Challenges the conventional wisdom that media creates a toxic environment for America's youth, diverting us from the real origins of problems affecting children today. Are school shootings the result of violent video games? Do sex-laden movies lead to promiscuity? Can Goth music create alienation? Repeatedly we are told the answer to these and similar questions is a resounding yes. But is this the right answer? It's Not the Media considers why media culture is a perennial target of both fascination and concern, and why we are so often encouraged to believe it is the root of many social problems. A look beyond the attention-grabbing headlines and political stumping reveals that fearing media feels right because media represents what we fear. And changes in media culture are easier to see than the complex economic, social, and political changes we have experienced over the past few decades. Digging deeper into the historical and societal trends of the past century and drawing from the most current social science research on the effects of media on children, Sternheimer presents a compelling argument that fear of social change, and what it means to be a kid in a today's media-saturate

Is violence on the streets caused by violence in video games? Does cyber-bullying lead to an increase in suicide rates? Are teens promiscuous because of Teen Mom? As Karen Sternheimer clearly demonstrates, popular culture is an easy scapegoat for many of society's problems, but it is almost always the wrong answer.Now in its second edition, Connecting Social Problems and Popular Culture goes beyond the news-grabbing headlines claiming that popular culture is public enemy number one to consider what really causes the social problems we are most concerned about. The sobering fact is that a "media made them do it" explanation fails to illuminate the roots of social problems like poverty, violence, and environmental degradation. Sternheimer's analysis deftly illustrates how welfare "reform," a two-tiered health care system, and other difficult systemic issues have far more to do with our contemporary social problems than Grand Theft Auto or Facebook. The fully-revised new edition features recent moral panics (think sexting and cyberbullying) and an entirely new chapter exploring social media. Expanded discussion of how we understand society's problems as social constructions without disregarding empirical evidence, as well as the cultural and structural issues underlying those ills, allows students to stretch their sociological imaginations.

Kids snatched from their bedrooms, shot at in school, fatter than ever, prone to risk-taking and cruelty...is childhood today as bad as the news accounts would have us believe? Is this generation headed for disaster? Kids These Days: Facts and Fictions About Today's Youth critically examines the hottest news stories of the past few years to assess whether the news is really as bad as it sounds. For instance, is kidnapping by strangers really a bigger threat now than in the past? Are disputes at school now settled with guns instead of fists? And are kids, especially girls, becoming bigger bullies than ever before? Kids These Days looks at the stories that made headlines and goes deeper to explore overall trends and statistics to compare the hype to reality. The truth is, kids today do face unique obstacles and challenges, but their situation isn't nearly as dire as the compelling news accounts would have us believe. Our nation's youth have been targeted as a problem population to absolve adult responsibility for creating the often dangerous and difficult conditions many young people must endure. Kids These Days will give the reader pause and perspective to better understand the realities of the first generation to come of age in the twenty-first century.

Celebrity Culture and the American Dream, Second Edition considers how major economic and historical factors shaped the nature of celebrity culture as we know it today, retaining the first edition's examples from the first celebrity fan magazines of 1911 to the present and expanding to include updated examples and additional discussion on the role of the internet and social media in today's celebrity culture. Equally important, the book explains how and why the story of Hollywood celebrities matters, sociologically speaking, to an understanding of American society, to the changing nature of the American Dream, and to the relation between class and culture. This book is an ideal addition to courses on inequalities, celebrity culture, media, and cultural studies.

Moral panics reveal much about a society's social structure and the sociology embedded in everyday life. This short text examines extreme reactions to American popular culture over the past century, including crusades against comic books, music, and pinball machines, to help convey the "sociological imagination" to undergraduates. Sternheimer creates a critical lens through which to view current and future attempts of modern-day moral crusaders, who try to convince us that simple solutions-like regulating popular culture-are the answer to complex social problems. Pop Culture Panics is ideal for use in undergraduate social problems, social deviance, and popular culture courses.

