Sociological Insights into Social Problems

Using Sociological Insights - What is a social problem? - A social condition (such as poverty) - Or a pattern of behavior (such as substance abuse) - That disadvantages or harms individual or society - Enough people believe public concern - Discrimination - Actions or practices of dominant group members - Harmful impact on members of subordinate groups - Hate crime - AA physical attack against a person - Assumptions regarding his or her racial group, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual Orientation, national origin, or ancestry The Sociological Imagination - Sociological imagination - The relationship between individual experiences and the larger society - Microlevel analysis - Small group relations and social interaction among individuals - Macrolevel analysis - Social processes occurring at the societal level - Large-scale organizations and major social institutions - Social policy - Action of agencies aiming at improvement or reform Do We Have a Problem? - Subjective awareness - Social problem exists emerges before the objective reality - Expressed as a feeling of uneasiness or skepticism about something - Feeling not founded on any concrete evidence - Objective reality. Example - Potential for violent acts in public settings often exists - No recent violence in either a public or a private setting - New massacre or another violent act takes place - Subjective awareness shifts to being an objective reality Using Social Theory to Analyze Social Problems - Theory - Logical statements to describe, explain, or predict social events - Perspective - An overall approach or viewpoint toward subject - Sociological Perspectives - Functionalist - Interactionalists - Conflict Theorist Functionalist Perspective - Manifest and latent functions - Manifest functions are intended and recognized consequences - Latent functions are unintended hidden consequences - Dysfunctions and Social Disorganization - Dysfunctions are the undesirable consequences of an activity - Social disorganization conditions in society that undermine tradition - Values - Collective ideas about what is right or wrong, good, or bad - Norms - Are established rules of behavior or standards of conduct - Industrialization - Societies are transformed from dependence on agriculture and handmade - To an emphasis on manufacturing and related industries - Urbanization - Increasing proportion of a population lives in cities rather than rural areas The Conflict Perspective - Capitalism – economic system and private ownership of production - Personal profits through market competition without government intervention - Capitalist class, own and control the means of production, are at the top - Working class, must sell their labor power to capitalists - Conflict perspectives focus on racial and gender subordination versus class-based Inequalities - Feminist approach focusses on patriarchy - Male privileged dominance and women are oppressed - Conflict theorists note that race, class, and gender are interlocking systems - Privilege and oppression that results in social problems The Symbolic Interactionalist Perspective - Labeling theory and the social construction of reality - Moral entrepreneurs’ people who use their own views of right and wrong to Establish rules and label others as deviant. - Behavior that deviates from established norms is deviant because it has bee Labeled as such by others. - Social construction of reality – people’s perception of reality by the subjective meaning Given to an experience. - Self-fulfilling prophecy – the process by which an unsubstantiated belief results in behavior That makes the original false conception come true. Using Social Research Methods - Field Research - The study of social life in its natural setting: observing and interviewing people were They live, work, and play. - Survey Research - Is a poll in which researchers ask respondents a series of questions about a specific Topic and record their responses. - Secondary Analysis of existing data - Research method in which investigators analyze data that originally were collected By others for some other purpose