REALITIES

• Social problems


  Conditions or situations which members of the society regard as a threat to their values
• Social problem


  • A generic term applied to a range of conditions and aberrant behaviours which are manifestations of social disorganization
  • A condition which most people in a society consider undesirable and want to correct by changing through some means of social engineering or social planning
• Problem


  A condition of discontentment resented by someone
• Social problem


  When a problem is resented by many people
• For a problem to be social

  • It must involve a large number of people, sometimes groups and institutions, who consider a particular condition as undesirable and intolerable and want to correct through collective action
• Fuller and Myers defined social problems


  1941
• Objective component


  Empirical evidence of the negative consequences of a social condition or behavior
• Objective component

  • Crime
  • Poverty
  • Communal tensions
• Subjective component


  Perception that the condition or behavior is indeed a problem that needs to be addressed
• Values come into play when people start perceiving that some values are being threatened
• Elements of a social problem

  • They cause physical or mental damage to individuals or society
  • They offend the values or standards of some powerful segment of society
  • They persist for an extended period of time
  • They generate competing proposed solutions because of varying evaluations from groups in different social positions within society
• Sources of social problems

  • Modern society is complex and intricate in its internal organization
  • Inconsistent and loosely meshed social structure generates strains and social tensions
  • Most social problems are intricate and interwoven (e.g. housing, poverty, unemployment, inequality)
• Modern society is highly productive and highly rewarding in status and material goods for so many

  It still has a dark side to it
• There are costs and casualties to any social system
• Progress has its own price
• Social change


  1. Continually alters social structure

  2. Disrupts established relations among social groups

  3. Redefines social roles (e.g. between working husband and wife)

  4. Renders some beliefs and behaviour patterns outmoded or dysfunctional
• Stages of Social Problems

  1. Emergence and Claims Making

  2. Legitimacy

  3. Renewed Claims Making

  4. Development of Alternative Strategies
• Emergence and Claims Making


  A social problem is when a group of people, like politicians or the news media, start talking about something they think is bad and needs to be fixed. They try to get other people to see it as a problem too by saying why it's bad and what can be done about it. This part is called the "claims-making process." Sometimes these efforts work and everyone agrees that there's a problem that needs fixing. Other times, they don't work and nothing changes. Some groups are better at making people care than others because of their resources.
• Legitimacy


  It is how social groups can influence the government to take action on certain issues. When a social group identifies something as a problem, they will often try to convince the government to do something about it by spending money and creating policies. To make their case stronger, they will also provide evidence from research that supports their claims about the issue. Essentially, this text is saying that when a group wants change, they will work hard to persuade those in power that their concerns are valid and should be addressed.
• Renewed Claims Making


  Even if government action does occur, social change groups often conclude that the action is too limited in goals or scope to be able to successfully address the social problem. If they reach this conclusion, they often decide to press their demands anew. They do so by reasserting their claims and by criticizing the official response they have received from the government or other established interests, such as big businesses.
• Development of Alternative Strategies


  Despite the renewed claims making, social change groups often conclude that the government and established interests are not responding adequately to their claims. Although the groups may continue to press their claims, they nonetheless realize that these claims may fail to win an adequate response from established interests. This realization leads them to develop their own strategies for addressing the social problem.
• Types of social problems

  • Problems of social organization
  • Problems of deviance
• Problems of social organization

  • Created by the way the community or the society is organized
  • Community or society produces situations that some members of the society refuse to accept as right or necessary or even inevitable
• Problems of social organization


  • Communalism
  • Casteism
  • Regionalism
  • Poverty
  • Gender discrimination
  • Population
  • Environmental imbalance (different kinds of pollution, health hazards, etc.)
• Problems of deviance

  Have to do with the adjustment of people to conventional ways of living
• Problems of deviance

  • Delinquency
  • Drug addiction
  • Alcoholism
  • Mental illness
  • Various forms of sexual behaviour (rape, incest, sodomy)
  • Bigamy
  • Prostitution
  • Vandalism
• SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN YOUTH: Homelessness , Teen parenting , Substance abuse , Suicide

  SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN SCHOOL: Vandalism , School violence, Dropout rate, Classroom Size , Poverty , Bullying , Student Attitudes and Behaviors.

  SOME EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL PROBLEM ARE: Unemployment, Poverty, Rapid population growth, Lack of education , Gender discrimination, Homelessness , Child abuse
• Symbolic Interaction Theory


  A micro-level theory that focuses on meanings attached to human interaction, both verbal and non-verbal, and to symbols
• Communication


  The exchange of meaning through language and symbols, believed to be the way in which people make sense of their social worlds
• Social problems arise from

  The interaction of individuals
• People who engage in socially problematic behaviors

  Often learn these behaviors from other people
• Individuals learn their perceptions of social problems

  From other people
• Conflict Theory


  Society is characterized by pervasive inequality based on social class, race, gender, and other factors
• Social problems arise from

  Fundamental faults in the structure of a society and both reflect and reinforce inequalities based on social class, race, gender, and other dimensions
• Successful solutions to social problems

  Must involve far-reaching change in the structure of society
• 3. Structural  Functionalism (William James, 19th century) - Social stability is necessary for a strong society, and adequate socialization and social integration are necessary for social stability.

  Social problems weaken a society’s stability but do not reflect fundamental faults in how the society is structured. Solutions to social problems should take the form of gradual social reform rather than sudden and far-reaching change. Despite their negative effects, social problems often also serve important functions for society.
• Systems Theory


  Looks at how each part contributes to the ways an individual functions within society, and how those parts might interact and compound issues
• Systems Theory


  • Developed by Ludwig von Bertalanffy in 1940
• Rational Choice Theory


  Individuals use their self-interests to make choices that will provide them with the greatest benefit. People weigh their options and make the choice they think will serve them best.
• Rational Choice Theory


  • Developed by Adam Smith