Social Problems for the Twenty-First Century is an exciting and contemporary new text that reflects the concerns and problems of the new century and the new millennium. J. John Palen presents the latest sociological data, knowledge and opinions as accurately and as fairly as possible so that any instructor, regardless of his or her theoretical orientation, will have a trustworthy base from which to elaborate, disagree or discuss. This text builds on students' natural interest in social problems and encourages them to develop both a sociological perspective and a sociological imagination that will allow them to examine social problems in a critical fashion.