The document discusses social problems and their analysis. It defines social problems as conditions caused by factors operating at multiple levels of society that contradict social norms and require collective action to resolve. Personal problems are caused by individual-level factors. The document presents models for analyzing social problems, including structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. It emphasizes examining social problems at individual, group, societal, and global levels.

2. Chapter One
Understanding
Social Problems

3. Personal vs. Social Problems
• Personal Problem: one
whose causes and
solutions lie within the
individual and his or her
own environment.
• Social Problem: one
whose causes and
solutions lie outside the
individual and the
immediate environment.
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4. The Consequences of
Problems
• The sense of inadequacy – blaming or
downgrading oneself.
• Individual strategies are employed to cope
with the problem, such as coping
mechanisms.
• The victim is blamed.
• The offender is castigated.
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5. Social Problem
• A condition or pattern of behavior that
– Contradicts some other condition or pattern of
behavior;
– Is caused, facilitated, or prolonged by factors
that operate at multiple levels of social life;
– Involves intergroup conflict; and
– Requires social action to be resolved.
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6. A Theory-Based Model
• Structural Functionalism
– Focuses on social systems and the way in which their
interdependent parts maintain order.
• Conflict Theory
– Focuses on contradictory interests of groups,
inequalities in society, and the resulting conflict and
change.
• Symbolic Interactionism
– Focuses on the interaction between individuals, the
importance of knowing individuals’ perspectives to
understand their behavior, and the ways in which
social life is constructed through interaction.
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7. Structural Functionalism
• A problem involves a system of
interdependent parts, including
– Norms – shared expectations about behavior.
– Roles – behavior associated with a particular
position in the social structure.
– Institutions – collective means of dealing with
basic social functions.
– Values – things preferred because they are
defined as having worth.
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8. A Model for Analyzing Social
Problems
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9. Quality of Life
• Americans evaluate
their quality of life
according to how well
they are doing
– Financially,
– Physically,
– Emotionally,
– Socially, and
– Culturally
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10. Multiple Levels of Social
Problems
• Individual level
• Group levels
• Societal levels
• Global levels
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11. Analyzing Social Problems
• Get the feel of the problem by seeing how
it affects people’s lives and examining how
the problem involves a contradiction and is
defined as incompatible with the desired
quality of life.
• Analyze the multiple-level factors involved.
• Consider various ways to attack the
problem.
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12. Recognizing Fallacies
• Fallacy of Dramatic • Fallacy of Appeal to
Instance Prejudice
• Fallacy of Retrospective • Fallacy of Circular
Determinism Reasoning
• Fallacy of Authority
• Fallacy of Misplaced
• Fallacy of
Concreteness
Composition
• Fallacy of Personal • Fallacy of Non
Attack Sequitur
These Concepts will be used in Every Chapter
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13. Fallacy of Authority
• The illegitimate appeal to authority
– The authority may be ambiguous.
– The authority may be irrelevant to the
problem.
– The authority may be pursuing a bias rather
than studying the problem.
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14. Social Research
• Survey Research
– Using questionnaires and/or interviews to gain
data about some phenomenon
• Statistical Analysis of Official Records
– Mean
– Test of Significance
– Frequency Distribution
– Median score
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15. Social Research – Continued
• Experiments
– Manipulation of one or more variables, control
of other variables, and measurement of the
consequences in still other variables.
• Independent Variables
• Dependent Variables
• Participant Observation
– Direct participation in, and observation of the
social reality being studied.
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.