Many of our current social problems have been attributed to the breakdown or loss of community as a place and to the fragmentation of connections due to an extreme value of individualism in the Western world, particularly in the United States. Not all scholars and researchers agree that individualism and technology are the primary culprits in the loss of community as it existed in the middle decade of the 20th century. Nonetheless, people exist in groups, and connections are vital to their existence and in the daily performance of activities. The second edition of the Sociology of Community Connections will identify and help students understand community connectedness in the present and future.

1. Social Connections Introduction.- 2. Conceptions of Community: Past and Present Introduction.- 3. Common Ties: Immigrant, Refugee, and Ethnic Communities Introduction.- 4. Mobile Communities: The Tentative Ties of Migrant and and Seasonal Farmworkers.- Introduction 5. Fragmented Ties: The Poor and the Homeless.- Introduction.- 6. Communities in Crisis: Reconnecting Frayed Social Ties.- Introduction.- 7. Excluded Communities: Barriers to Neighboring.- Introduction.- 8. Connecting Seniors: Social Networks of Value.- Introduction.- 9. Connections of Faith: Religion as Community.- Introduction.- 10. Vital Bonds: Social Support, Social Networks, and Health.- Introduction.- 11. The Social Internet: Cybercommunities.- Introduction.- 12. Virtual Connections in New Work Environments.- Introduction.- 13. Ecologically Sustainable Communities: Place-Based and Purpose-Based Connections.- Introduction.- 14. Solitary Communities: Disconnecting From the Common Good Introduction.- Notes.- References.- Index.