Joel Best

Donileen R. Loseke

This collection of focused essays is directed at several levels of students of social problems. It is accessible to the uninitiated, who are not familiar with the constructionist literature, and aimed at those who are not particularly interested in subtle theoretical and empirical issues of concern to academics studying social problems from constructionist perspectives. Some readings focus on the construction of problems by scientists and other professionals; others examine the work of social activists, mass media, and social service personnel. Among the topics included are studies of social inequalities and individual deviance; a comparison of the images of social problems in the United States with those in other countries; and an examination of the importance of politics and power in constructing public images of social problems. Constructionist perspectives have become the leading theoretical approach for sociology and allied fields in studying social problems. Yet constructionists' impact on the teaching of social problems has been far less dramatic. Undergraduate courses on social problems are often subject to a theoretical barrage of eclectic perspectives. Just as the first social problems textbooks did almost a century ago, textbooks continue to present a series of unrelated chapters, each devoted to a particular social problem. Social Problems is an effort at systematic analysis rather than random thought on the subject. Social Problems presents detailed case studies demonstrating how constructionist perspectives can actually be applied to understand particular social problems. While these articles can be read alone, the editors have organized these selections to correspond with the chapter topics in the second edition of Donileen Loseke's Thinking about Social Problems, an accessible introduction to constructionist approaches. At the same time, some instructors who use this edited collection might wish to provide their own mix to the selection process. Many of the contributions make multiple points and so reasonably could be used to illustrate other basic texts or classic studies in the field of social problems. Donileen R. Loseke is professor of sociology at the University of South Florida. Joel Best is professor and chair, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware. He has also served as an advisory editor for Aldine in the area of social problems.

Constructionist Readings

Social Problems

Richard J. Gelles

Mary M. Cavanaugh

Now in its Second Edition, Current Controversies on Family Violence contains thoughtful--often heated--discussions that highlight the most current controversies, research, and policy directions in the family violence area. This volume includes chapters by academic and public policy researchers, therapists, lawyers, victim advocates and educators. Some of the controversies in the First Edition have been deleted while new ones have been added. Chapters in this Second Edition also are shorter and more accessible to readers who are not already experts in family violence.

Current Controversies on Family Violence

Narrative research is an increasingly popular qualitative method across the social sciences. This book has two purposes: firstly to show students and researchers how to do research on narrative topics, particularly on questions about narrative productions of meaning, and secondly to explain some fundamentals of research methods suitable for exploring these topics. A final part of the book provides empirical examples of how such research is done. These chapters use small amounts of data to examine the analytic tasks of designing research questions, finding appropriate data, sampling decisions, contextualization, data categorization, and communicating study findings.

Narrative as Topic and Method in Social Research

"The text is organized to help students become good consumers and producers of research by developing skills to design small-scale research projects and evaluate research done by others. The author highlights the relationships among these components of research; she also explains that it is not possible to argue that one of research is better than any other and that good researchers understand the differences among - and appreciate the capabilities of - different tools."--Publisher description.

Basic Principles of Social Research Design

Methodological Thinking

Focused on the underlying logic behind social research, Methodological Thinking: Basic Principles of Social Research Design by Donileen R. Loseke encourages readers to understand research methods as a way of thinking. The book provides a concise overview of the basic principles of social research, including the characteristics of research questions, the importance of literature reviews, variations in data generation techniques, and sampling. The Second Edition includes a revised chapter on research foundations, with focus on the philosophy of science and ethics; an emphasis on critical thinking; additional attention to evaluating research; and a new selection of briefer, multidisciplinary journal articles designed to be accessible to a wide variety of readers.

In Narrative Productions of Meanings: Exploring the Work of Stories in Social Life, Donileen Loseke examines the importance of stories in an anti-science, anti-fact era where heterogeneity, rapid change, complexity, and moral fragmentation combine to create a multitude of personal, social, and political problems surrounding meaning. The book’s basic argument is that, within such a world, narrative productions of meaning are particularly important because stories can appeal simultaneously to thinking and feeling and moral evaluation, and because they can do this in ways that have cultural, interactional, and personal dimensions. Narrative Productions of Meaning develops a framework for social science examinations of narrative; it outlines relationships between stories, storytelling, and culture, and it explores the characteristics of several types of stories including self stories that create coherence from the chaos of personal experience, stories that persuade mass audiences that public resources are required to resolve intolerable conditions, and stories that justify the contents of public policy and the organization of social services. It concludes with issues about relationships between stories and the processes of democratic politics. Narrative Productions of Meaning demonstrates the ways in which stories create meaning and how this meaning shapes both subjective understandings and material realities. In multiple ways, this analysis crosses common divides: It draws from literature spanning multiple disciplines; it treats thinking, feeling, and moral evaluation as inseparable; it bridges cultural and social psychological perspectives; it demonstrates relationships between story structure and the work people do with stories.

Exploring the Work of Stories in Social Life

Narrative Productions of Meanings

Sara E. Green

This volume seeks to answer the call for richer, more diverse understandings of disability through questions about narrative frameworks in disability research.Narrative is a omnipresent meaning-producing communication form in social life that is both cultural and personal.

Donileen R. Loseke

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