Product Description: With the impact of social interactionist and ethnographic methodology twenty-five years ago, the research agenda in social problems began to shift its focus, giving rise to the Social Constructionism movement. The present volume and the related shorter text, Constructionist Controversies, review the substantial contributions made by social constructionist theorists over that period, as well as recent debates about the future of the perspective...read more

Product Description: Constructionist Controversies reviews the substantial con- tributions to social problems theory that have been made by social constructionist theorists and examines debates about the future of this perspective. Intended for the student, the volume provides a succinct formulation of all the major issues of social constructionism by contributors who are well recognized within the field for the strength with which they articulate their own widely varied viewpoints...read more

The social constructionist perspective has revolutionized the way that social scientists investigate social problems. Constructing Social Problems (Spector and Kitsuse [1977] 2001) offered the guiding statement of the approach, which both transformed and revitalized the sociology of social problems, propelling it into a quarter century of exciting and innovative empirical research. John Kitsuse and Malcolm Spector challenged conventional approaches to the field; they insisted on treating social problems as social constructions--as the products of claims-making and constitutive definitional processes. The purpose of this book is to highlight contemporary challenges to the social constructionist perspective on social problems. In 1993, two collections of essays, Reconsidering Social Constructionism: Debates in Social Problems Theory (Holstein and Miller 1993) and Constructionist Controversies: Issues in Social Problems Theory (Miller and Holstein 1993), brought a wide variety of constructionist challenges into focus. Challenges and Choices attempts to distill these debates, and offers some compelling suggestions for how challenges may be met and where constructionist studies might proceed in the future. While each of the essays in this volume deeply appreciates the constructionist approach, each of them points to issues and choices that social constructionists must confront if the perspective is to continue to be a vital part of ongoing debates on social problems. The essays critique previous constructionist formulations; make suggestions for advancing, expanding, or diversifying the constructionist agenda; and challenge the perspective to move in new directions. They remind us that social constructionism is an ongoing, not a finished, product, and the essays point to some of the choices available to social constructionists in moving their projects into new, even uncharted, territories. James A. Holstein and Gale Miller are professors in the Department of Social and Cultural Sciences at Marquette University. (view table of contents)

Product Description: This series is designed to foster debates on the sociology of social problems by presenting a forum where sociologists of this discipline can present and argue opposed positions on epistemological, moral and political issues that are central to the field. (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: This work suggests that social problems are always right in front of us, all around us, and something we continually encounter. They are not academic or abstract, detached or distant; in fact, we are all more involved with social problems than we imagine ourselves to be. (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: A critical examination of the principles and practice of qualitative research is provided in this book which examines the interplay between context and method, making it invaluable for both the experienced and the beginning researcher...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Brief therapy is a postmodern treatment mode that treats problems as social constructions, encouraging those seeking treatment to replace personal troubles (negative stories) with new problem-solving skills (positive stories). The significant differences discussed in this book do not involve sociologists and brief therapists. The differences are between brief therapists, on the one hand, and practitioners of psychotherapy and family therapy on the other. One indicator of these is brief therapists' describing the people who seek their services as clients. The terminology may be contrasted with the language of patients used by many other therapists. At the very least, this difference suggests how brief therapy departs from therapy approaches that are based on the medical model. Becoming Miracle Workers takes the reader inside "Northland Clinic," one of the most innovative and important centers of brief therapy in the world. Based on twelve years of research, Miller's book discusses how brief therapy has evolved into its present, postmodern form. He describes the details of brief therapist-client interactions, and the behind-the-scenes discussions among brief therapists about their clients' problems. This readable account of the workings of brief therapy invites readers to sit in on brief therapy sessions, provides them with new understandings of personal troubles as social constructions, and shows how brief therapists help their clients develop new, untroubled, life stories. (view table of contents)

Product Description: This volume studies in particular the Work Incentive (WIN) programme, examining how staff-client interactions are conducted in terms of conflicts, disputes, hearings, meetings and legal procedures. (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: This series is designed to foster debates on the sociology of social problems by presenting a forum where sociologists of this discipline can present and argue opposed positions on epistemological, moral and political issues that are central to the field.

Product Description: This series is designed to foster debates on the sociology of social problems by presenting a forum where sociologists of this discipline can present and argue opposed positions on epistemological, moral and political issues that are central to the field.

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Product Description: This analysis, based on a year s observation of social relations in a Work Incentive Program (WIC) office, explores the ways in which staff members organize their interactions with clients, coworkers, and supervisors. Miller focuses on rhetoric (persuasive discourse) as a central aspect of everyday work and as a means of analyzing activities and relationships...read more