Social Problems in Society
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Social Problems in Societies
Social problems can be defined as a social condition that is perceived to be harmful, either directly or indirectly, to more than just a few people or the society in general. They therefore have a very wide scope. Social problems may include poverty, drugs and alcoholism, racism, teenage pregnancy, abortion, environmental pollution/global warming, tax reform and social discrimination (e.g. against homosexuals), among many others (Ritzer, 2004). This paper will try to criticaly examine social problems in societies.
Social problems can be said to have two key components. First, social problems are considered to be an objective condition; thus some aspects of the society that can be experienced and measured. Like abortion (a social problem), the objective condition includes whether abortion is legal, under what circumstances should it be performed and who obtains it. The second key component of a social problem is the subjective concern, the concern that a significant number of people (or a number of significant people) have about the objective condition. The subjective concern about abortion may include some people’s distress that any woman must give birth to an unwanted child. It also includes other people’s distress that any woman would terminate the life of her unborn child. This opinion differs around the world; with different countries having different opinions.
According to Dolch, Deutschmann and Powell (2007) Social problems in societies tend to have certain characteristic, that include
1. Social problems are relative:
What is considered a social problem for some, on the contrary, is consid...
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...media. They include unemployment, poverty, dicscrimination and much more. This paper has tried to critically addresses social problems in society and examines its characteristisc for a better understanding of social problems from a psychological point of view.
References:
Bumiller, K. (1992). The Civil Rights Society: The social construction of victims. Baltimore [u.a.: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Dolch, N. A., Deutschmann, L. B., & Powell, H. (2007). Social problems: A case study approach. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Hitchcock, S. T. (2007). Roe v. wade: Protecting a woman's right to choose. New York: Chelsea House.
Mooney, L. A., Knox, D., & Schacht, C. (2013). Understanding social problems. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Ritzer, G. (2004). Handbook of social problems: A comparative international perspective. Thousand Oaks [u.a.: Sage Publ.
What is/are the social problem(s) that the author is discussing in this book? Why did it/they develop?
Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991. Weisbrot, Robert. Freedom Bound: A History Of America’s Civil Rights Movement. New York: Plume, 1991 Wexler, Sanford.
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.
Gusfield, J. (2011). How Do We Decide What are Social Problems? Retrieved April 6, 2011 from http://www.soc.iastate.edu/sapp/soc235ch02.html
Harrison, Robert Pogue. “The Civil Rights Movement” . Chicago: U of Chicago, 2014. 98-111. Print.
For example, some people may believe an airline crash every year could be considered a social problem, but this does not follow the definition of a social problem because it does not affect a large group of people. If planes began crashing all the time, then one may be able to determine whether or not plane crashes are a social problem by looking at claims of the condition. I choose to include the specific criteria, in the previous paragraph, when utilizing my definition of a social problem because I believe that everyone has a subjective outlook on life and although someone may deem something as a social problem, someone else may not feel the same way. I believe discovering the claim and determining how something emerged, as well as discovering why it spread can help direct the general public when deciding if something is a social problem or not. Although claims are important, I still believe a social problem is also something that affects a large group of people. Similarly, I believe a social problem in the United States follows the same definition and criteria but it may be viewed differently. For example, “some societies with large populations of poor people have not viewed poverty as a problem. In contrast, in the United States poverty is considered a social problem” (Best 10). Overall, a social problem in the United States depends on
Throughout this assignment a variety of terminology will be used, first it is appropriate to define what the term ‘Social Policy’ means. Social policy can be defined in different ways and ‘there is no established or agreed definition of social policy’ (Baldock et, al., 1999:21). From reading different books on social policy, the author’s understanding of social policy is it provides guidelines to deal with social problems . Social problems are matters which direct...
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)
Roe v. Wade and the Right to Abortion. (2013, January 18). Retrieved April 21, 2014, from
Throughout this class, there were many social issues and whom they affect discussed. I loved this class for the reason of getting myself more familiar with what is happening around me and around everyone else in the world. This class was an eye opener to major social issues that people are faced with so in this paper, I am going to talk about the seven objectives we were supposed to obtain from this class.
The social conditions that people lived in, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were of the greatest significance of the production of sociology, the different problems and social disorder that resulted from the series of political revolutions escorted in by the French Revolution in 1789 distressed many early social theorists, when they eventually came to the conclusion that it was impossible to return to the old order , they wanted to find new sources of order in societies that had been disturbed by the different dramatic political changes.
ignores the subjective nature of social problems." [2] This becomes apparent when one realizes that not all harmful conditions are considered to be social problems, such as the nutritional concerns of a high fat diet. Another flaw in considering social problems to be the result of objective conditions of harm is that "the objective conditions that people define as social problems have relatively little in common." [3] A list of social problems will have a great
Social issues are problems in the society today that are described as wrong, widespread and changeable. A category of conditions that people believe need to be changed. Poverty is a serious social issue in the society today. According to Peilin (2012), poverty brings hardships to families and individuals as well as political thereby negatively affecting the social stability and social development and posing a severe threat to human security (p. 243). This paper focuses on poverty as a social issue in today’s society. First, it gives a succinct introduction of the social issue, and then describes how it fits into the field of sociology. It also evaluates the sociological theories and terminology that relate to the social issue. The section that follows evaluates what is known and unknown about the particular social issue. This is followed by a discussion regarding the value of sociological research into the issue determining the available or possible practical implications of the sociological inquiry. The information presented here is strongly supported by the concepts and theories derived from reliable sources.
at least try to get a job. If there are more people like this, the country
According to the social conflict paradigm, society is a complex system characterized by inequality and conflict, which generate social change. Power and privilege are distributed unequally by social class, race, gender and age. These inequalities are often reinforced in societal institutions (Macionis 19).