Ch. 1. Sociology & the Study of Social Problems Handouts Dr.
Ahmed
*Different views & solutions about social problems.
-based on their opinions & life experiences, or they are just good guesses.
: C. W. Mill’s “Sociological imagination”- ability to see the relationship between individual
experiences & the larger society.
* ‘Personal troubles/ problems’ - Causes & solutions lie w/in the individual & his/ her
immediate environment.
*‘Public issues’ - command public interest & attention or require public responses.
* Social Problems (SP): socially induced result that harms individuals or society
* Basics:
1. SPs- seldom harmful to everyone
Examples:
2. SPs- spark public controversy
Ex:
3. SPs overtime: public view changes over time
* 2 components of SPs
a. Objective reality - unbiased acknowledgment that a particular social condition exists.
Ex: poverty - able to be measured
b. Subjective reality – social problems exist only so far as people judge them as a problem
-Socially constructed.
Ex: abortion/ climate change
*Social Constructionism (Social Construction of Reality): SPs become social problems when
we perceive them to be.
- arise as people define conditions:
a. Undesirable
b. In need of change
Social Problems- combination of objective facts & subjective perception (Partly a matter of
objective facts & partly a matter of subjective perception)
Examples: homicide, use of automobiles (even though it kills more people than homicide),
school shootings (kills less people but bigger issue), immigration
History:
(Spector & Kituse) : 4 Stages
1st Stage: Transformation stage-
Example:
2nd Stage. Legitimization stage-
- by creating & implementing a formal response.
3rd Stage. Conflict stage-
- Readjustment, renegotiation, & reorganization.
4th stage. Developing alternative strategies-
When activists are frustrated, they develop alternative, parallel or counter-institutions.
Theoretical Perspective:
Functionalist: Durkheim
Social problems stem from the disruption. Failure of some part- interferes w/ society’s smooth
functioning.
● Rapid change threatens social order because:
it disrupts the balance of society.
● During this state of anomie or normlessness, society - prone to social problems
● Solution- at the societal level.
Restore the social order, repair the broken institutions, avoid rapid change.
Conflict Perspective: Marx
Social problems arise:
a. b/c of social, economic, or political inequalities.
- unequal distribution of wealth-lead to large scale conflict.
: b. from conflict b/ groups & the powerful people win.
: c. b/c of the exploitation & oppression of one group by another.
Blame:
: Capitalism alienates humans from their species being.
Workers are alienated from:
a. Object they produce
b. Process of production
c. Themselves
d. Community
: Workers have False consciousness- Proletariat (workers) fail to understand their own interest
-Will achieve a class consciousness., an awareness of their social position & oppression.
: Solution?
Feminist Perspective:
Feminism- political movement that seeks social equality for men & women
: Gender inequalities lead to social problems
: Patriarchy is basis of social problems
: Eliminate it + establish a gender free society.
*Problems to Solutions:
* Social policy- formal strategies or the enactment of a course of action through a formal
law/program.
* Social advocates (advocacy) - use resources to support, educate, & empower victims & their
communities.
Social innovation is the process of developing
* Social innovation-
and deploying effective solutions to challenging and often
systemic social and environmental issues in support of social
progress
