Chapter 1: Sociological Perspectives on Social Problems Objectives

After reading Chapter One, you should be able to:

1. define a social problem and be familiar with the key components of this definition
2. be familiar with the three sociological perspectives on social problems: functionalism, conflict theory, and interactionism, including the following elements: the functionalist view of criminal deviance, social problems as social pathology, social disorganization theory, modern functionalism, the Marxian view of deviance, value conflict theory, and labeling theory.
3. understand the "natural history" of social problems and be familiar with the stages that most social problems seem to go through.
4. be familiar with the relationship between the media and social problems.
5. understand the major research strategies on social problems: demographic studies, survey research, field observation, and social experiments.
6. understand the concept of social policy and how policy issues impact on the sociological investigation of social problems.

Summary

• When most people in a society agree that a condition exists that threatens the quality of their lives and their most cherished values, and they also agree that something should be done to remedy it, sociologists say that society has defined that condition as a social problem.

• Sociologists who study social problems ask questions about the social rather than the individual aspects of a problem. The primary sociological approaches to the study of social problems are the functionalist, conflict, and interactionist perspectives.

• The functionalist perspective looks at the way major social institutions actually operate. From this perspective, the main reason for the existence of social problems is that societies are always changing; failure to adapt successfully to change leads to social problems.

• In the early 1900s, functionalist theorists saw social problems like criminal deviance as a form of social pathology. Later, they tended to emphasize the effects of immigration, urbanization, and industrialization; this emphasis formed the basis of social-disorganization theory. Modern functionalists often conduct institutional research designed to show how people and societies reorganize their lives and institutions to cope with new conditions.

• The conflict perspective is based on the belief that social problems arise out of major contradictions in the way societies are organized, which lead to large-scale conflict. This perspective owes a great deal to the writings of the German social theorist Karl Marx.

• Marxian conflict theory attributes most social problems to underlying patterns of class conflict. A broader view is taken by value conflict theorists, who believe that social problems occur when groups with different values meet and compete.

• Research based on the interactionist perspective looks at the processes whereby different people become part of a situation that the larger society defines as a social problem. It focuses on the ways in which people actually take on the values of the group in which they are members.

• According to labeling theory, social problems are conditions under which certain behaviors or situations become defined as problems. In this view, the cause of a social problem is simply society’s awareness that a certain behavior or situation exists. The labels applied to certain behaviors act as self-fulfilling prophecies because people who are so labeled accept society's definition of themselves and behave accordingly.

• The most frequently used research methods in the study of social problems are demographic studies, survey research, field observation, and social experiments. People who conduct research with human subjects must guarantee the rights of privacy, confidentiality, and informed consent.

• Social policies are formal procedures designed to remedy a social problem. They are formulated by officials of governments at all levels, as well as by voluntary associations, corporations, and nonprofit foundations. Much of the research conducted by sociologists is designed to provide information to be used in formulating and evaluating social policies.

• The natural history approach to the analysis of social problems focuses on public perception of conditions that come to be defined as problems. In this view, there are four stages in the development of a social problem: problem definition, legitimacy, reemergence of demands, and rejection and institution building.

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