The Study
of Social Problems
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Study
of Social Problems – lecture outline
• Sociology
• What Is a Social Problem?
• The Sociological Imagination
• The Essential Elements of a Social Problem – Objective
Condition and Subjective Concern
• Factors that Define a Social Problem
• Social Movements
The Study
of Social Problems – lecture outline
• Sociology
• What Is a Social Problem?
• The Sociological Imagination
• The Essential Elements of a Social Problem – Objective
Condition and Subjective Concern
• Factors that Define a Social Problem
• Social Movements
Sociology
• Sociology is the study of social life, social
change, and the social causes and
consequences of human behavior
• - American Sociological Association
• Sociology is a science
• Sociology is a systematic and objective science that
investigates human behavior in the social environment.
• This class will investigate social problems from the perspective
of sociology.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Study
of Social Problems – lecture outline
• Sociology
• What Is a Social Problem?
• The Sociological Imagination
• The Essential Elements of a Social Problem – Objective
Condition and Subjective Concern
• Factors that Define a Social Problem
• Social Movements
What Is a Social Problem?
• Negatively affects a person’s state of being
• E.g,. flash mobs, unemployment, taxation
• Not inevitable
• E.g., poverty, crime
• Not caused by nature
• E.g., Hurricane Katrina (?)
• Significant numbers of people are affected
• E.g., AIDS
• The definition of a social problem is often
open to interpretation and debate.
• E.g., marijuana, child abuse
The Study
of Social Problems – lecture outline
• Sociology
• What Is a Social Problem?
• The Sociological Imagination
• The Essential Elements of a Social Problem – Objective
Condition and Subjective Concern
• Factors that Define a Social Problem
• Social Movements
The Sociological Imagination
• Sociological Imagination (C. Wright Mills)
• The ability to look beyond the individual as a cause
for success and failure
• The ability to see how one’s society influences one’s
success and failure
• To accomplish this we must look for the:
Macro (large-scale) point of view
• Helps to understand how history and social structure
affect people
• Micro (small-scale) view
• Understanding the biography of the situation
• Seeing social issues from personal viewpoints
• Interpreting actions at face value
•
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Study
of Social Problems – lecture outline
• Sociology
• What Is a Social Problem?
• The Sociological Imagination
• The Essential Elements of a Social Problem – Objective
Condition and Subjective Concern
• Factors that Define a Social Problem
• Social Movements
The Essential Elements of a Social Problem –
Objective Condition and Subjective Concern
• The Objective Condition
• Any aspect of society that can be viewed without
bias
• E.g., number of violent crimes, living conditions, number of layoffs
• Causes objective effects
• E.g., job loss and health problems
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Essential Elements of a Social Problem –
Objective Condition and Subjective Concern
• Subjective Concerns
• A judgment based on personal feelings and opinions
rather than external facts
• E.g., rich welfare mom
• E.g., Jessica says, “It’s not a social problem if it doesn’t apply to me.”
• We can use the sociological imagination as a tool to
step outside of our subjectivity
The Study
of Social Problems – lecture outline
• Sociology
• What Is a Social Problem?
• The Sociological Imagination
• The Essential Elements of a Social Problem – Objective
Condition and Subjective Concern
• Factors that Define a Social Problem
• Social Movements
Factors that Define
a Social Problem
• What is and is not considered a social problem can
vary over time
• E.g., racism
• Social problems are common to all societies
• E.g., poverty and crime
• Social problems can be latent results of efforts to
deal with certain social situations
• E.g., interstate highway system created inner-city poverty
• E.g., the idea that people should take care of themselves
leads to limited government, which leads to various social
problems
• Social problems can have social consequences
for all
• E.g., high taxes, crime
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Factors that Define
a Social Problem
• Legitimate social problems are those where
there is agreement that it is a social problem
and that something can be done about it
• E.g., Civil Rights Movement
• The definition of social problems changes
over time
• E.g., horse theft, high gasoline prices, child abuse
• Social problems are defined by the powerful
• E.g,. European exploration of America (not considered a
social problem by the explorers)
Factors that Define
a Social Problem
• Values are important in defining social
problems
• Values represent standards by which we determine
what is good, bad, right, or wrong
• E.g., illiteracy among girls in countries where women’s
education is devalued
• Values are impacted by social conditions
• E.g., five cultural values affected by recession
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Factors that Define
a Social Problem
• Cultural Universals are any aspect of one’s
social life that is common to all societies
• E.g., transition from childhood to adulthood, honoring the
dead, crime
• Create social customs to deal with them
• Social problems are also cultural
universals
• Every society has social problems, but how societies
deal with these problems can vary a great deal from
place to place
• E.g., immigration (Canada), crime (Finland)
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Factors that Define
a Social Problem
• The public must become aware of the
problem
• Awareness is the ability of a person or group to
bring a problem into public recognition
• Often only happens after years of conflict
• E.g., battle for women’s suffrage lasted 150 years
• Awareness can lead to people start social movements
(see next slide)
The Study
of Social Problems – lecture outline
• Sociology
• What Is a Social Problem?
• The Sociological Imagination
• The Essential Elements of a Social Problem – Objective
Condition and Subjective Concern
• Factors that Define a Social Problem
• Social Movements
Social Movements
• Social movements are activities that support
or protest social change
• Often start as grassroots movements
• E.g., the Civil Rights Movement
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Social Movements
• Charles Tilly
• Three elements common to all social
movements
• Campaigns: organized and ongoing efforts
• Tend to focus on a specific issue
• E.g., peaceful protests to end the war in Iraq
• E.g., campaign to begin curbside recycling
• Repertoire: actions used to promote interest and
participation
• E.g., lobby, protest, march, direct mail, door-to-door visits
• Worthiness, unity, numbers, and commitments (WUNC)
of individuals involved
• Worthiness -- e.g., recycling v. carpooling
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Study
of Social Problems – lecture outline
• Sociology
• What Is a Social Problem?
• The Sociological Imagination
• The Essential Elements of a Social Problem – Objective
Condition and Subjective Concern
• Factors that Define a Social Problem
• Social Movements