Religion and social problems [Book] / edited by Titus Hjelm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Religion and social problems: three perspectives / Titus Hjelm -- The indirect result of religious norms and practices: explaining Islam's role in limiting the spread of HIV/AIDS / Amy Adamczyk -- Islam and labor market integration in Denmark / Peter B Andersen and Peter Lüchau -- Religious diversity and social problems: the case of Britain / James A. Beckford -- Fighting against unemployment: Finnish parishes as agents in European social fund projects / Sanna Lehtinen -- Religion as a solution to social problems: a Christian Orthodox approach to international humanitarian issues / Lina Molokotos-Liederman -- Religion and social capital research in South Africa: mapping an agenda in progress / Ignatius Swart -- Campaigning for justice: religious and legal activism in challenging illegal immigration as a social problem in the U.S. / Gastón Espinosa -- Missionaries and social workers: visions of sexuality in religious discourse / Marian Burchardt -- Perception of Muslims and Islam in Australian schools: a national survey / Abe W. Ata -- Religious problems in contemporary Japanese society: two cases after the Aum Shinrikyo affair / Michiaki Okuyama -- George W. Bush and church-state partnerships to administer social service programs: cautions and concerns / Derek H. Davis -- The cult as a social problem / Eileen Barker -- Other religons as social problem: The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and Afro-Brazilian traditions / Steven Engler -- Islam and integration in German media discourse / Yasemin El-Menouar and Melanie Becker.

Although students and scholars of social problems have often acknowledged the role of religion, no thorough examinations of the relation between the two have emerged. This volume fills this gap by providing a definitive work on the role of religion in assessing, constructing, and solving social problems. Contributors chart the relation between religion and social problems, exploring such case studies as the impact of religion on drugs and alcohol use among Muslims, the rising importance that religion is given in social policy, the role of the Orthodox and Catholic churches in tackling social problems in post-communist East Europe, and the contested role of religion in the national and international politics of contemporary Japan. Religion and Social Problems is a broad and path-breaking contribution to the fields of sociology of religion, sociology of social problems, and religious studies.