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SOC1023G Social
Problems:
Unit 1
Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Thursday, May 25,
2017
© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
Bolender
1
Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
References
Denisoff, R. S., Callahan, O., & Levine, M. H. (1974). Theories and paradigms
in contemporary sociology. Itasca, IL: F. E. Peacock Publishers.
De Santo, C. P. (1985). The sociology of social problems. In C. P. De Santo and
M. M. Poloma (Eds.), Social problems: Christian Perspectives (pp. 2-17).
Winston-Salem, NC: Hunter Textbooks.
Hess, B. B., Markson, E. W., & Stein, P. J. (1993). Sociology (4th ed.). New
York: Macmillian Publishing.
Kuhn, T. S. (1970). The structure of scientific revolutions (2nd ed.). Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press.
Mills, C. W. (1959). The sociological imagination. New York: Oxford University
Press.
Mooney, L. A., Knox, D., & Schacht, C. (2000). Understanding social problems
(2nd ed.). Cincinnati, OH: Wadsworth.
Thursday, May 25,
2017
© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
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Devotions
The poor you will
always have with
you . . .
Matthew 26:11a (NIV)
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Devotions
Let us not become weary in
doing good, for at the proper
time we will reap a harvest if
we do not give up. Therefore,
as we have opportunity, let
us do good to all people . . . .
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2017
Galatians
6:9-10a (NIV)
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Note
This is the most difficult lecture in this
course. Many new concepts are
introduced. These concepts will become
more familiar as you progress through
the course.
Thursday, May 25,
2017
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
What is a social problem?
Primary elements of social problems
Objective element
We become aware of a social condition through
our senses
•
•
•
•
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See the homeless
Hear the gunfire in the streets
See battered women in hospital emergency rooms
Hear unemployment statistics
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Subjective element
Belief that a particular social condition is
harmful to society and that it needs to be changed
•
•
•
•
•
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Crime
Drug addiction
Poverty
Racism
Violence
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
By combining these objective and
subjective elements, we arrive at the
following definition:
A SOCIAL PROBLEM is a social
condition that a segment of
society views as harmful to
members of society and in need
of remedy (Mooney, Knox, & Schacht, 2000 p. 3).
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© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
The Sociological Imagination
(Mills, 1959 pp. 8-11)
C. W. Mills developed a way of looking at social
problems
Personal troubles versus public issues
Personal troubles
• Private matters, limited to aspects of daily life of which a
person is directly--often painfully--aware
Public issues
• Arise from factors outside of one’s personal control, but
that ultimately affect daily life, such as business cycles
or wars
(Hess, Markson,
& Stein, 1993 p. 5)
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2017
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Example: Divorce
If you are involved in a divorce, that is a
personal trouble
If more than 25% of all marriages end in
divorce, that is a public issue = social
problem
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
As sociologists, we are to
carefully define what is and is
not a social problem. A social
condition may not be a social
problem in one era and then
become one during another
era.
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Example: High School Dropouts
Until the end of the 1950’s, this was not a
social problem
There were ample, well-paid employment
opportunities for the less educated
• Usually these opportunities required strenuous labor
and/or boring repetitive motions
Currently, there is a lack of employment
opportunities that are both well-paid and
require less than a high school education
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2017
© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
Bolender
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Our current standard of living, which
most of us would not want to give
up, requires a more educated work
force.
But what are we going to do with a
current high school population that
has a 25% dropout rate?
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
In my opinion, we are headed for a
future two class society--not divided
by race or family background--but
divided by the educated versus the
undereducated.
Sadly, this social condition will be the
result of choices freely made by the
majority of the future undereducated
population.
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May 25,
© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
2017
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Elements of Social Structure and Culture
Elements of social structure--refers to the
way society is organized
Institutions
Is an established enduring pattern of social
relationships
• Family, religion, politics, economics, and education
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Social groups
Is defined as two or more people who have a
common identity, interact, and form a social
relationship.
• Primary
– Intimate and informal interactions
• Secondary
– Task-oriented and characterized by impersonal and
formal interactions
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Statuses
Is a position a person occupies within a social
group and thus within the structure of society
• Ascribed status
– Is one that society assigns, over which an individual
has no control (sex, race, etc.)
