Social Problems in a Diverse Society, Canadian Edition, 4th edition

For courses in Social Problems

Examine social problems through the lenses of race, class, gender, and inequality.

Social Problems in a Diverse Society focuses on the significance of social inequality, race, class, and gender as key factors in understanding problems in Canada and worldwide. Author Diana Kendall makes the study of social problems interesting and relevant to today’s students through authentic first-person accounts, up-to-date topics, and contemporary examples. 

The Canadian edition focuses on the significance of racialization and ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, class, ability, and gender in understanding social problems in Canada and around the globe. Throughout the text, people - especially those from marginalized groups–are shown not merely as “victims” of social problems, but also as individual actors with agency who resist discrimination and inequality and seek to bring about change in families, schools, workplaces, and the larger society.

Hallmark features of this title

• Critical Thinking and You boxes invite students to think critically about social problems and proposed solutions. For example, in Chapter 4, the authors pose the question, “Does Class Position Influence How We Think about Gender?”
• Social Problems in Global Perspective boxes explore social problems that have global scope or ramifications. These features invite students to think beyond our borders to how social problems occur and are addressed in other countries and regions. 
• Authentic, first-person accounts - “real words from real people”- open many of the text’s chapters to show how the problems being discussed affect people as they go about their daily lives. These lived experiences provide opportunities for instructors to incorporate examples of relevant, contemporary issues into lectures and class discussions. They also engage students in key topics and encourage them to examine social life beyond their own experiences.

New and updated features of this title

In previous editions, Social Problems in Global Perspective boxes showed some comparisons between Canada and other countries. This edition shows international comparisons both in these boxes and throughout the chapters to illustrate how Canada is doing relative to other countries, as measured by international organizations like the United Nations (UN), the World Economic Forum (WEF),and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Canadian institutions like the Conference Board of Canada and Statistics Canada; and peace, democratic, and environmental groups at home and abroad. Examples of such comparisons include the following:

• Canada’s relative performance in income, crime, acceptance of diverse groups, voter turnout, etc. (Chapter 1)
• Canada’s disadvantaged groups (e.g., disabled, elderly, and children) and rates of poverty (Chapter 2)
• Canada’s position in the Gender Inequality Index (Chapter 4)
• Canadians’ level of alcohol consumption relative to those in other countries (Chapter 8)
• Organized crime in Canada and on the international level (Chapter 9)
• The Global Health Burden (Chapter 10)
• The well-being of Canada’s children (Chapter 11)
• Canada’s report card on education and skills (Chapter 12)
• Canada’s economic report card, and Canada’s quality of democracy ranking (Chapter 13)
• Canada’s ranking in the Global Peace Index (Chapter 16)