Mica L. Thompson

This sophomore/junior level core text is intended for the juvenile delinquency course taught in criminal justice, criminology, and sociology departments at both four year and two year institutions. Taking a sociological approach, Juvenile Delinquency, Eleventh Edition, discusses delinquency as it relates to and emerges from the youth's family, neighborhood, school, peer group, social class, and overall cultural and social environment. The author incorporates contributions from sociologists, psychologists, social workers, criminologists, and other specialists who have sought to understand, explain, control, and prevent juvenile delinquency.

Sociological Wisdom is based on applying the basic principles of sociology to the world around us. Sociologists study patterns of behavior in order to draw general conclusions about a social issue that transcend the effect of the problem or issue on any particular individual. This is not to say that sociologists are unconcerned about individuals and their lives, but sociology's emphasis is on the way individuals relate to others, people's positions in society, and the interdependence between society and individuals. This text teaches students that it is more important than ever to study human behavior, social groups, and society utilizing critical thinking skills and careful analysis associated with sociological wisdom.

Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology, Ninth Edition, emphasizes how society and social forces affect everything from globalization and international policies to day-to-day activities in our personal lives. In this edition, the authors go beyond the mere questioning of issues to take a closer look at the social world in which we live. They provide an integrated approach that uses sociological thinking to help students analyze and understand key concepts. To focus increased attention on sociological thinking and research methods, they have chosen four key themes: media and technology, globalization, cultural diversity, and trends for the future. Because sociology is about all of us and our daily lives, it is an eminently practical and useful discipline for understanding our social world. This Ninth Edition Includes: • specific student outcomes for each chapter as well as assessment items linked to those outcomes • new chapter-opening vignettes that give real-life examples illustrating important terms, concepts, and theories included in that chapter • updated data, statistics, maps, charts, boxes, and tables citing the latest research available • examples of the powerful impact of media and technology on society, especially the role social media play in helping to shape and define our daily social lives • new photos and cartoons accompanied by critical-thinking questions that reinforce and illustrate important sociological terms, concepts, and theories