About the Author

Steven E. Barkan is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Maine. He is the author of several other textbooks, including three with FlatWorld: (1) Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, brief edition; (2) Social Problems: Continuity and Change; and (3) Fundamentals of Criminal Justice (with George Bryjak). He has also authored more than 30 journal articles and book chapters in sources such as the American Sociological Review; Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion; Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency; Justice Quarterly; Mobilization; Public Opinion Quarterly; Review of Religious Research; Social Forces; Social Problems; Social Science Quarterly; and Sociological Forum.

Professor Barkan is past president of the Society for the Study of Social Problems and and the Textbook and Academic Authors Association, from which he received the Pynn-Silverman Lifetime Achievement Award and membership in its Council of Fellows. He also received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Maine and Textbook Excellence Awards for both this book and for Criminology: A Sociological Understanding from the Textbook and Academic Authors Association. Professor Barkan obtained his Ph.D. in sociology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and his B.A. in sociology from Trinity College (Hartford, Connecticut), where he began to learn how to think like a sociologist and also to appreciate the value of a sociological perspective for understanding and changing society. He sincerely hopes that instructors and students enjoy reading this book in the format of their choice and welcomes their comments at barkan@maine.edu.