10) Sociology and social policy

• Social problems - Worsley:

  • ' a social problem is some piece of social behaviour that causes public friction and/or private misery and calls for collective action to solve it'
  • e.g. poverty, educational underachievement, juvenile delinquency and divorce.
• Sociological problems - Worsley:

  • 'any pattern of relationships that calls for an explanation' - any piece of behaviour we wish to make sense of.
  • Might be something that society regards as a social problem. But it can also include behaviour that society doesn't normally regard as a problem.
• Sociological problems - Worsley:

  • 'normal' behaviour is just as interesting to sociologists as behaviour that people see as a problem.
  • Some sociologists show little or no interest in solving social problems.
  • their goal is to discover knowledge for its own sake.