 Social Problem: a social condition that has negative consequences for individuals, our social world, or our physical world  The “objective” reality of a social problem: some aspects of a social problem can be proven by the collection of data. E.g. The Center for Disease Control released that by the end of 2003, 1.2 million Americans were living with HIV/AIDS It is not necessary for you to have contracted HIV to understand that it is a problem  The “subjective” reality of a social problem: all social problems must be defined as problematic E.g. Is war necessary or is it a social problem? The answer depends on your outlook on the world

 “Social Constructionism” (Berger & Luckmann, 1966): our world is a social creation, created from our everyday thoughts and actions.  For example, although there is the “objective” problem of 1.2 million Americans living with HIV/AIDS, some people may not consider it a problem: some would argue that HIV only affects IV drug users and the sexually promiscuous so it should not count as a social problem; some may argue that medical advances mean it is no longer a social problem  Conditions that harm people may exist, but they are not social problems until humans categorize them as troublesome and in need of a solution

 Homelessness can be seen as a problem by people who are not sympathetic to the problem  E.g. Many people blame homeless people themselves for the homeless epidemic; this ignores more structural problems like the lack of a living wage or affordable housing  The construction of social problems and solutions has to do with power

 For whom is it a problem?  Who says it is a problem? (Who has the power to say so?)  Why is it a social problem (as opposed to a personal problem for a large number of people)?  When does a private concern become a social problem?  What alternative solutions exist?  Who decides what solution is adopted or tried?

1. Seeing the general in the particular: social forces shape our lives in unseen yet significant ways 2. Seeing the Strange in the Familiar: questioning everyday assumptions 3. Seeing Personal Choice in Social Context: seeing what social forces caused individual behavior and how individual behavior is patterned 4. Marginality & Crisis: being an outsider enhances sociological thinking 5. Seeing How Relationships are Shaped by Power: how systems grant rewards and punishments and how some individuals reap benefits they may not even know about

 a sociological imagination: a way of thinking that helps link our personal lives to the social world.  It means you have to see what can not be seen in front of your eyes.  It means that you have to be able to creatively imagine the connections between events which give birth to current social life  Individual Trouble: a problem that is experienced by the individual  Social Issue: a patterned social problem that has wide-reaching effects  E.g. unemployment

 Functional-Structuralism examines the functions (or consequences) of the structure of society  Basic Belief: Society is made up of inter-related parts that depend on one another to maintain order in society  Society is the product of the agreed upon norms and values of its individuals.  Society is like a puzzle – each individual must play by the rules so that society can function  Functionalists on social problems: social problems are actually functional or they would not exist. Functionalists might ask, what purpose does a social problem serve?

 Conflict theorists: examine how society is held together by power relations and how people in power coerce those without power to maintain the system  Basic Belief: Society is characterized by social inequality  Society is defined by people’s struggle to secure scarce resources  Conflict theorists on social problems: social problems exist because people with power make life difficult for those without social power; they are also interested in how people with power can define something as a social problem

 Symbolic Interactionists: focus on how we use language, words, and symbols to create and maintain our social reality  Basic Belief: Society is the sum of the interactions of people and groups; it is a micro theory  Human beings act in accordance with how they believe they are expected to act; we learn behavior expectations through interaction with others  Symbolic Interactionists on social problems:  1. We learn behavior from others (e.g. no one is born a “juvenile delinquent”, but learns how to behave like one)  2. The language we use to define a social problem m (E.g. national healthcare or socialized medicine? “Pro-choice” or “pro-abortion”?)