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Chapter 1: Understanding Social Problems1.1 What Is a Social Problem?
1.2 Sociological Perspectives on Social Problems
1.3 Continuity and Change in Social Problems
1.4 Doing Research on Social Problems
1.5 End-of-Chapter Material
,1.1What Is a Social Problem?
Learning
Objectives
Define “social problem.”
Explain the objective and subjective components of the definition of a social problem.
Understand the social constructionist view of social problems.
List the stages of the natural history of social problems.
A social problem is any condition or behavior that has negative consequences for large numbers of people and that
is generally recognized as a condition or behavior that needs to be addressed. This definition has both an objective
component and a subjective component.
The objective component is this: For any condition or behavior to be considered a social problem, it must
have negative consequences for large numbers of people, as each chapter of this book discusses. How do we know
if a social problem has negative consequences? Reasonable people can and do disagree on whether such
consequences exist and, if so, on their extent and seriousness, but ordinarily a body of data accumulates—from
work by academic researchers, government agencies, and other sources—that strongly points to extensive and
serious consequences. The reasons for these consequences are often hotly debated, and sometimes, as we shall see
in certain chapters in this book, sometimes the very existence of these consequences is disputed. A current
example is climate change: Although the overwhelming majority of climate scientists say that climate change
(changes in the earth’s climate due to the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere) is real and serious, fewer
than two-thirds of Americans (64 percent) in a 2011 poll said they “think that global warming is
happening”(Leiserowitz, et. al., 2011).
This type of dispute points to the subjective component of the definition of social problems: There must be
a perception that a condition or behavior needs to be addressed for it to be considered a social problem. This
component lies at the heart of the social constructionist view of social problems (Rubington & Weinberg, 2010). In
this view, many types of negative conditions and behaviors exist. Many of these are considered sufficiently
negative to acquire the status of a social problem; some do not receive this consideration and thus do not become a
social problem; and some become considered a social problem only if citizens, policymakers, or other parties call
attention to the condition or behavior.
2
, 1.1 WHAT IS A SOCIAL PROBLEM? •
Sometimes disputes occur over whether a particular condition or behavior has negative consequences and is
thus a social problem. A current example is climate change: although almost all climate scientists think
climate change is real and serious, more than one-third of the American public thinks that climate change is
not happening.
Wikimedia Commons – public domain.
The history of attention given to rape and sexual assault in the United States before and after the 1970s
provides an example of this latter situation. These acts of sexual violence against women have probably occurred
from the beginning of humanity and certainly were very common in the United States before the 1970s. Although
men were sometimes arrested and prosecuted for rape and sexual assault, sexual violence was otherwise ignored
by legal policymakers and received little attention in college textbooks and the news media, and many people
thought that rape and sexual assault were just something that happened (Allison & Wrightsman, 1993). Thus
although sexual violence existed, it was not considered a social problem. When the contemporary women’s
movement began in the late 1970s, it soon focused on rape and sexual assault as serious crimes and as
manifestations of women’s inequality. Thanks to this focus, rape and sexual assault eventually entered the public
consciousness, views of these crimes began to change, and legal policymakers began to give them more attention.
In short, sexual violence against women became a social problem.
, 4 • SOCIAL PROBLEMS: CONTINUITY AND
Before the 1970s, rape and sexual assault certainly existed and were very common, but they were generally
ignored and not considered a social problem. When the contemporary women’s movement arose during the
1970s, it focused on sexual violence against women and turned this behavior into a social problem.
Women’s e News – Placards at the Rally To Take Rape Seriously – CC BY 2.0.
The social constructionist view raises an interesting question: When is a social problem a social problem?
According to some sociologists who adopt this view, negative conditions and behaviors are not a social problem
unless they are recognized as such by policymakers, large numbers of lay citizens, or other segments of our
society; these sociologists would thus say that rape and sexual assault before the 1970s were not a social problem
because our society as a whole paid them little attention. Other sociologists say that negative conditions and
behaviors should be considered a social problem even if they receive little or no attention; these sociologists would
thus say that rape and sexual assault before the 1970s were a social problem.
This type of debate is probably akin to the age-old question: If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there
to hear it, is a sound made? As such, it is not easy to answer, but it does reinforce one of the key beliefs of the
social constructionist view: Perception matters at least as much as reality, and sometimes more so. In line with
this belief, social constructionism emphasizes that citizens, interest groups, policymakers, and other parties often
compete to influence popular perceptions of many types of conditions and behaviors. They try to influence news
media coverage and popular views of the nature and extent of any negative consequences that may be occurring,
the reasons underlying the condition or behavior in question, and possible solutions to the problem.
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