Societal Problems as Public Bads

Societal Problems as Public Bads PDF Author: Nan Dirk de Graaf
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351063448
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 638

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Book Description
Corruption, crime, economic inequality, religious fundamentalism, financial crises, environmental degradation, population ageing, gender inequality, large-scale migration... This book tackles many of the most pressing problems facing societies today. The authors demonstrate that similar social mechanisms lie behind many of these seemingly disparate problems. Indeed, many societal problems can be traced back to behaviours that are perfectly rational and often well-intended from an individual perspective. Yet, taken together these behaviours can – paradoxically – give rise to unintended and undesirable outcomes at the society level. In addition to addressing the causes of societal problems, the book explains why some problems rank higher on the public agenda than others. Moreover, it is shown how government intervention may sometimes provide a cure, yet other times exacerbate existing problems or create new problems of its own. This book includes an extensive amount of data on trends and geographic variation in the prevalence of different problems, as well as telling examples – both recent and historical – from a variety of countries to support its key arguments. Employing a bold multidisciplinary approach, the authors draw on insights from across the social sciences, including sociology, economics, anthropology, criminology, and psychology. Throughout the book, students are introduced to analytical concepts such as free-riding, herding behaviour, principal-agent relations and moral hazard. These concepts are essential tools for better understanding the roots of many societal problems that regularly make headlines in the news. This improved understanding will, in turn, be critical for ultimately finding solutions to these problems.

Societal Problems as Public Bads

Societal Problems as Public Bads PDF Author: Nan Dirk de Graaf
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351063448
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 638

Get Book

Book Description
Corruption, crime, economic inequality, religious fundamentalism, financial crises, environmental degradation, population ageing, gender inequality, large-scale migration... This book tackles many of the most pressing problems facing societies today. The authors demonstrate that similar social mechanisms lie behind many of these seemingly disparate problems. Indeed, many societal problems can be traced back to behaviours that are perfectly rational and often well-intended from an individual perspective. Yet, taken together these behaviours can – paradoxically – give rise to unintended and undesirable outcomes at the society level. In addition to addressing the causes of societal problems, the book explains why some problems rank higher on the public agenda than others. Moreover, it is shown how government intervention may sometimes provide a cure, yet other times exacerbate existing problems or create new problems of its own. This book includes an extensive amount of data on trends and geographic variation in the prevalence of different problems, as well as telling examples – both recent and historical – from a variety of countries to support its key arguments. Employing a bold multidisciplinary approach, the authors draw on insights from across the social sciences, including sociology, economics, anthropology, criminology, and psychology. Throughout the book, students are introduced to analytical concepts such as free-riding, herding behaviour, principal-agent relations and moral hazard. These concepts are essential tools for better understanding the roots of many societal problems that regularly make headlines in the news. This improved understanding will, in turn, be critical for ultimately finding solutions to these problems.

Bad Moon Rising

Bad Moon Rising PDF Author: David Liebert
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781703368031
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
Bad Moon Rising focuses on emerging social problems, which refers to those problems that can both radically and adversely impact the current stability of our society and fundamentally change us in ways opposed to being free, happy, and well. Central to this book is the assumption that all people have inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. By placing the individual as a central element in the discussion, this book does what most other texts on the subject of social problems too often ignore-the existential needs of the individual. From this sociological perspective, Bad Moon Rising explores several emerging social problems. First, the effects that technology is imposing on our most succinct inalienable rights, including freedom of thought and the right to freely debate our ideas within the new virtual public square is explored. Second, the social problem of economic inequality as it affects our middle-class tier is explored. The middle-class has been melting away in recent years, possibly leading to devastating consequences for our society. Third, human intimacy is essential to establishing personal wellbeing and happiness. As more schools encourage online classes and social networking platforms continuing to inhibit real opportunity for physical and synchronistic contact with each other, our society is now witnessing an epidemic of mental illness such as depression, anxiety, and suicide. Also, the effects of decreasing marriage rates, in favor of alternative lifestyles like cohabitation is explored as, yet, another emerging problem. Finally, the subject again returns to happiness, which is achievable by having both purpose and meaning in life. Bad Moon Rising is intended to bring our nation's most pressing problems out into the public square. This is the space where the norms of pleasant civility are pushed aside for the moment. In this space, we disrobe ourselves of titles, status, and rank; here, we debate by exchanging ideas freely and robustly. The public square is the proper space to sound the alarm, especially when our leaders are telling us there is no concern, "nothing to see here; move along!"

Handbook of Sociological Science

Handbook of Sociological Science PDF Author: Gërxhani, Klarita
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1789909430
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 553

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Book Description
22 out of the 26 Chapters will be available Open Access on Elgaronline when the book is published. The Handbook of Sociological Science offers a refreshing, integrated perspective on research programs and ongoing developments in sociological science. It highlights key shared theoretical and methodological features, thereby contributing to progress and cumulative growth of sociological knowledge.

