New in This Version

• Thoroughly updated throughout with recent data, current references, new examples, and topical events
• New Feature: “Critical Thinking About the Media” introduces stories or issues in the news or social media relevant to the chapter’s core topics to stimulate analysis and class discussion
• Chapter-by-Chapter Changes
  
  • Chapter 1 “Sociology and the Sociological Perspective”: 2024 exit polling data to illustrate how social backgrounds affect voting choices; updated data on gender and suicide rates and on regional suicide rates; new discussion of critical race theory and intersectionality; revised and updated discussion of gender differences in abortion views; and a new “Critical Thinking about the Media” feature on racial disparities in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines
  • Chapter 2 “Culture and Society”: Updated World Values Survey data; new discussion of American individualism and COVID-19 behaviors; and an updated “Learning from Other Societies” feature
  • Chapter 3 “Socialization and Social Interaction”: Updated World Values Survey data; updated General Social Survey data on hours of watching TV; and a new “Critical Thinking about the Media” feature on alleged hate crimes targeting Black-, Jewish-, and Muslim-owned buildings
  • Chapter 4 “Groups and Organizations”: Updated data on regional incarceration rates and the overrepresentation of men and Black and Latinx people in prisons; and a new “Critical Thinking about the Media” feature on group processes and adolescent hate-crime vandalism 
  • Chapter 5 “Deviance, Crime, and Social Control”: Updated data throughout chapter on crime and victimization rates; updated data on deaths caused by alcohol and tobacco use and by poor diets; and a new “Critical Thinking about the Media” feature on overdramatization of crime by the news media   
  • Chapter 6 “Social Stratification”: Updated modern slavery data; updated social class, mobility, economic inequality, and poverty data; new discussion of and data on wealth inequality; new poverty data on Indigenous Americans; covers the decline in child poverty due to increased federal aid during the COVID-19 pandemic and then its increase after the aid ended; and a new “Critical Thinking about the Media” feature on social media depictions of poverty
  • Chapter 7 “Race and Ethnicity”: New introduction highlighting racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19 deaths; expanded discussion of the racial/ethnic ancestry of self-identified Black, Latinx, and white Americans based on DNA analysis; updated earnings data; updated racial and ethnic inequality data; new section on racial/ethnic discrimination in the criminal justice system, including new discussion of racist abuse and discrimination by Minneapolis police department; new discussion of 2023 Supreme Court case that banned explicit use of race in college admissions; new national survey data on prejudice and discrimination against immigrants; and a new “Critical Thinking about the Media” feature on racial distortions in news media coverage of crime                 
  • Chapter 8 “Gender and Gender Inequality”: Updated data on the percentage of Americans are who LGBTQ+; updated data on the public’s belief that women should take care of home and family; updated “Learning from Other Societies” feature; updated data on labor force participation and the gender gap in income; updated data on gender differences in earnings by educational attainment; updated data on workplace gender segregation; expanded discussion of LGBTQ+ status and inequality, including new state laws targeting LGBTQ+ people and the 2023 Supreme Court case that allowed businesses to refuse to provide web design and other expressive services to same-sex couples; new section on abortion rights in view of Dobbs decision; updated data on rape lifetime prevalence; and a new “Critical Thinking about the Media” feature on gender stereotyping in advertising
  • Chapter 9 “Aging and Older Adults”: New discussion of ancient China’s view of aging; updated life expectancy data; updated data for demographic profile of older Americans; updated nursing home data; updated living arrangement data; and a new “Critical Thinking about the Media” feature on portrayals of older adults in television series
  • Chapter 10 “Politics and the Economy”: Updated political ideology and party affiliation data; updated data on confidence in the executive and legislative branches of government; updated voter-turnout data; new section on efforts to reduce voting rights; updated PAC and lobbying data; new data on corporate income tax fraud; updated labor force and unemployment data; updated employee theft and workplace violence data; updated military budget data; and a new “Critical Thinking about the Media” feature on work requirements for Medicaid recipients
  • Chapter 11 “The Family”: Updated marriage and family data; updated data on children’s family arrangements; updated cohabitation data; updated child poverty data; updated data on same-sex marriages; updated data on births to unmarried women; updated data on intimate partner violence and dating violence; updated child abuse data; and a new “Critical Thinking about the Media” feature on a U.S. senator’s statement to reporters that states should be allowed to ban interracial marriages
  • Chapter 12 “Education and Religion”: Updated enrollment, facility, and faculty data; new figure on family income and percentage of 2009 9th-graders who had not enrolled in college by 2016; updated data on race/ethnicity, gender, and having a bachelor’s degree; updated degree and earnings data; new discussion of schools without air conditioning amid extreme heat; new discussion of teacher burnout; updated school violence data; new section on conservative states’ restrictions on instruction and information concerning race and racism and sex and sexuality; updated data on Americans’ religious affiliation and religiosity; and a new “Critical Thinking about the Media” feature on cyberbullying
  • Chapter 13 “Health and Medicine”: New COVID-19 death rate data by race/ethnicity and education; updated data on income and racial/ethnic differences in life expectancy; updated data on racial/ethnic differences in infant mortality; and a new “Critical Thinking about the Media” feature on physicians’ use of social media to spread misinformation about COVID-19
  • Chapter 14 “Social Change: Population, Urbanization, and Social Movements”: Updated fertility data; new discussion of population growth in the United States from 2021 to 2022; and a new “Critical Thinking about the Media” feature on Black Twitter and Black Lives Matter
  • Chapter 15 “Conclusion: Understanding and Changing the Social World” pulls together the underlying introduction to sociology and the myriad of changes described in the preceding chapters into a more coherent picture of how students can make change for the good in their own areas of influence