Greetings! The Society for the Study of Social Problem’s 2016 Annual Meeting is nearly upon us (August 19-21). I am looking forward to seeing familiar faces and to meeting new people in Seattle, as I am encouraged each year by members’ efforts to address social welfare problems through their research, practice, and advocacy. Email me at ldhouser@widener.edu with any news you would like to share with the division. Please consider attending the Sociology and Social Welfare Division meeting on Saturday, August 20th, at 10:30 a.m. in the Puget Sound room. The meeting is open to all division members, prospective members, and those interested in issues of concern to the division. Here, you will have the opportunity to suggest session topics for the 2017 Annual Meeting, participate in the nominating process for the next (2018-2020) division chair, and plan for the 2017 Graduate Student Paper Competition. If you have ever said to yourself or others, “I don’t understand why SSSP isn’t holding a session on (____),” please attend a division meeting and share your ideas. This year’s SSSP conference theme – Globalizing Social Problems – has inspired a wide array of sessions, presentations, and paper topics. I encourage you to attend as many of the Sociology and Social Welfare division-sponsored and co-sponsored sessions as possible. Critical Dialogue: Responding to Neoliberalism and the Welfare State (Session 16) Friday, 8/19, 10:30 – 12:10 Room: Cascade I-C Organizer & Presider: John O’Connor, Central Connecticut State University Note: This session includes a presentation by Cayce C. Hughes, University of Chicago, Winner of the Division’s Student Paper Competition. Citizenship in Comparative Perspective (Session 56) Friday, 8/19, 4:30 – 6:10 Room: Pine Organizer: Heidy Sarabia, University of Pennsylvania Presider: Jacqueline D. Brooks, California State University, Sacramento Roundtable: Social Justice Movements and Change in Place and Space (Session 98) Saturday, 8/20, 12:30 – 2:10 Room: Puget Sound Organizer & Presider: Margo M. Campbell, Widener University Student Protests: Identities and Strategies (Session 106) Saturday, 8/20, 2:30 – 4:10 Room: Mercer Organizer: Sebastián G. Guzmán, Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile Presider: R.A. Dello Buono, Manhattan College Debt, Globalization, and Social Welfare (Session 125) Sunday, 8/21, 8:30 – 10:10 Room: Pine Organizer & Presider: John O’Connor, Central Connecticut State University The Global and the Local of Precarious Labor (Session 136) Sunday, 8/21, 10:30 – 12:10 Room: Mercer Organizer & Presider: Jenny Lendrum, Wayne State University Health Across Borders (Session 149) Sunday, 8/21, 12:30 – 2:10 Room: Pike Organizer & Presider: April M. Schueths, Georgia Southern University Native Americans: Representation, Conflict, and Discrimination (Session 154) Sunday, 8/21, 2:30 – 4:10 Room: Cascade I-B Organizer & Presider: Devon R. Goss, University of Connecticut 2016 Annual Meeting Information Division Meeting Saturday, 8/20, 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (Puget Sound) Division-Sponsored Reception Saturday, 8/20, 7:45 – 8:45 p.m. (Fifth Avenue) Networking, food, and conversation with the membership of multiple SSSP divisions Awards Ceremony and Reception Saturday, 8/20, 7:45 – 8:45 p.m. (Cascade III) Preliminary Program http://www.sssp1.org/2016_Preliminary_Program/ Annual Meeting Registration Form (Note: Online registration closes 7/31 at 11:59 p.m. EDT) http://www.sssp1.org/2016_Annual_Meeting_Registration Hotel Reservation Information (until 7/26 or room block has been filled) http://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/647/Hotel_Reservation_Information/ SSSP Student Paper Award Winner Each year, the SSSP Divisions hold student paper competitions. Some divisions also recognize outstanding scholarship in their respective fields. This year, the Sociology and Social Welfare division is pleased to announce its 2016 Graduate Student Paper and Award Winner: Negotiating Privacy in the Context of Poverty: Poor Mothers & the Social Safety Net Cayce C. Hughes Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology, University of Chicago 2015-2016 Kinder Scholar, Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University All Graduate Student Paper Award winners will be recognized at the Annual Meeting Awards Ceremony and Reception scheduled for Saturday, August 20th, from 6:45 to 7:45 p.m. in Cascade III. Thank you to April Schueths of Georgia Southern University and Melinda McCormick of Western Michigan University who read several excellent papers in the process of selecting this year’s winner. Congratulations, Cayce, on your achievement. New Resource JOURNAL OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT www.tandfonline.com/WHUM FREE ACCESS ISSUE Police Shooting of Unarmed African American Males: Implications for the Individual, the Family, and the Community Guest Editors: Sharon E. Moore, Michael A. Robinson, and A. Christson Adedoyin FREE ACCESS is available to this Special Issue through August 31, 2016. FROM THE INTRODUCTION: Why are Black males dying specifically at the hands of law enforcement agents for no apparent reasons? What needs to be done to abolish these nonsensical deaths? In this Special Double Issue, the Guest Editors provide a forum for critical discussion relative to theory that helps to explain what is occurring and why, give opportunity for analysis of the implications of these shootings at the micro-, mezzo-, and macro-societal levels and, perhaps most importantly, provide solution-based recommendations for rectifying this problem. Calls for Papers Special Issue of Social Sciences Transgender Youth: Focusing on the “T” in LGBT Studies Editors: Dr. Maralee Mayberry, University of South Florida, and Lane Hanson, MSW, University of Wisconsin-Madison Deadline for Submission: September 30, 2016 Transgender is increasingly understood as a term used to describe individuals who exhibit gender-nonconforming identities and/or behaviors, or, in other words, those who transcend typical gender paradigms. Transgender interests and issues sometimes overlap with those related to sexual orientation (lesbian, gay, bisexual). However, this