Introductie Interdisciplinaire Sociale Wetenschap
Social problems: A down-to-earth approach
Chapter One: How sociologists view social problems: the abortion dilemma
The Sociological Imagination
Sociological imagination: looking at people’s actions and attitudes in the context of the social
forces that shape them. We want to understand how our personal troubles (the problems
we experience) are connected to the broader conditions of our society.
Social change affects what we think and feel and what we do- and how we relate to one
another.
The sociological imagination (= sociological perspective) helps us to see how larger social
forces influence our personal lives. We tend to see events in our lives from a close-up
perspective. In contrast, the sociological imagination invites us to place our focus on the
social context, to see how it shapes or influences our ideas, attitudes, behaviors and even
our emotions.
Social context:
- Broad social context: historical events such as war and peace, economic booms and busts,
depression and prosperity.
- Narrow social context: gender, race-ethnicity, religion, and social class.
- Intimate/ Personal social context: the relationships we share with family, friends, or co-
workers.
These levels come together to make up the social context that shapes the way you look at
life.
Social location: Where you are located in society. It includes not only physical places, such as
your neighborhood and city, but also personal characteristics, such as your education, sex,
race-ethnicity, age, health, and marital status.
Our social location is central to our relationships with other people.
Social Location
The group, not the individual. Social location does not determine our actions. Rather, it
means that people are exposed to specific influences, and they help shape our actions. In
any individual case, it is impossible to know in advance the consequences of those
influences. But sociologists can make predictions about groups, because groups do follow
well-traveled social avenues.
What Is a Social Problem?
,Social problems: aspects of society that a large number of people are concerned about and
would like changed. Social problems are socially constructed.
Social problems have two essential components:
- an objective condition: a condition of society that can be measured or experienced. (With
abortion, this objective condition includes whether abortions are legal, who obtains them,
and under what circumstances.)
- subjective concern: The concern that a significant number of people (or a number of
significant people) have about the objective condition. (For abortion, subjective concern
goes in two directions: Some people are concerned that some women give birth to
unwanted children, while others are concerned that some women terminate their
pregnancies.)
Social problems are dynamic: as society changes, so do social problems. They take shape as
groups react to one another.
Social problems are relative. What some view as a social problem, other see as a solution.
A value: a belief about whether something is good or bad.
Our pluralistic society is filled with competing, contrasting, and conflicting groups. In such a
dynamic world with groups fiercely promoting their particular ideas, whose definition of a
social problem wins? The answer centers on power: the ability to get your way despite
resistance.
The central characteristics of social problems:
- Objective conditions
- Subjective concerns
- Dynamism
- Relativity
- Competing views
The Natural History of Social Problems: Four Stages
Social problems go through four stages, called the natural history of social problems.
The First Stage: Defining the Problem, the Emergence of Leaders, and Beginning to Organize
Defining the problem: for a social problem to come into being, people have to become upset
about some objective condition in society. This concern involves a shift in outlook, a
questioning of something that people had taken for granted. This change in perspective
often comes about when values change.
The emerge of leaders: As people discuss their concerns, leaders emerge to help to
crystallize the issues.
Organizing around the issue.
The Second Stage: Crafting an Official Response
,The stages of a social problem don’t have neat boundaries. The edges are blurry, and the
stages overlap.
The Third Stage: Reacting to the Official Response
An official response to a social problem doesn’t mean the end of a social problem. Some will
even see the official response as part of the problem.
Besides inspiring new opposition, an official response can also stimulate efforts at bringing
about even more change.
A note on terms. Terms are always significant, especially so when we deal with sensitive
matters. For example using proabortion to refer to those who favor the legal right to
abortion and antiabortion to refer to those who oppose this legal right. The terms pro-choice
and pro-life represent one-sides, hardened attitudes and positions. By not using these terms,
but the terms proabortion and antiabortion, you provide a balanced presentation of your
view.
The Fourth Stage: Developing Alternative Strategies
As a key strategy, each side points a finger at the other. As it promotes its own point of view,
each side paints the other as grotesque, uncaring and evil.
The Role of Sociology in Social Problems
Social problems are filled with conflicting emotions, views, and values. Most of us are
convinced that our views on moral issues are right, that people who hold contrary views are
ignorant, short-sighted, and wrong. Our defenses go up when anyone questions our moral
positions.
Sociology: The systematic and objective study of human groups.
