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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Social Problems: Community, Policy, and Social Action represents a deeply personal and professional journey. My heartfelt thanks to Jerry Westby for being the first to recognize and support my vision. Along with Denise Simon, Jerry guided me through the first three editions of this text, sharing my commitment to my message of social action. For this edition, I was fortunate to work with Jeff Lasser and Sarah Dillard. They challenged and encouraged me to reimagine the content and instructional features of this text. My thanks to both of them for their unwavering support.
I am indebted to Tracy Buyan for her fine production support, to Colleen Brennan for her thorough and thoughtful copyediting, and to Susan Wortmann for her work on the ancillary materials and features.
The following sociologists served as the first audience and reviewers for this text. Thank you all for your encouragement and for your insightful comments and suggestions, many of which have been incorporated in this sixth edition.
For the sixth edition:
Katherine Abbott, University of New Hampshire
Karl Botchway, New York City College of Technology
Maisha N. Jones, Los Angeles Southwest College
Megan McDrew, Hartnell College
Stephanie Medley-Rath, Indiana University Kokomo
Julia Spence, Johnson County Community College
For the fifth edition:
Karen Allen, Arkansas State University
Todd Michael Callais, University of Cincinnati–Blue Ash
Robert M. Clark, Pennsylvania Highlands Community College
Kate D’Arcy, University of Bedfordshire, Applied Social Studies
Sue Dowden, El Camino College
John J. Errigo, III, Chestnut Hill College
Aimee E. Huard, Nashua Community College
Linda L. Jasper, Indiana University Southeast
Rosalind Kopfstein, Western Connecticut State University
For the fourth edition:
Kathleen Baldwin, Olympic College
Angela Jones, Elon University
Thomas R. Lake, SUNY Dutchess Community College
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Minu Mathur, College of San Mateo
Johnny Underwood, Carteret Community College
For the third edition:
Doug Degher, Northern Arizona University
Mark J. Guillette, Valencia Community College–Osceola Campus
Eric Jorrey, Bowling Green State University
Amanda Jungels, Georgia State University
Mary Kniskern, University of Maryland, Virginia–Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine
Sandy Martinez, Central Washington University
Sophie Nathenson, The University of Utah
Bob Parker, University of Nevada School of Medicine
Matthew Sargent, Madison Area Technical College–Downtown
Athena Smith, Hillsborough Community College–Dale Mabry Campus
Annie Tuttle, The Florida State University College of Law
Mike Victor, The University of Texas Science Health Center at Tyler
For the second edition:
Donna Abrams, Georgia Highlands College
Brian C. Aldrich, Winona State University
Carl Backman, Auburn University
Janet Cosbey, Eastern Illinois University
Janine Dewitt-Heffner, Marymount University
Ronald Ferguson, Ridgewater College
Mark J. Guillette, Valencia Community College
Gaetano Guzzo, Wright State University
Jason Hendrickson, State University of New York at Albany
Judith Hennessy, Central Washington University
Ronald Huskin, Del Mar College
Richard Jenks, Indiana University Southeast
Rohald Meneses, University of Florida
Paul Mills, University of Alabama
Adam Moskowitz, Columbus State Community College
Wendy Ng, San Jose State University
Robert Parker, University of Nevada Las Vegas
James Roberts, University of Scranton
Katherine R. Rowell, Sinclair Community College
Rita Sakitt, Suffolk County Community College
Frank Salamone, Iona College
Jim Sikora, Illinois Wesleyan College
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For the first edition:
Arfa Aflatooni, Linn-Benton Community College
Joanne Ardovini, Sam Houston State University
Bernadette Barton, Morehead State University
Allison Camelot, California State University, Fullerton
Janine Dewitt-Heffner, Marymount University
Dan Dexheimer, University of Florida
Woody Doane, University of Hartford
Joe Dupris, California State University, Humboldt
Rachel Einwohner, Purdue University
Heather Smith Feldhaus, Bloomsburg University
Jim Fenelon, California State University, San Bernardino
Bobbie Fields, Central Piedmont Community College
Debbie Franzman, Allan Hancock College
Marcie Goodman, University of Utah
George Gross, Northern Michigan University
Mark J. Guillette, Valencia Community College
Julia Hall, Drexel University
Dan W. Hayden, University of Southern Indiana
Chuck Hohm, San Diego State University
Leslie Houts, University of Florida
James R. Hunter, Indiana University–Purdue University at Indianapolis
K. Land, Duke University
Nick Larsen, Chapman University
Kari Lerum, Seattle University
Stephen Light, SUNY Plattsburgh
Dennis Loo, Cal Poly Pomona
Scott Lukas, Lake Tahoe Community College
Christina Myers, Oklahoma State University
Paul Roof, San Juan College
Kim Saliba, Portland Community College
Norma K. Simmons, Washington State University
Deborah Sullivan, Arizona State University
Mary Texeira, California State University, San Bernardino
Linda A. Treiber, North Carolina State University
Gailynn White, Citrus College
Anthony W. Zumpetta, West Chester University
My thanks to my AKD colleagues Michele Kozimor-King, Erik Larsen, and Amy Orr for connecting me with their star alums. And to each sociology alum, thank you for sharing your amazing stories of success, vocation, and sociology with me and my readers.
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I am grateful for the extraordinary assistance of Michael Clark during this revision. His research and editing support, along with his keen sense of making the material accessible to students, were invaluable.
I dedicate this book to the two people who have been with me from the beginning of this journey: to my mentor, Byron D. Steiger, and to my husband, Brian W. Sullivan. From Byron, I learned the importance of loving one’s work. Thank you for showing me what an excellent teacher can and should be. From Brian, I learned the value of caring for one’s community and the environment. Thank you for all that you do—this book would not have been possible without you.