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Drew Hurley
Santa Fe Community College
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For Use With:
Mooney, Knox and Schacht, UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL PROBLEMS
West Publishing Co., 1997.
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What Is A Social Problem?
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Objective Elements of Social Problems
We see the homeless, hear gunfire in the streets, and see
battered women in the hospital emergency room.
Subjective Elements of Social Problems
Social Condition is harmful to society: poverty, drug addiction, crime, violence,
racism, and pollution, are examples.
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Consideration:
Between 1933 and 1945 More than 12 million Jews
and other minorities were murdered by the Nazis
and there was no social movement to protest these deaths.
There is great variability in the Definition of Social Problems
Marijuana and Cocaine were once legal in the U.S.
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A Burned Out Abortion Clinic
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Elements of Social Structure and Culture
Elements of Social Structure and Institutions
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Social Groups
Primary Groups and Secondary Groups
Statuses
Ascribed Status
Achieved Status
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Roles:
Role Set and Status Set
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Elements of Culture
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Beliefs -- What individuals assume to be true.
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Consideration:
Are men who believe women who say 'NO' mean 'YES' more likely to commit rape?
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Values -- what people believe to be good or bad, right or wrong.
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Norms and Sanctions
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Informal Positive: Being praised for starting a local recycling plan
Informal Negative: Being criticized by neighbors for not participating in recycling
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Formal Positive: Being awarded by the City Commission for starting the recycling plan
Formal Negative: Being fined by the City Commission for failure to dispose of trash properly
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Symbols -- the representation of something
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Consideration:
Did a 'Confederate Flag' flying from the back of a
pickup truck provoke four teens to kill the driver?
The Sociological Imagaination:
The ability to see the connection between our personal lives and the social world
C. Wright Mills
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Structural-Functional Perspective
Structural-Functionalism focuses on the interconnectedness of society and its elements
Consideration: Racial imbalances in public schools lead to busing which produced violence and hostility
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Functional social elements contribute to social stability
Dysfunctional social elements disrupt social stability
Consideration: Functional does not mean good and dysfunctional does not mean bad. The question is: Functional or Dysfunctional for whom?
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Manifest Functions are consequences that are intended and recognized.
Latent Functions are consequences that are unintended and easily unrecognized.
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Social Pathology -- Social Illness leads to dysfunction
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Social Disorganization -- Anomie produces a loss of norms and social dysfunction
Society is comprised of groups and interests competing for power and resources
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Marxist Theories: Marxist Theories -- Social Problems stem from Social Class Inequalities and Alienation
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Non-Marxist Conflict Theories -- Conflict between groups is created by opposing values
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Microsociology
Thomas Theorem: If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.
'I think I can. I think I can!
Weber's Concept of Verstehen lets us see the world through another's eyes and feel the world through their skin
Max Weber
Herbert Blumer's Stages of Development: Social Recognition, Social Legitimation, and Mobilization for Action
Howard Becker's LabelingTheory
Primary Deviance, Secondary Deviance, and Career Deviance
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Consideration:
When mainstream Americans viewed AIDS as a homosexual problem they did not practice
safe sex and helped to spread the disease.
Empirical Research
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Formulating a Research Question
Issues for Research:
What perceptions about Homosexuality are held by the general public?
What are the correlates (e.g., age, sex, education) of these negative views?
[A Dependent Variable.]
[Independent Variables.]
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Consideration: Questions of Morality and immorality cannot be determined scientifically; but questions about what people believe can by accurately measured.
Review the Literature
Define Variables
Formulate Hypothesis specifying Dependent and Independent Variables
Consideration: Some Social Problems act as independent variables in the creation of other social problems: Poverty ---> Slums ---> Juvenile Delinquency
Experiments
Surveys
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Survey Research
Population Sample -- Random Sample
Interviews and Questionnaires
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Participant Observation
Case Studies
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Secondary Data Research Analysis
1993 General Social Survey
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* Provide an Integrated Theoretical Background for Understanding Social Problems.
* Provide Research support and Documentation for Theories of Social Problems.
* Encourage the development of the Sociological Imagination.
* Emphasize the Human Side of Social Problems.
* Provide Students an Oppurtunity to Assess their Beliefs and Attitudes.
* Encourage Students to take prosocial Action.
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Can a social problem exist if no is aware of it?
What role does the media play in our awareness of social problems?
What current condition could be considered a future social problem?
How are lives of individuals affected by social factors?
Are individuals responsible for their own circumstances?
Explain: 'The person who pays the piper calls the tune.'
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drewhurl@sprynet.com
Created and Produced at Bits & Bytes Farm, 1997
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Designed by: Drew Hurley
ClipArt provided by: Imageline, Inc.
Photos provided by: Black Star News Service
Santa Fe Community College
3000 NW 83rd Street
Gainesville, FL 32606
401 E. Main St., Suite 100
Richmond, VA 23219
2121 Avenue of the Americas
Washington, DC 20111
The End