Sociology can help us see past the emotions that surround social problems.
Sociology as a Tool for Gaining an Objective Understanding of Social Problems
There are five contributions that sociologists can make if we want an objective
understanding of social problems:
1. Sociologists can measure objective conditions.
2. Sociologists can measure subjective concerns.
3. Sociologists can apply the sociological imagination. They can place social problems into
their broad social context.
4. Sociologists can identify possible social policies. To address a social problem, sociologists
can suggest potential courses of action for public and private agencies, educational
programs, public awareness campaigns, and legal changes.
5. Sociologists can evaluate likely consequences of social policies. Sociologists can estimate
the social effects of a proposed social policy.
That sociologists can do objective research does not mean that sociology has all the answers.
Sociologists can suggest which consequences are likely to result if some particular social
, policy is followed, but they have no expertise for determining which social policy should be
followed. Social policy is based on values, on the outcomes that people want to see. Because
sociology cannot dictate that one set of values is superior to another, it provides no basis for
making value decisions.
Sociology and Common Sense
Common sense: the ideas common to our society (or to some group within our society)
Common sense is not adequate to solve social problems because some of our ideas are built
on faulty assumptions. Since it’s easy for commonsense ideas to be wrong, we need solid,
objective research.
Chapter 2: Interpreting Social Problems: Aging
Sociological Theories and Social Problems.
As sociologists do research on social problems, they uncover a lot of “facts.” To make senses
of those “facts,” you have to put them in some order, so you can see how they are related to
one another. To do this, sociologists use theories. A theory explains how two or more
concepts (or “facts”) are related, it gives us a framework for organizing “facts.” As it does so,
it provides a way of
interpreting those “facts” of
social life. There are three
main theories that sociologists
use:
- Functionalism
- Conflict theory
- Symbolic interactionism
Each theory focuses on some
particular “slice” of a social
problem, and because of that,
each provides a different
perspective on the problem.
Each theory is like a spotlight
shining into a dark room: It
illuminates only a particular
part of that room. Takes
together, these theories throw
more light on a social problem
that does any one by itself.
Functionalism and Social Problems.
A major theory that sociologists use to interpret social problems is functionalism (functional
analysis). Functionalists compare society to a self-adjusting machine. Each part of the
Social problems: A down-to-earth approach
Chapter One: How sociologists view social problems: the abortion dilemma
The Sociological Imagination
Sociological imagination: looking at people’s actions and attitudes in the context of the social
forces that shape them. We want to understand how our personal troubles (the problems
we experience) are connected to the broader conditions of our society.
Social change affects what we think and feel and what we do- and how we relate to one
another.
The sociological imagination (= sociological perspective) helps us to see how larger social
forces influence our personal lives. We tend to see events in our lives from a close-up
perspective. In contrast, the sociological imagination invites us to place our focus on the
social context, to see how it shapes or influences our ideas, attitudes, behaviors and even
our emotions.
Social context:
- Broad social context: historical events such as war and peace, economic booms and busts,
depression and prosperity.
- Narrow social context: gender, race-ethnicity, religion, and social class.
- Intimate/ Personal social context: the relationships we share with family, friends, or co-
workers.
These levels come together to make up the social context that shapes the way you look at
life.
Social location: Where you are located in society. It includes not only physical places, such as
your neighborhood and city, but also personal characteristics, such as your education, sex,
race-ethnicity, age, health, and marital status.
Our social location is central to our relationships with other people.
Social Location
The group, not the individual. Social location does not determine our actions. Rather, it
means that people are exposed to specific influences, and they help shape our actions. In
any individual case, it is impossible to know in advance the consequences of those
influences. But sociologists can make predictions about groups, because groups do follow
well-traveled social avenues.
What Is a Social Problem?
,Social problems: aspects of society that a large number of people are concerned about and
would like changed. Social problems are socially constructed.
Social problems have two essential components:
- an objective condition: a condition of society that can be measured or experienced. (With
abortion, this objective condition includes whether abortions are legal, who obtains them,
and under what circumstances.)
- subjective concern: The concern that a significant number of people (or a number of
significant people) have about the objective condition. (For abortion, subjective concern
goes in two directions: Some people are concerned that some women give birth to
unwanted children, while others are concerned that some women terminate their
pregnancies.)
Social problems are dynamic: as society changes, so do social problems. They take shape as
groups react to one another.
Social problems are relative. What some view as a social problem, other see as a solution.
A value: a belief about whether something is good or bad.
Our pluralistic society is filled with competing, contrasting, and conflicting groups. In such a
dynamic world with groups fiercely promoting their particular ideas, whose definition of a
social problem wins? The answer centers on power: the ability to get your way despite
resistance.
The central characteristics of social problems:
- Objective conditions
- Subjective concerns
- Dynamism
- Relativity
- Competing views
The Natural History of Social Problems: Four Stages
Social problems go through four stages, called the natural history of social problems.
The First Stage: Defining the Problem, the Emergence of Leaders, and Beginning to Organize
Defining the problem: for a social problem to come into being, people have to become upset
about some objective condition in society. This concern involves a shift in outlook, a
questioning of something that people had taken for granted. This change in perspective
often comes about when values change.
The emerge of leaders: As people discuss their concerns, leaders emerge to help to
crystallize the issues.
Organizing around the issue.
The Second Stage: Crafting an Official Response
,The stages of a social problem don’t have neat boundaries. The edges are blurry, and the
stages overlap.
The Third Stage: Reacting to the Official Response
An official response to a social problem doesn’t mean the end of a social problem. Some will
even see the official response as part of the problem.
Besides inspiring new opposition, an official response can also stimulate efforts at bringing
about even more change.
A note on terms. Terms are always significant, especially so when we deal with sensitive
matters. For example using proabortion to refer to those who favor the legal right to
abortion and antiabortion to refer to those who oppose this legal right. The terms pro-choice
and pro-life represent one-sides, hardened attitudes and positions. By not using these terms,
but the terms proabortion and antiabortion, you provide a balanced presentation of your
view.
The Fourth Stage: Developing Alternative Strategies
As a key strategy, each side points a finger at the other. As it promotes its own point of view,
each side paints the other as grotesque, uncaring and evil.
The Role of Sociology in Social Problems
Social problems are filled with conflicting emotions, views, and values. Most of us are
convinced that our views on moral issues are right, that people who hold contrary views are
ignorant, short-sighted, and wrong. Our defenses go up when anyone questions our moral
positions.
Sociology: The systematic and objective study of human groups.
Sociology can help us see past the emotions that surround social problems.
Sociology as a Tool for Gaining an Objective Understanding of Social Problems
There are five contributions that sociologists can make if we want an objective
understanding of social problems:
1. Sociologists can measure objective conditions.
2. Sociologists can measure subjective concerns.
3. Sociologists can apply the sociological imagination. They can place social problems into
their broad social context.
4. Sociologists can identify possible social policies. To address a social problem, sociologists
can suggest potential courses of action for public and private agencies, educational
programs, public awareness campaigns, and legal changes.
5. Sociologists can evaluate likely consequences of social policies. Sociologists can estimate
the social effects of a proposed social policy.
That sociologists can do objective research does not mean that sociology has all the answers.
Sociologists can suggest which consequences are likely to result if some particular social
, policy is followed, but they have no expertise for determining which social policy should be
followed. Social policy is based on values, on the outcomes that people want to see. Because
sociology cannot dictate that one set of values is superior to another, it provides no basis for
making value decisions.
Sociology and Common Sense
Common sense: the ideas common to our society (or to some group within our society)
Common sense is not adequate to solve social problems because some of our ideas are built
on faulty assumptions. Since it’s easy for commonsense ideas to be wrong, we need solid,
objective research.
Chapter 2: Interpreting Social Problems: Aging
Sociological Theories and Social Problems.
As sociologists do research on social problems, they uncover a lot of “facts.” To make senses
of those “facts,” you have to put them in some order, so you can see how they are related to
one another. To do this, sociologists use theories. A theory explains how two or more
concepts (or “facts”) are related, it gives us a framework for organizing “facts.” As it does so,
it provides a way of
interpreting those “facts” of
social life. There are three
main theories that sociologists
use:
- Functionalism
- Conflict theory
- Symbolic interactionism
Each theory focuses on some
particular “slice” of a social
problem, and because of that,
each provides a different
perspective on the problem.
Each theory is like a spotlight
shining into a dark room: It
illuminates only a particular
part of that room. Takes
together, these theories throw
more light on a social problem
that does any one by itself.
Functionalism and Social Problems.
A major theory that sociologists use to interpret social problems is functionalism (functional
analysis). Functionalists compare society to a self-adjusting machine. Each part of the
