropolitan regions. He is also the author of 2 popular undergraduate textbooks, Social Problems (Pearson) and Sociology in a Changing World (Wadsworth). Kornblum received his PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago (1971) and his undergraduate degree in biology from Cornell (1961). He taught physics and chemistry as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ivory Coast (1962 to 63) and was on the faculty at the University of Washington before he came to the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in 1973.
