1. Studying
Social
Problems
Source: Odd Stuff Magazine

2. What is a Social Problem Anyway?
Source: Odd Stuff Magazine

3. “A social problem is a social condition that a segment of society views as harmful to members of society, and is need of remedy” (Mooney, Knox, and Schacht, 2017, p. 5).
Source: Odd Stuff Magazine

4. Sociological Imagination (C. Wright Mills)
Our personal lives are interwoven with a society’s history.
Private troubles are public issues embedded in a society’s organization and culture.
Source: History in Pictures

5. Wait, Why Do Social Problems Exist?
Structural Functionalism
Society is a stable organism with functioning interrelated parts
To maintain stability, society forces social control over people
When there is a dysfunction in one part of society this affects other parts of society
Anomie occurs when people have weak social ties due to societal disorganization and weak social controls

6. Wait, Why Do Social Problems Exist?
Conflict Theory
Society is in a constant power struggle over valuable resources and opposing interests
Dominant group is in a position of power to exploit minority group
Inequalities are embedded in society especially the economic capitalist system
Alienation occurs when people experience powerlessness over their lives and work

7. Wait, Why Do Social Problems Exist?
Symbolic Interactionism
Language is used to communicate meanings and interactions
Social construction of reality occurs when people create a shared meaning of life
Moral entrepreneurs influence our ideas about what is labeled as good and bad
Positive and negative labels shape our self- identities and how we interact with others

8. “A social problem negatively impacts a large number of people in a society, is embedded within the social structure of a society, and there is widespread agreement about its problematic nature” (R. Pires).
Source: Odd Stuff Magazine

9. So, How Are Social Problems Recognized?
Herbert Blumer’s Social Problems Stages
Societal Recognition
Social Legitimation
Mobilization of Action
Development and Implementation of a Plan
Source: Odd Stuff Magazine

10. Ok. Well, How Do Sociologists Study Social Problems?
Source: Odd Stuff Magazine

12. Paddling Our Way Through the Semester: Economic Issues Up Next