Robert Heiner, assistant chair of the Department of Social Sciences and professor of anthropology-sociology

Featuring 26 articles, Conflicting Interests: Readings in Social Problems and Inequality is a social problems reader in which the majority of the selections reflect the conflict perspective. This approach views social problems as the consequence of social and economic inequalities, therefore encouraging students to critically analyze American public policy responses to social problems.

Several articles relate to the contemporary economic crisis and the role that the media plays in constructing social problems. Many of the essays describe public policies in countries outside of the United States, providing students with alternative, cross-cultural perspectives and solutions to social problems.

“What I hope students will gain from this book is an understanding that so many of both our domestic social problems and global social problems stem from the inequitable distribution of economic and natural resources, within nations and between nations,” says Heiner.

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