Message from the Chair PLEASE CONTRIBUTE TO THE NEWSLETTER Social Problems Theory News Greetings, Although it seems like just yesterday that we were in San Francisco for the 2009 meeting, it is already time to start thinking about the 2010 meeting in Atlanta (August 13-15). The theme of next year’s meeting is “Social Justice Work.” In this issue of Social Problems Theory News you will find several items related to next year’s meeting. First of all, there is a listing of the 2010 divisional and co-sponsored paper sessions. Please submit papers on-line by midnight on January 31. This issue also includes the initial call for papers for the 2010 Student Paper Competition. I want to thank the committee members, Scott Harris (chair), Sara Crawley, and Ray Maratea, for volunteering to serve on this committee. For the first time, the division will be sponsoring an Outstanding Book Award. This award will rotate as a book award one year and an article award the next. Please see the call for submissions on page four. Thank you to Wayne Brekhus (chair) and Donileen Loseke for volunteering to serve on this committee. I will be the third member of the committee because I love having a good excuse to read new books, and I thought I might need a little “light” reading during my maternity leave in the spring! And last, but certainly not least, please take time to vote for the new division chair. You should have received an e-mail from Sharon Shumaker with a link to the voting site. You will find information about the candidates on page five. Lara Foley December 2009 Submissions of all sorts are welcome! From comments and calls for papers, to brief analyses and critiques related to Social Problems Theory. Let us know your reactions to this newsletter, the events at the annual meetings, or inform us of your new work so we can help spread the word. Lara Foley lara-foley@utulsa.edu Inside this issue: Message From the Chair 1 Please Contribute to the Newsletter 1 2010 Paper Sessions 2-3 2010 Student Competition Call for Papers 4 2010 Outstanding Article Call for Papers 4 Announcements and Call for Co-Chair Nominations 5 Announcement of New Book Series 6 Theory Division Chair 2008-2010 Lara Foley Department of Sociology University of Tulsa Tulsa, OK 74104 918-631-2050 lara-foley@utulsa.edu Society for the Study of Social Problems Fall 2009    Thematic Session Constructions of Social Justice Work in Faith Based Communities Organizer: Michelle Corbin MCORBIN@SOCY.UMD.EDU 2010 Social Problems Theory Division Sessions in San Francisco Thematic Session Social Justice Work and the Reality of Pain Organizer: Jared Del Rosso DELROSSO@BC.EDU This session seeks papers that address the diverse ways that people transform suffering resulting from interpersonal or structural violence into socially legible forms. How, for instance, do people employ rhetoric or narrative to give accounts of suffering? How, too, do people and institutions give pain a material, textual, and/or visual reality? Finally, papers might also consider the ethical and analytic difficulties of giving sociological accounts of the suffering of others. Page # Social Problems Theory News Co-sponsored with Sport, Leisure and the Body Constructing Play Organizer: Joel Best joelbest@udel.edu Play is a central form of social activity. Defined broadly, it might include everything from light-hearted remarks in face-to-face interactions through the heavily institutionalized worlds of major sports. The session invites papers that theorize play–as a social problem, as a solution to social problems, etc. Co-sponsored Session with Teaching Social Problems Theory in the Social Problems Classroom Organizer: Sara Towe Horsfall shorsfall@txwes.edu This session seeks papers that examine the theoretical basis for this standard class. What are the theoretical components that should be included? What are the sociological tools that can be used to analyze and understand social problems Co-sponsored Session with Youth, Aging and the Life Course History, Generations and Social Problems Theory Organizer: Chris Wellin cwellin@ilstu.edu Page # Fall 2009 Student Paper Award – Deadline: 3/31/10 The Social Problems Theory Division invites papers for its annual Student Paper Award Competition. To be eligible, papers must be authored or co-authored by students, have relevance to social problems theory, and cannot have been accepted for publication. Papers co-authored with faculty are not eligible. Self nominations are welcome. Please limit manuscripts to 10,000 words (not including references). Subject to budgetary approval, we anticipate the winner will receive a cash prize, membership dues, meeting registration fees, and a banquet ticket for the 2010 annual meeting. The winner will also be invited to present her or his paper at the 2010 SSSP meetings.  Please send submissions as email attachments to the Student Paper Competition Committee Chair, Scott Harris (Saint Louis University), harriss3@slu.edu. Other members of the committee include: Sara Crawley (University of South Florida) and Ray Maratea (New Mexico State University). 