The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) is proud to recognize outstanding scholars, practitioners, advocates, and students who demonstrate active pursuit in the application of critical, scientific, and humanistic perspectives to the study of vital social problems. Recipients are selected by committees, typically in the spring. We are thankful to our members for their tax-deductible contributions to support these awards and scholarships. View past awards winners.  

Arlene Kaplan Daniels Paper Award
Arlene Kaplan Daniels was the first female editor of Social Problems (1975-1978) and became the Society’s President in 1986. She supported other women sociologists across the discipline and professional associations through mentoring, preparing references, and editing papers. Her scholarship has made an important contribution to the discipline through its unparalleled awareness of women’s contribution to society.
Deadline: April 15

C. Wright Mills Award
SSSP annually gives its prestigious C. Wright Mills Award to the author of what the committee considers to be the most outstanding book written in the tradition of C. Wright Mills and his dedication to a search for a sophisticated understanding of the individual and society. Past winners have included Patricia Hill Collins, William Julius Wilson, Pun Ngai, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, Charles Tilly, Theda Skocpol, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harry Braverman, Frances Fox Piven-Richard Cloward, Jacqueline P. Wiseman, Laud Humphreys, and Jerome H. Skolnick.
Deadline: December 15

Doris Wilkinson Faculty Leadership Award
Doris Wilkinson Faculty Leadership Award will be given annually to an outstanding faculty member who has exercised an extensive leadership role within the SSSP and other professional societies and within the larger community. The award was established in 2015 and was named in honor of Doris Wilkinson, who turned observation into action and became one of the leading voices in bringing change to the society and sociology as a discipline.
Deadline: April 15

Indigenous Peoples’ Social Justice Award
Established in 2020, this award is to an organization (preferably an organization run by Indigenous or Aboriginal peoples) doing social justice work on behalf of Indigenous or Aboriginal peoples in the city or metropolitan area hosting the annual meeting.

Joseph B. Gittler Award
In 2007, a bequest by Joseph B. Gittler was made to the association establishing an award given to a SSSP member for significant scholarly achievements on the ethical resolution of social problems. Past recipients have included Valerie Jenness, Gregory D. Squires, Ellen Pence, Frances Fox Piven, and Nancy A. Wonders. 
Deadline: April 15

Kathleen S. Lowney Mentoring Award
Kathleen S. Lowney Mentoring Award will be given annually to an outstanding faculty member or community activist. The award is established to recognize the value of quality mentoring relationships between mentor and mentee and/or mentoring programs especially those for undergraduate or graduate students and/or for social activists, particularly for younger scholars and activists.
Deadline: April 15

Lee Founders Award
Established in 1981, this award is made in recognition of significant lifetime achievements demonstrating a devotion to the ideals of the founders of the Society and especially to the humanist tradition of Alfred McClung Lee and Elizabeth Briant Lee. Past winners have included Joyce Ladner, John Kitsuse, and Evelyn Nakano Glenn.
Deadline: April 15

Student Paper Competitions and Outstanding Scholarship Awards
The Divisions hold annual Student Paper Competitions and Outstanding Scholarship Awards. Please note each division has a unique deadline and submission process.
Student Paper Competitions Deadline: January 31
Outstanding Scholarship Awards Deadline: vary

Thomas C. Hood Social Action Award
Since 1991 the SSSP has given an award to an organization in the city hosting the annual meeting for its social justice work. In 2009, the award was named in honor of Thomas C. Hood, who retired as Executive Officer in 2009 after serving the Society in that capacity for 19 years. Past winners have included Atlanta’s Youth Speak Truth and the Coalition for Human Immigration Rights of Los Angeles.  
Deadline: April 1

Travel Fund Awards

Erwin O. Smigel Award
The SSSP established the Erwin O. Smigel Award in 1975 to provide assistance to unemployed and underemployed sociologists to help them participate in the Annual Meeting. Applicants should be sociologists with an advanced degree who are not full-time students and who are not fully employed. 

Deadline: March 15

Lee Scholar Support Fund
The SSSP established the Lee Scholar Support Fund to help bring non-US based international scholars from politically, economically, and culturally oppressed groups in countries not considered part of the Global South to the Annual Meeting. The specific purpose is to facilitate scholarly participation by persons engaged in research related to social problems and social struggles.  More generally, the purpose of this fund is to help globalize cooperative relations among persons and organizations engaged in applying social scientific findings to confront social problems and create social change.

Deadline: March 15

Lee Student Support Fund
In recognition of Al Lee’s commitment to social justice and contributions to the SSSP, the Society established the Lee Student Support Fund to help defray the cost of conference attendance and participation by student members.
Deadline: March 15

Transnational Initiatives Fund
The SSSP established the Transnational Initiatives Fund to help provide scholars located in those regions that fall under the definition of the Global South with partial travel support to participate in the Annual Meeting. This includes economically disadvantaged countries and nation-states, as well as politically, economically, and culturally subjugated regions of all countries.
Deadline: March 15

Racial/Ethnic Minority Graduate Fellowship
Since 1995 the SSSP has given an annual Minority Graduate Scholarship to a recipient who demonstrates significant achievements through active engagement with social problems and the advancement of knowledge through study, service, and critical analysis. At the 2017 Annual Meeting, the Board of Directors voted to change the scholarship to a fellowship.
Deadline: February 1

SWS Beth B. Hess Memorial Scholarship
The Beth B. Hess Memorial Scholarship is awarded to an advanced sociology Ph.D. student who began his or her study in a community college or technical school.
Deadline: April 1