Waste Incineration and Public Health

Waste Incineration and Public Health PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030906371X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Incineration has been used widely for waste disposal, including household, hazardous, and medical wasteâ€"but there is increasing public concern over the benefits of combusting the waste versus the health risk from pollutants emitted during combustion. Waste Incineration and Public Health informs the emerging debate with the most up-to-date information available on incineration, pollution, and human healthâ€"along with expert conclusions and recommendations for further research and improvement of such areas as risk communication. The committee provides details on: Processes involved in incineration and how contaminants are released. Environmental dynamics of contaminants and routes of human exposure. Tools and approaches for assessing possible human health effects. Scientific concerns pertinent to future regulatory actions. The book also examines some of the social, psychological, and economic factors that affect the communities where incineration takes place and addresses the problem of uncertainty and variation in predicting the health effects of incineration processes.

Social Problems and Public Policy

Social Problems and Public Policy PDF Author: Lee Rainwater
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 9780202302638
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 454

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Book Description
Deviance is by definition a social problem. Since deviant behavior violates the normative expectations of a given group, deviance must be regarded as a problem for that group, since all groups of people want their norms to be enforced. Many modern societies place considerable value on personal liberty, so much so that interference with personal choices to deviate from group norms can be justified only in terms of the potential damage that particular kinds of behavior might do to the legitimate interests of others. Sociological research suggests that the social problem associated with deviance is often the behavior of individuals who violate norms cannot be justified in terms of basic values of liberty, social order, or justice. In other kinds of deviance, though, the social problem is that people or, in a more organized way, social institutions, interfere with individual liberty and self-realization. Each selection in this volume has been chosen to cover a full range of substantive problematic issues, a range of social science perspectives that can be brought to bear on issues of all kinds, and a range of social science methodologies used in studying modern society. Deviance and Liberty is divided up into thirty-nine contributions and five main parts ranging from "Modern Perspectives on Deviance and Social Problems"; "Deviant Exchanges: Gambling, Drugs, and Sex"; "Deviant Personal Control: Illness, Violence, and Crime; Deviance, Identity, and the Life Cycle"; and "Moral Enterprise and Moral Enforcement". It is a welcome addition to the libraries of those interested in the study of deviance or society as a whole.

Wicked Problems Worth Solving

Wicked Problems Worth Solving PDF Author: Jon Kolko
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780615593159
Category : Design
Languages : en
Pages : 171

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Book Description
It feels like our world is spinning out of control. We see poverty, disease, and destruction all around us, and as we search for ways to make sense of the chaos, we're turning to new disciplines for answers and solutions. New, creative innovations are needed, and these new approaches demand different methods and different theories. This book is presented as a handbook for teaching and learning how to design for impact. In it, you'll learn how to apply the process of design to large, wicked problems, and how to gain control over complexity by acting as a social entrepreneur. You'll learn an argument for why design is a powerful agent of change, and you'll read practical methods for engaging with large-scale social problems. You can read this entire book online for free at http://www.wickedproblems.com/

Handbook of Health Inequalities Across the Life Course

Handbook of Health Inequalities Across the Life Course PDF Author: Rasmus Hoffmann
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1800888163
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 435

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Book Description
The development of health across an individual’s life depends on many factors, but social determinants play a vital role. This timely Handbook simultaneously uses theoretical, descriptive, explanatory and policy approaches to explore health inequalities related to income, education, occupational status, social capital, and also biological and genetic factors.

Sharing by Design

Sharing by Design PDF Author: Jeffrey Kok Hui Chan
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030435695
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 109

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Book Description
This book answers the question of how to design a sharing system that can promote sustained, meaningful, and socially constructive sharing practices in today’s cities. To do so, it constructs a framework for practical inquiry into the design of sharing systems. Further, the book invites readers to consider questions such as: If sharing can be designed, then how does one design a sharing system for cities? Which urban conditions make this sharing system possible? What are the considerations, variables, and methods that can inform and guide the designers of a sharing system? By considering both the environmental and societal motivations for sharing, and the reality that most examples of the Sharing Economy are neither equitable in their socio-economic outcomes nor genuine in their original social promises, this book presents balanced and thoughtful answers to the questions posed above. The book will appeal to a broad readership, from students and teachers in the various design disciplines, to professionals and scholars in architecture and urbanism, business and innovation, and other related fields of the humanities and social sciences, as well as activists and policymakers committed to achieving more sustainable and equitably distributed access to urban resources.

The Sociology of Social Problems

The Sociology of Social Problems PDF Author: Adam Jamrozik
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521599320
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Social problems such as unemployment, poverty and drug addiction are a fact of life in industrialised societies. This book examines the sociology of social problems from interesting and challenging perspectives. It analyses how social problems emerge and are defined as such, who takes responsibility for them, who is threatened by them and how they are managed, solved or ignored. The authors examine and critique existing theories of social problems before developing their own theoretical framework. Their 'theory of residualist conversion of social problems' explains how certain social problems threaten legitimate power structures, so that problems of a social or political nature are transformed into personal problems, and the 'helping professions' are left to intervene. This book will become a key reference on class, inequality and social intervention and an important text for students in sociology and social work courses.

U.S. Health in International Perspective

U.S. Health in International Perspective PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309264146
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 421

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Book Description
The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries. In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings. U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage.