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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.