This edition focuses on four themes: the structural sources of social problems; the role of the US in global social problems; the centrality of class, race and gender sources of division, inequality and injustice; and the critical examination of society. As with previous editions, it presents a consistent theoretical base from which to view and understand social problems. A new chapter on domestic urban problems has been added, along with an analysis of recent social trends. "Observations" features are included on subjects such as multinational corporations, labour unions and the politics of drugs.