problems, the editors determine that the division of social problems into two categories one of deviant behavior and the other social disorganization, is the best definition and both categories are defined as disruptions of an existing social order by Robert Merton. They spend some time on historical social problems and are of the opinion that it was a major theme in the social thought and government policy of the sixties, a decade characterized by an increasing detachment of government action from public knowledge and accountability exemplified in the growth of a vast intelligence apparatus. The most troubling expression of crisis in American institutions- swollen violent prisons, the rapid descent of millions of Americans into the ranks of the poor in the past few years, joblessness that persists at near-Depression levels even during economic "recovery." Social change according to these authors, must be gradual and realistic, it must also be guided by experts. The authors insist that their own role and that of social experts in general, was merely to show the public how to get what they already valued.

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