Social Problems of Modern Britain [antikvár]

Introduction This book of readings is the second in a series on British society. The first. The Sociology of Modern Britain, already published, deals with the main elements of the social structure which form the background to the study of social problems. It is not a comprehensive guide to the social problems of modem Britain, since this would require a much larger book, but we try to bring out ways of looking at situations, within a general sociological frame of reference, which will help the reader to make sense of aspects of the society in which he lives. The organisation of the book is straightforward. Chapter I looks at social problems in general, definitions, perspectives, explanations and the way in which their incidence changes over time. It stresses the importance of an analytical approach to them, and the need to look at social problems in comparative terms. Some suggestions are made for general reading and reference at the end of the chapter as it is not possible, nor desirable, to provide all the relevant factual and theoretical material in this one volume. Each of the following chapters has an introductory section which has two main purposes. The first is to refer to some of the most relevant and useful ways of working at the theme of the chapter, without in any way attempting to provide a detailed consideration of all the concepts and issues, and the second is to introduce the readings which make up the main content of the chapter. At the end of each chapter there is a brief section on Further Reading consisting of books referred to in the readings or books which follow up the most important themes. At the end of the book there is a Textbook Bibliography providing cross reference to the textbooks with the widest circulation in this field. It is significant that almost all of them are American, and this emphasises the need to provide a book, with some comparative information and sources built in, geared specifically to the I fii ¦ I'i^ ¦ '¦v. wM.