Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Social Problems
Introduction
What Is a Social Problem?
Definitions vary…
What is a Social Problem (cont.)?
A condition (e.g., poverty)
A pattern of behaviour (e.g., violence)
2. Social groups
Members have common identity
Primary and secondary
Social Structure (cont.)
3. Statuses:
position in group
Ascribed, achieved and master status
4. Roles
Associated with status
rights, obligations, and expectations
Elements of Culture
Culture = the meanings and ways of life that
characterize a society
1. Beliefs: what is assumed to be true
Conflict
Interactionist
Concepts:
Manifest functions are intended and recognized
consequences of social processes
Latent functions are unintended; and
Institutionalized Deviance:
When a society is organized in such a way
that it is not meeting the needs of individuals.
Interactionism (cont.): The Social
Construction of Social Problems
Social problems are created through the
actions of others which raise our
consciousness to issues in society
The media and the creation of social
problems
Universities and colleges
Government agencies
Civic voluntary organization
Moral Entrepreneurs
Those who have or develop the power to “label”
problems or problem behaviour in society
Often members of elites or interest groups
Malcolm Spector and John Kitsuse (1977) saw
social problems as Claims-Making activity
Stage 1: Problem Definition
- gaining public recognition
Stage 2: Legitimacy
- acceptance by official agencies
Stage 3: Reemergence of demands
-reasserting demands
Stage 4: Rejection and institution building
- forming new organization to solve the problem
Moral Panics and The Media
Modern mass media aids in “claims-making”
Mass media allows for the rapid spread of
new information
The media is often the vehicle by which the
public becomes aware of social problems
Create intense public concern about and
issue – a “moral panic”
Two factors help:
Media and the need for news
Public demand for sensational news
stories
Feminist Theory
Assumption: Theorists should look at differential
impacts of social phenomena on men and women, and
emphasize power relationships. Every issue is a
feminist issue and interlocking oppressions, e.g.,
sexism, racism, and homophobic are addressed
Concept: Patriarchy is control by men
Application: Violence comes from power differences
especially between men and women and is a means of
reinforcing patriarchy
Population Health Perspective
(used by text authors)
A comparatively new theory that emerged
due to the observation that many social
problems are associated with health
consequences.
Is a broad approach whose goals are to
improve the health of the entire population
and to reduce health inequalities among
social groups.
Reducing Social Problems through
Social Change
Social change: alteration, modification, or
transformation of public policy, culture, or social
institutions over time
Efforts can be:
Short-term, middle-term, or long-term
Micro-level, mid-range, or macro-level
Collective behaviour:
Voluntary
Often spontaneous
Civil disobedience:
Non-violent action that seeks to change a policy
or law by refusing to comply with it
Types of Social Movements:
Reform movements: Seek to change some aspect
of the social structure
Revolutionary movements: Seek to bring about
a total change in society
Religious movements: Seek to renovate people
through “inner change”
Alternative movements: Seek limited change in
some aspects of behavior
Resistance movements: Seek to prevent or undo
change
Research on Social Problems
Ethnography (field studies) - the close
observation of interaction among people in a social
group or organization
Provides in depth understanding of the
nature of a problem
Demographic Studies - how social conditions are
distributed in human populations
How many people are affected
Characteristics of the people that are
affected
Research (cont.)
Survey Research – way of gathering information
from a large population
Sample-representative part from the
population to be studied
Cross-sectional data – data collected at
one point in time
Longitudinal data – data collected at
different points in time
Interviewing or administering a
questionnaire to a sample
Research (cont.)
Social Experiments – are studies that are
conducted in a controlled setting
Random assignment of subjects to two
groups
Experimental group
Control group
Test the effect of a treatment on the
experimental group
A Humanist Agenda
Criteria include:
Improving most of the world’s people’s lives