Chapter 1: Thinking about Social Problems
―Unless someone like you cares a whole
awful lot, nothing is going to be better. It’s
not.‖
– Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
Week 1
Learning Objectives
1. Define a social problem.
2. Discuss the elements of the social structure and culture of
society.
3. Understand the connections between private troubles and
public issues, and how they relate to the sociological
imagination.
4. Summarize structural functionalism, conflict theory, and
symbolic interactionism and their respective theories of social
problems.
What Is a Social Problem?
Objective Elements of Social Problems
• Existence of a social condition.
• Awareness of social conditions arise through life
experiences and through reports in the media.
Subjective Elements of Social Problems
• The belief that a particular social condition is harmful
to society or to a segment of society and that it should
and can be changed.
Objective and Subjective Elements of Social Problems
• By combining the subjective and objective elements, we arrive
at the following definition:
• A social problem is a social condition that a segment of society
views as harmful to members of society and in need of remedy.
What Do You Think? 1
For a condition to be defined as a social problem, there must be
public awareness of the condition.
• How do you think the widespread use of communication
technology—such as smartphones, Facebook, Twitter, and
YouTube—has affected public awareness of problematic social
conditions?
• Can you think of social problems that you became aware of
through communication technology that you probably would
not have been aware of if such technology were not accessible?
Elements of Social Structure and Culture
Elements of Social Structure (1 of 7)
• The structure of a society refers to the way society is organized.
• Society is organized into
o Institutions
o Social groups
o Statuses
o Roles
• Social Institutions
• Social Groups
• Statuses & Roles
Elements of Social Structure (2 of 7)
• An institution is an established and
enduring pattern of social relationships.
• The five traditional institutions are:
o Family
o Religion
o Politics
o Economics
o Education
Elements of Social Structure (3 of 7)
• A social group is defined as two or more people who have a common identity,
interact, and form a social relationship.
o Primary groups are characterized by intimate and informal interaction.
o Secondary groups are task oriented and characterized by impersonal and formal
interaction.
Elements of Social Structure (4 of 7)
• Statuses: A status is a position that a person occupies within a social group.
• The statuses in a family may consist of mother, father, stepmother, stepfather,
wife, husband and child.
• Statuses can be either ascribed or achieved.
Elements of Social Structure (5 of 7)
• Ascribed Statuses: An ascribed status is one that society assigns to an
individual on the basis of factors over which the individual has no control.
o Examples: child, teenager, senior citizen.
o Characteristics like age and race are ascribed statuses.
Elements of Social Structure (6 of 7)
• Achieved Statuses: An achieved status is assigned on the basis of some
characteristic or behavior over which the individual has some control.
o Examples: college graduate, spouse, parent, bank president, convicted criminal
Elements of Social Structure (7 of 7)
• Roles: The set of rights, obligations, and expectations associated with a status.
• Roles guide our behavior and allow us to predict the behavior of others.
Elements of Culture (1 of 5)
• Culture is defined as the meanings and ways of life that characterize a society,
including beliefs, values, norms, sanctions, and symbols.
Elements of Culture (2 of 5)
• Beliefs are definitions and explanations about what is assumed to be true.
o Is second-hand smoke dangerous?
• Values are social agreements about what is considered good and bad, right and
wrong, desirable and undesirable.
o Racism, sexism and heterosexism violate the values of equality and fairness.
Elements of Culture (3 of 5)
• Norms
o Socially defined rules of behavior. There are three types of norms.
• Folkways – customs, habits, and manners of society.
• Laws – formal norms backed by authority.
• Mores – norms with a moral basis.
Elements of Culture (4 of 5)
• Sanctions
o Consequences for conforming to or violating norms.
Elements of Culture (5 of 5)
• Symbols
o Something that represents something else.
o Language, gestures, and objects whose meaning is commonly understood by the
members of a society.
The Sociological Imagination
• The sociological imagination:
o a term C. Wright Mills (1959) developed, refers to the ability to see the connections
between our personal lives and the social world in which we live.
• When we use our sociological imagination, we are able to distinguish between
―private troubles‖ and ―public issues‖ and to see connections between the
events and conditions of our lives and the social and historical context in which
we live.
Freewrite
Please use the sociological imagination to help us understand the
topic assigned to your group. Write your response down
individually before you discuss it with your group.
The Student Loan Crisis
Racial Inequality
Obesity
Homelessness
Gender Disparities
Theoretical Perspectives
Structural-Functionalist Perspective
• Society is composed of parts that work together to maintain a state of balance.
• Two types of functions:
o latent – Consequences that are unintended and often hidden.
o manifest – Intended and commonly recognized
What Do You Think? 2
• In viewing society as a set of interrelated parts, structural functionalists argue
that proposed solutions to social problems may lead to other social problems.
• For example, urban renewal projects displace residents and break up
community cohesion. Racial imbalance in schools led to forced integration,
which in turn generated violence and increased hostility between the races.
o What are some other ―solutions‖ that lead to social problems?
o Do all solutions come with a price to pay?
o Can you think of a solution to a social problem that has no negative consequences?
Structural-Functionalist Theories of Social
Problems
• Social pathology – Social problems result from ―sickness‖ in society.
• Social disorganization – Rapid social change disrupts norms in society.
o When norms become weak, unclear, or are in conflict with each other, society is in a
state of anomie, or normlessness.
Conflict Perspective (1 of 2)
• Views society as composed of groups and interests competing for power and
resources.
• Explains various aspects of our social world by looking at which groups have
power and benefit from a particular social arrangement.
Conflict Perspective (2 of 2)
• Karl Marx
o The origins of the conflict perspective can be traced to the works of Karl Marx.
o Marx suggested that all societies go through stages of economic development.
o Industrialization leads to two classes: the bourgeoisie, the owners of the means of
production; and the proletariat, the workers who earn wages.
o The bourgeoisie use their power to control the institutions of society to their
advantage.