population also experiences a divergent set of challenges as they navigate their social worlds. Research on transgender populations (rather than the commonly amalgamated LGBTQI populations) is emerging as the cutting edge of the social justice agenda. This emerging research rejects the homogenization and denial of agency (difference) reflected in much of the literature on LGBT populations. It reflects a growing concern for listening to and demonstrating sensitivity to unique contexts within which the transgender population—for this Special Issue transgender youth—navigate. This Special Issue seeks to focus upon the multiple contexts that transgender youth inhabit and the specific conflicts, challenges, and controversies embedded in these contexts, as well as the resiliency and creativity transgender youth exhibit as they traverse the different contexts that shape their lived experiences. We invite manuscripts that include, but are not limited to, the following: • Comparison studies that offer an in-depth understanding of the multitude of transgender youth school experiences in K-12 through higher education. • Studies examining the policies, programs, and practices that have been developed and implemented for transgender youth and the relevance of these in the lives of transgender youth, including program evaluations. • Examinations of the various challenges faced by researchers focusing on this population and discussions of how these challenges may be circumvented with the aim toward expanding the research literature on transgender youth. • Impact of the social services available to transgender youth. • Comparison studies that explore the experiences of parents and/or guardians of transgender youth, as well as the experiences of other family members. • Youth in transition • Transgender youth movements Theoretical, empirical and practice-based studies and methodological approaches from a wide range of disciplines (education, social work, sociology, psychology, public policy, anthropology, family studies), as well as cross-and interdisciplinary studies are encouraged. Submissions should be written in a nontechnical style accessible to a broad interdisciplinary audience. Deadline for Submission: September 30, 2016 For submission information go to: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/socsci/special_issues/focusing_on_the_T_in_LGBT_studies Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760) is an international, open access journal with rapid peer-review, which publishes works from a wide range of fields, including anthropology, economics, law, linguistics, education, geography, history, political sciences, psychology and sociology. Social Sciences is published quarterly online by MDPI, http://www.mdpi.com/journal/socsci Special Issue of Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought Islam in the 21st Century: Challenges & Opportunities for Social Work with Muslims Guest Editor: Dr. Altaf Husain, Howard University School of Social Work Deadline for Submission: August 15, 2016 http://explore.tandfonline.com/cfp/beh/islam-social-work Within the last few decades, social work has begun to reclaim its roots as a profession whose founding was inspired in part by teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Within the same period, due to national and international events of tremendous import within the macro social environment, the beliefs and values of Islam and the lives of its adherents in North America and around the world have emerged as topics of intense interest and scrutiny. Within the decade following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, there are population estimates of Muslims around the world range between 1.2 to 1.5 billion and within the United States, the population is estimated at between 7 to 8 million. Within the US, the growth in the population has occurred mostly post 1965 when immigration reforms opened the doors for migration to the US from Asia and Africa among other regions. Articles have appeared increasingly in the social work literature, which address practice and research with specific populations of Muslims such as adolescents or the elderly, or immigrants and refugees, or with specific topics such as depression or discrimination. Most of these articles do not elaborate in-depth on the Islamic belief system, which has such a pervasive impact on the daily lives of self-identifying Muslims. This special issue aims to fill the gaps in the existing literature on social work education, practice and research with Muslims, with a particular focus on the examination of issues of social justice and Islam, and the concomitant impact of Islamic teachings on the development of policy and the delivery of social services. The special issue is intended to allow prospective authors the latitude to delve deeper into the role of Islam in the daily lives of potential clients and in the healthy functioning of organizations and communities. Conceptual, research-based, and practice-oriented articles are being solicited in these four broad areas: • Islamic beliefs and values; • Micro direct practice; • Macro direct practice; and • Best practices in serving Muslim clients, organizations and communities. Guiding questions to assist with the development of original manuscripts include: • What does the Islamic philosophy of social work look like? Is there such a philosophy? • What are the key Islamic beliefs and values which are central to ensuring spiritual competence among social work professionals working with Muslim clients? • How does the Islamic belief system align with the values and ethics of the social work profession? • How are mental health and psychosocial wellbeing defined, interpreted and addressed according to the Islamic teachings? • How has anti-Islamic bigotry impacted individuals and communities? • How is community defined and what unique principles of community organizing and development can be discerned from the Islamic tradition? • What best practices have emerged within social work education, practice and research with the Muslim population? Deadline for Submission: August 15, 2016 For submission information go to: http://explore.tandfonline.com/cfp/beh/islam-social-work