2010 Student Competition Call For Papers 2010 Outstanding Book Competition Call for Papers Outstanding Book Award – Deadline 2/15/10 The Social Problems Theory Division announces its inaugural Outstanding Book Award. The goal of this award is to encourage and recognize scholarship in the area of social problems theory. Eligible books must have been published between 2007 and 2009. Single or multiple-authored books will be accepted. Authors are encouraged to nominate their own work. Nominees must be members of SSSP. Please send a 1 page nomination letter and a copy of the book to each of the committee members listed below: 1) Wayne Brekhus (chair), University of Missouri, Department of Sociology, 312 Middlebush Hall, Columbia, MO 65211-6100; 2) Donileen Loseke, Department of Sociology CPR 107, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, Florida 33620; and 3) Lara Foley, Department of Sociology, University of Tulsa, 800 S. Tucker Dr., Tulsa, OK 74104. Page # Social Problems Theory News Ray Maratea, Assistant Professor New Mexico State University SSSP honors and positions: 2010 Member, Social Problems Theory Division, Student Paper Competition Committee 2009 Co-first place, Theory Division Article Award 2006 Second place, Theory Division Student Paper Award Major Publications: 2008 “The e-Rise and Fall of Social Problems: The Blogosphere as a Public Arena.” Social Problems. Candidate Statement: As chair of the Social Problems Theory Division, I would like to expand upon the division’s commitment to advancing the social constructionist vision through continued sponsoring of sessions at SSSP annual meetings and by encouraging members to contribute to the existing literature. One way I hope to achieve these goals is to promote research that seeks to better understand how the Internet and new communication technology affect the process of social problem construction. I believe that such studies are timely, relevant, and can resonate as meaningful to graduate students and other young scholars. In addition, I look forward to having the opportunity to work in collaboration with other division members to generate new ideas that will promote and advance the goals of the Social Problems Theory Division and the SSSP as a whole. Brian Monahan, Assistant Professor Iowa State University SSSP honors and positions: 2010 Chair, Graduate Student Paper Award Committee, Teaching Social Problems Division Major Publications: The Shock of the News: Media Coverage and the Making of 9/11. New York University Press. 2010 “How Close is Too Close? Balancing Closeness and Detachment in Qualitative Research” with S. Maier in Deviant Behavior. 2005 “Constructing Coercion: the Organization of Sexual Assault” with J. Marolla and D. Bromley in Journal of Contemporary Ethnography” Candidate Statement: I have been a member of SSSP for the past six years. While I was drawn to SSSP for the same reasons that many often cite (activism, progressive ideals, the pursuit of social justice, quality scholarship), the thing that I have come to appreciate most about SSSP is that it is a wonderful home for scholars. It provides an open and honest forum for inquiry, debate and critique that few professional associations can match. Every time I leave the meetings I find myself with a renewed sense of vigor and purpose in my research and teaching. As chair of the Social Problems Theory Division, I would seek to ensure that the division’s efforts continue to contribute to the welcoming and intellectually rewarding spirit of SSSP. I would also work with other division members to develop innovative ideas for generating growth, highlighting the many accomplishments of our members and promoting social problems theory and research. Nominees for Division Chair 2010-2012 Please vote on-line by January 9, 2010 Page # Fall 2009 Co-sponsored Session with Poverty, Class and Inequality Animals and the Environment: Inequalities and Social Justice Theory Organizer: Anthony J. Nocella II nocellat@yahoo.com Theory Division Election Announcing a New Book Series Solving Social Problems Series Editor: Bonnie Berry, Director of the Social Problems Research Group, USA www.ashgate.com/sociology Solving Social Problems provides a forum for the description and measurement of social problems, with a keen focus on the concrete remedies proposed for their solution. The series takes an international perspective, exploring social problems in various parts of the world, with the central concern being always their possible remedy. Work is welcomed on subjects as diverse as environmental damage, terrorism, economic disparities and economic devastation, poverty, inequalities, domestic assaults and sexual abuse, health care, natural disasters, labour inequality, animal abuse, crime, and mental illness and its treatment. In addition to recommending solutions to social problems, the books in this series are theoretically sophisticated, exploring previous discussions of the issues in question, examining other attempts to resolve them, and adopting and discussing methodologies that are commonly used to measure social problems. Proposed solutions may be framed as changes in policy or practice, or more broadly as social change and social movement. Solutions may be reflective of ideology, but are always pragmatic and detailed, explaining the means by which the suggested solutions might be achieved. If you would like to submit a proposal for this series, please email: the Series Editor, Bonnie Berry: solving@socialproblems.org or the Commissioning Editor, Neil Jordan: njordan@ashgatepublishing.com