The community plays a pivotal role in the life of individuals and it serves as a platform from which to study health and illness, diversity and social hierarchies, and criminal justice.
The focus on community issues enables us to showcase the usefulness of sociology at the graduate and undergraduate levels; to create a niche for social work, particularly in the areas of child welfare, gerontology, and sexual diversity; and to find a pivotal role for criminal justice by emphasizing rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders into the community. The agenda of the DHHS Healthy People 2020 serves as concrete guideline for conducting qualitative and quantitative research, theory building, and the generation of external funding.

The field of sociology leads to an understanding of the social forces impinging upon one?s life and can lead to careers in many diverse settings.