ABSTRACT
The subjects covered in this book are familiar, almost too familiar. Everyone has attitudes about abortion, poverty, drugs, and all the other issues dealt with here. Yet precisely because these topics are so familiar, they are often not understood. This lack of insight occurs mainly because conventional interpretations of events are so easily accepted; they are common sense. But relying on explanations that seem obvious usually does not get us very far. The problem, as Randall Collins observes, is that for each commonsense interpretation there usually exists an opposing view that is equally commonsensical to those who believe it (1992:87). Such differences are difficult to reconcile without evidence
and a framework for asking questions about that evidence. This book analyzes selected social problems. Its purpose is to help you view familiar subjects in new ways.
