environmental sociology

Environmental sociology is typically defined as the sociological study of societal-environmental interactions, although this definition immediately presents the problem of integrating human cultures with the rest of the environment. Although the focus of the field is the relationship between society and environment in general, environmental sociologists typically place special emphasis on studying the social factors that cause environmental problems, the societal impacts of those problems, and efforts to solve the problems. In addition, considerable attention is paid to the social processes by which certain environmental conditions become socially defined as problems.