Moral panics reveal much about a society's social structure and the sociology embedded in everyday life. This short text examines extreme reactions to American popular culture over the past century, including crusades against comic books, music, and pinball machines, to help convey the "sociological imagination" to undergraduates. Sternheimer creates a critical lens through which to view current and future attempts of modern-day moral crusaders, who try to convince us that simple solutions-like regulating popular culture-are the answer to complex social problems. Pop Culture Panics is ideal for use in undergraduate social problems, social deviance, and popular culture courses.

Whether your goal is to share little-known or misunderstood information, work to create policy changes, or raise awareness about a pressing social issue, this book will help you start communicating with the public and share your research with a broader audience. Using examples from social scientists who have successfully navigated the public sphere, as well as firsthand accounts of the ups and downs of the writing, publishing, and promoting process, The Social Scientist's Soapbox: Adventures in Writing Public Sociology presents readers with a step-by-step guide to get started, stay motivated, and complete both large and small writing projects for public audiences. Now, more than ever, social scientists need to share our ideas with the public, as misinformation, disinformation, and outright lies have filtered into the public discourse and policymaking.

Whether your goal is to share little-known or misunderstood information, work to create policy changes, or raise awareness about a pressing social issue, this book will help you start communicating with the public and share your research with a broader audience. Using examples from social scientists who have successfully navigated the public sphere, as well as firsthand accounts of the ups and downs of the writing, publishing, and promoting process, The Social Scientist's Soapbox: Adventures in Writing Public Sociology presents readers with a step-by-step guide to get started, stay motivated, and complete both large and small writing projects for public audiences. Now, more than ever, social scientists need to share our ideas with the public, as misinformation, disinformation, and outright lies have filtered into the public discourse and policymaking.

Celebrity Culture and the American Dream, Second Edition considers how major economic and historical factors shaped the nature of celebrity culture as we know it today, retaining the first edition's examples from the first celebrity fan magazines of 1911 to the present and expanding to include updated examples and additional discussion on the role of the internet and social media in today's celebrity culture. Equally important, the book explains how and why the story of Hollywood celebrities matters, sociologically speaking, to an understanding of American society, to the changing nature of the American Dream, and to the relation between class and culture. This book is an ideal addition to courses on inequalities, celebrity culture, media, and cultural studies.

Is violence on the streets caused by violence in video games? Does cyber-bullying lead to an increase in suicide rates? Are teens promiscuous because of "Teen Mom"? As Karen Sternheimer clearly demonstrates, popular culture is an easy scapegoat for many of society's problems, but it is almost always the wrong answer.
Now in its second edition, "Connecting Social Problems and Popular Culture" goes beyond the news-grabbing headlines claiming that popular culture is public enemy number one to consider what really causes the social problems we are most concerned about. The sobering fact is that a "media made them do it" explanation fails to illuminate the roots of social problems like poverty, violence, and environmental degradation. Sternheimer's analysis deftly illustrates how welfare "reform," a two-tiered health care system, and other difficult systemic issues have far more to do with our contemporary social problems than "Grand Theft Auto" or Facebook.
The fully-revised new edition features recent moral panics--think sexting and cyberbullying--and an entirely new chapter exploring social media. Expanded discussion of how we understand society's problems as social constructions without disregarding empirical evidence, as well as the cultural and structural issues underlying those ills, allows students to stretch their sociological imaginations.

Kids snatched from their bedrooms, shot at in school, fatter than ever, prone to risk-taking and cruelty_is childhood today as bad as the news accounts would have us believe? Is this generation headed for disaster? Kids These Days: Facts and Fictions About Today's Youth critically examines the hottest news stories of the past few years to assess whether the news is really as bad as it sounds. For instance, is kidnapping by strangers really a bigger threat now than in the past? Are disputes at school now settled with guns instead of fists? And are kids, especially girls, becoming bigger bullies than ever before? Kids These Days looks at the stories that made headlines and goes deeper to explore overall trends and statistics to compare the hype to reality. The truth is, kids today do face unique obstacles and challenges, but their situation isn't nearly as dire as the compelling news accounts would have us believe. Our nation's youth have been targeted as a problem population to absolve adult responsibility for creating the often dangerous and difficult conditions many young people must endure. Kids These Days will give the reader pause and perspective to better understand the realities of the first generation to come of age in the twenty-first century.