Mooney, Knox, and Schacht's UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL PROBLEMS uses a theoretically balanced approach, student-centered approach to provide a comprehensive exploration of social problems. The text progresses from a micro- to macro-level of analysis, focusing first on such problems as illness and health care, drugs and alcohol, and family problems, and then broadening to the larger issues of poverty and inequality, population growth, environmental problems, and conflict around the world. The social problem in each chapter is framed in a global as well as U.S. context. In every chapter, the three major theoretical perspectives are applied to the social problem under discussion, and the consequences of the problem, as well as alternative solutions, are explored. Pedagogical features such as "The Human Side" and "Self and Society" enable you to grasp how social problems affect the lives of individuals and apply your understanding of social problems to your own life.