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Pressure groups and their effect
Social pressures
Pressure groups and their effect
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According to Ferreira (2005:86), four elements may be discerned when attempting to define a social problem. The four elements are: a pressure (influential) group; a social condition; a set of values and norms; and collective action.
Taking these four elements as building blocks the following definition of a social problem may be arrived at: A social condition, known to a pressure group as posing a threat to current values and norms, that requires collective action to rectify (Pretorius, Le Roux, Lesufi, Liebenberg, Martin Rautenbach & Zegeye in Ferreira 2005:87).
In the sections that follow I will attempt to clarify each one of the four elements that constitute the definition of a social problem.
The crux of the matter here regards the awareness of a social condition as a problem (Ferreira 2005:87). The presence of a social condition and any possible problem associated with it is not enough to signal a social problem. Group perception of a social condition as a threat is key. That is, the consequences of a given social condition are perceived to be problematic. The interesting facet about perception is that it is subject to change and finds itself at the mercy of context. A social condition perceived to be a problem of today may have been dismissed as inconsequential a couple of centuries ago. Just as a social condition perceived as unproblematic today may be judged as problematic in the future. This is not to suggest that the awareness of a social condition as a problem only moves in one direction, indeed, what was once conceived as a social problem may later become a norm.
The discussion of pressure groups takes into consideration those who alter public perception of certain social conditions. These groups are responsibl...
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...ing a more sustainable environment. A call upon local and national government to provide adequate policy relating to urban agriculture has been made. According to Rogerson, (in Liebenberg 2005:40-43) in many parts of Africa, urban agriculture is still frowned upon by authorities but in the face of Africa’s growing poverty problem it is being reconsidered (collective solution).
Works Cited
de Beer, FC. du Plessis, MM. Liebenberg, A & Moloi,R. 2005. Only study guide for DVA 202-U. Pretoria: University of South Africa
Ferreira, R. Rabe, M & Rautenbach, E. 2005. Only study guide for SOC 206-8. Pretoria: University of South Africa
Rogerson, C. 2005. Towards “pro-poor” urban development in South Africa: the case of urban agriculture, in Perspectives on rural and urban development: reader, compiled by A Liebenberg. Pretoria: University of South Africa
Gusfield, J. (2011). How Do We Decide What are Social Problems? Retrieved April 6, 2011 from http://www.soc.iastate.edu/sapp/soc235ch02.html
Tadić, A., Wagner, S., Hoch, J., Başkaya, Ö., von Cube, R., Skaletz, C., ... & Dahmen, N. (2009).
A social problem is an issue that is defined by society to be exactly that; an issue. This can range from issues such as murder; which is commonly agreed on in Australia, or to issues such as smoking or loud music being played in parks, where only certain individuals in society see it as a problem. Unemployment in Australia is considered to be a social problem, due to it affecting around 6 percent of Australia’s population (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014). If unemployment only affected a few people then it could be said that those individuals being lazy or could not hold down a job, but due to it affecting a majority of society it then becomes a social problem.
The sociological approach toward social problems is different from many social science studies. Sociology connects with social problems which are local, or global; as well as, social problems discovered in individuals, and groups. Equally important the sociological study measures the effect of people and society. “As a social science, sociology offers an objective and systematic approach to understanding the causes of social problems.” (Leon-Guerrero, 2011, pp. 5-6) Unfortunately some social problems remain more significant than other social problems. Subsequently due to the danger and, or seriousness it may cause to some, or many people in society. (Crone, 2011, p. 7)
"Our primary aim is to discover how some social structures exert a definite pressure upon certain persons in the society to engage in nonconforming rather that conforming conduct. If we can locate groups peculiarly subject to such pressures, we should expect to find fairly high levels of deviant behaviour in these groups, not because the human beings comprising them are compounded of distinctive biological tendencies, but because they are responding to the social situation in which they find themselves"(Merton, 1957 p. 186).
While reading over the guidelines for this essay, I wondered what exactly was meant by a social problem. I wasn't sure if it just meant a problem societies face as a whole or if there was some other terminology behind it, so I looked up social problems as a term. After reading several definitions, I combined a few into a single definition. Social problems are issues that effect each individual member of a society either directly or indirectly...
Agriculture is the primary livelihood strategy for 85% of the rural population in developing regions (Quinion et al. 2010). One method that is being used in Africa i...
Just as food insecurity and social agricultural movements are no longer limited to the Global South, so to have such movements extended beyond the borders of rural landscapes into urban settings across the globe (Dubbeling, & Merzthal, 2006, pp. 20, 21; De Zeeuw, Van VeenHuizen, & Dubbeling, 2011, pp.
According to the Objectivist view, a social problem is something that is a real threat to human life (Goode and Ben-Yehuda 1994). That meaning, if something does not harm a large group of people, the threat and therefore the social problem does not
This essay concerns social influence in general. Aspects of social influence as such as majority influence and minority influence will be discussed in terms of their underlying psychological processes and how they differ. Majority influence or conformity refers to the desire to belong or to fit in within a particular group which involves adopting certain attributes, behaviour and attitudes of a particular group. As a result individuals consequently experience group pressure (in Baron, Branscombe & Byrne 2008). Minority influence on the other hand, refers to the influence that the minority exert over the majority in that the majority come to accept the beliefs and behaviours of a minority (in Baron et al. 2008).
Haanstra. A, Van der Pool. E et al (2013). Checklist and explanation for setting up a Plan of Approach for your Graduation Assignment (version 2.1). Arnhem: HAN (Reader 3343)
social system that must be met for the system to survive and the corresponding structures that
social problems are inevitably subjective, and that a more valid definition could be sought in
After president Zuma’s State of the nation address in which he highlighted the importance of rural development and its priority in the South African government, it was then realised by many South Africans that the state of rural life is in distress. Rural development is the process in which the economic state of living in sparsely populated and the quality of life is being improved by focusing on the key factors of rural development, which are; education, employment, infrastructure (both physical and social), entrepreneurship and health care services.
A social problem has many definitions. One way to define is that is a social condition/issue which has negative effects on an individual, our social and our physical world. A social problem does not have to be experienced by every individual to be called a problem, it comes from acknowledging that the problem exists and that a particular social condition affects a greater percentage of the population. We as sociologists and psychologists need to be able to face the one-sided reality of a social condition and need to address it as a social problem.