• Achieved status
– Is assigned on the basis of some characteristic or
behavior over which the individual has some control
(parent, college graduate, etc.)
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© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Roles
The set of rights, obligations, and expectations
associated with a status
Roles guide behavior and help predict the
behavior of others
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Elements of culture--refers to the
meanings and ways of life that
characterize a society
Beliefs
Refer to definitions and explanations about what
is assumed to be true
• Secondhand smoke harms nonsmokers
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Values
Social agreements about what is considered good
and bad, right and wrong, desirable and
undesirable
• Crime violates the values of honesty, private property,
and non-violence
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© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Norms and sanctions
Norms are socially defined rules of behavior
• Folkways
• Laws
• Mores
Sanctions are social consequences for conforming
to or violating norms
•
•
•
•
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Positive sanctions
Negative sanctions
Informal sanctions
Formal sanctions
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Symbols
Is something that represents something else
Without symbols, we could not communicate with
each other or live as social beings
Examples
• Language
• Gestures
• Objects that carry meaning understood by the members
of a society
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2017
© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
Bolender
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
In this course you need to learn how
to look at the world as a sociologist.
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2017
© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
Bolender
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Sociology
(De Santo, 1985 p. 2)
As a science seeks to understand the forces
operating in society
• Forces that hold it together
• Forces that tear it apart
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Paradigm
(Denisoff, Callahan, & Levine 1974 p. 1-3)
Model or pattern of thinking
Taken-for-granted ideas and assumptions not
debated by members of a scientific discipline
Once a paradigm is established, scholars engage
in what Kuhn (1970) calls “mopping up
operations”
• the stress of one group of events and facts over another
• The attempt to demonstrate agreement between the
paradigm and reality
• The further refinement of the paradigm
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Sociology , as a science, has not
developed a singular dominant
paradigm. It currently accepts three
major paradigms. At this time a
fourth one is being considered. We
will not study the fourth paradigm in
this course.
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2017
© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Some sociological textbooks use the
term theoretical perspectives in
place of paradigms. In sociological
theory, perspectives are a subcategory of paradigms. For general
discussion in this course, the two
terms will be used interchangeably.
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Review the
Paradigm . . .
Comparison Table
(this was a reading requirement
for Unit 1)
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
The Table lists three Paradigms
Order
Pluralist
Conflict
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© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
One Perspective (the term used in our
readings for Unit 1) is listed under each
Paradigm
Structural-Functionalism
Listed under the Order Paradigm
Symbolic-Interaction
Listed under the Pluralist Paradigm
Conflict
Listed under the Conflict Paradigm
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© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
To understand the “view” or “philosophy” of
each paradigm/perspective, carefully read,
study, and reflect on the comparison
portion of the Table.
As an example, let us review how each
paradigm/perspective views “Society.”
Thursday, May 25,
2017
© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
Bolender
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Order/Structural-Functionalism
Views society as a vast organism whose
parts are interrelated; social problems are
disruptions of this system. Also holds that
problems of social institutions produce
patterns of deviance or that institutions
must address such patterns through
strategic social change.
Thursday, May 25,
2017
© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
Bolender
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Pluralist/Symbolic-Interaction
Holds that definitions of deviance or social
problems are subjective; separates
deviant and nondeviant people not by
what they do but by how society reacts to
what they do.
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Conflict/Conflict
Views society as marked by conflicts due to
inequalities of class, race, ethnicity,
gender, age, and other divisions that
produce conflicting values. Defines social
problems as conditions that do not
conform to society's values.
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2017
© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
Bolender
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
I ‘m lost!
What is a
paradigm/perspective?
What does it have
to do with Social Problems?
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© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Review the story about the
Saints and Rebels gangs at
Anderson High School
(this was a reading requirement
for this class session)
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2017
© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
I ‘m STILL
lost!
Should I drop out
of Social Problems?
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2017
© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
Of course not!
It takes time to learn
how to think
like a sociologist.
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2017
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Unit 1: Thinking about Social
Problems as a Sociologist
This Social Problems course
will give you the
OPPORTUNITY
to spend time learning how
to think like a sociologist.
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2017
© 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith
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