Conflict Theories of Social Problems (1 of 3)
• There are two general types of conflict theories of social problems:
o Marxist Conflict Theories focus on social conflict that results from economic
inequalities.
o Non-Marxist Conflict Theories focus on social conflict that results from competing
values and interests among social groups.
Conflict Theories of Social Problems (2 of 3)
• Marxist Conflict Theories:
o According to Marxist theorists, social problems result from class inequality
inherent in a capitalistic system.
o Marxist conflict theories also focus on the problem of alienation, or powerlessness
and meaninglessness in people’s lives.
Conflict Theories of Social Problems (3 of 3)
• Non-Marxist Conflict Theories:
o Concerned with conflict that arises when groups have opposing values and
interests.
• Antiabortion activists value the life of unborn embryos; pro-choice activists value the
right of women to control their reproductive decisions.
• These value positions reflect different subjective interpretations of what constitutes a
social problem.
Levels of Analysis
• Macrosociology – Looks at the “big picture” of society and suggests how social
problems are affected at the institutional level.
o Structural-functionalism and Conflict theory
• Microsociology – Concerned with the social psychological dynamics of
individuals interacting in small groups.
o Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
• A basic premise is that a condition must be defined or recognized as a social
problem for it to be a social problem.
o Three types:
• Blumer’s Stages of a Social Problem
• Labeling theory
• Social constructionism
Symbolic Interactionist Theories of Social Problems (1 of 2)
• Blumer’s Stages of a Social Problem: Herbert Blumer suggested social
problems develop in stages:
1. Societal recognition is the process by which a social problem, is ―born.‖
2. Social legitimation takes place when the social problem is recognized by the larger
community.
3. Mobilization for action that leads to the development and implementation of a plan
for dealing with the problem.
Symbolic Interactionist Theories of Social Problems (2 of 2)
• Labeling theory: A social condition or group is viewed as problematic if it is
labeled as such.
• Social constructionism: Argues that reality is socially constructed by
individuals who interpret the social world around them.
Social Problems Research
Stages of Conducting a Research Study (1 of 4)
1. Formulating a research question.
2. Reviewing the literature.
3. Defining variables.
4. Formulating a hypothesis.
Stages of Conducting a Research Study (2 of 4)
• Formulating a Research Question – A research study usually begins with a
research question.
• Reviewing the Literature – After a research question is formulated,
researchers review the published material on the topic to find out what is
already known about it.
Stages of Conducting a Research Study (3 of 4)
• Defining Variables:
o A variable is any measurable event, characteristic, or property that varies or is
subject to change.
o Researchers must operationally define the variables they study.
• Specifies how a variable is to be measured.
o Operational definitions are particularly important for defining variables that
cannot be directly observed.
Stages of Conducting a Research Study (4 of 4)
• Formulating a Hypothesis:
o A hypothesis is a prediction about how one variable is related to another variable.
o The dependent variable is the variable that the researcher wants to explain.
o The independent variable is the variable that is expected to explain change in the
dependent variable.
What Do You Think? 3
• In a free society, there must be freedom of information. That is why the U.S.
Constitution and, more specifically, the First Amendment protect journalists’
sources.
• If journalists are compelled to reveal their sources, their sources may be
unwilling to share information, which would jeopardize the public’s right to
know. A journalist cannot reveal information given in confidence without
permission from the source or a court order.
• Do you think sociologists should be granted the same protections as
journalists?
• If a reporter at your school newspaper uncovered a scandal at your university,
should he or she be protected by the First Amendment?
Methods of Data Collection (1 of 8)
• Experiments
• Surveys
• Field research
• Secondary data research
Methods of Data Collection (2 of 8)
• Experiments are a research method that involves manipulating the
independent variable to determine how it affects the dependent variable.
Methods of Data Collection (3 of 8)
• Surveys:
o Survey research involves eliciting information from respondents through
questions.
o An important part of survey research is selecting a sample of those to be
questioned.
o A sample is a portion of the population, selected to be representative so that the
information from the sample can be generalized to a larger population.
Methods of Data Collection (4 of 8)
• Interviews:
o In interview survey research, trained interviewers ask respondents questions and
make written notes about or tape-record the answers.
o One advantage of interview research is that researchers are able to clarify
questions for the respondent and follow up on answers to particular questions.
Methods of Data Collection (5 of 8)
• Questionnaires:
o Researchers may develop questionnaires that they mail or give to a sample of
respondents.
o Questionnaire research is less expensive and less time consuming than surveys and
provides privacy to research participants.
o The disadvantage of mail questionnaires is that it is difficult to obtain an adequate
response rate.
Methods of Data Collection (6 of 8)
• Web-based surveys:
o Web-based surveys are growing in popularity and are thought to reduce many of
the problems associated with traditional survey research.
Methods of Data Collection (7 of 8)
• Field Research:
o Field research involves observing social behavior in settings in which it occurs
naturally.
o In participant observation the researcher participates in the phenomenon being
studied to obtain an insider’s perspective.
o In nonparticipant observation the researcher observes the phenomenon being
studied without actively participating.
Methods of Data Collection (8 of 8)
• Secondary Data Research:
o Secondary data are data that have already been collected by other researchers or
government agencies or that exist as historical documents.
o An advantage of using secondary data in studying social problems is that the data
are readily accessible, so researchers avoid the time and expense of collecting their
own data.
o The disadvantage is that the researcher is limited to the data already collected.
What Do You Think? 4
• Some colleges and universities have instituted policies that require students to
take one or more global courses—courses with a global or international
focus—in order to graduate.
• Do you think colleges and universities should require some minimum number
of global courses for undergraduates? Why or why not??
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