Introduction
What is a social problem? How does a concern become a problem in the society? To answer these questions we need a consideration the society as a body of interrelated parts connected through a network. For example, a socially existing problem will affect the population in numerous ways. Therefore, significant features of these problems have extremely been a popular topic in sociology due to rapid changes in the society.
The definition of a social problem in two perspectives, Objectivists and constructionists notify two different stories. Objectivists view it as a behavior, condition or situation that may be harmful to a large crowd of people in the society. But how large are we talking about? 2500 people? How about to say 400000 people? On the other hand to what extent does the problem harm the group of people? What kind of harm does it give? These are quite difficult aspects to comprehend from a fact based definition of social problems. In constructionists view, we decide if a problem is social or nonsocial from human interaction. Since every one of us has got different perspectives, social problems can be defined as uncertain situations in the society where we focus attention to undesirable conditions which may have negative effect to others (Harris, 2013). From the functionalist perspective, the society is connected thought different organs similar to that of a living organism. Therefore, a change in one organ may cause changes in other organs too. Some
Market and social justice principles make it difficult for health care delivery to be distributed equally among the nation. Social problems are issues that also increase the difficulty for health care delivery to be effective, such as poverty or homelessness. There are also set backs that occur do to economical issues the nation is having. A recent issue was the recession in the late 2000 's that caused many Americans
In Social Problems, Anna Leon-Guerrero (2016) she states, “… The functional perspective, examines the functions or consequences of the structure of society. Functionalist use a macro perspective, focusing on how society maintains social order” (13). Society has created expectations on what is viewed as acceptable or unacceptable behavior and this can include criminal behavior. This is any deviation from the social norms that are agreed by the majority of the community and the violation of any existing laws that is passed by legislation. For an example, a single parent losses’ his or her job and are worried whether the rent is covered with his or her last paycheck or whether they will qualify for food stamps.
Meaning of sociological imagination The sociologist, C Wright Mills said that the sociological imagination is a perspective on the world that helps us to see the links between society and the individual’s experiences and circumstances. The sociological imagination explains that external influences significally influence the individual’s motivations, way of thinking and social status in society. The sociological imagination attempts to understand human behaviour by placing it within a broader social context, as well as, observing the connections between what appears to be the personal problems of the individual compared to the larger social issues. Personal problem and social issue A personal problem is society is the hardships that negatively affect one individual’s life, for example alcohol
A social problem is an aspect of life that people are concerned about and would like to change. It consists of two components: the objective requirement that an aspect of society can be measured. . The objective condition in the case of abortion entails the question whether abortions are legal, who obtains an abortion, and under what circumstances is an abortion secured (Henslin, 2008). The second component is the subjective condition; This is the concern that a significant number of people have regarding the objective condition. In the case of abortion, the personal condition involves distress that a pregnant woman must carry the unwanted baby to full term (Henslin, 2008).
Finally, the three sociological perspectives can be seen. Functionalist can be observed in the way
Functionalism Functionalism emphasizes how social structures maintain or undermine social stability in macrostructures (Brym,
Before we look at the different Social/Psychological Determinants of Health it is important firstly to define what a social determinant of health is. According to the World Health Organization (2017) “The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.” These conditions are as a result of a wide range of factors that are ultimately governed by the way in which money, power and specific resources are shared at different levels including those at global, national and local levels. We have all been a part of and will experience different social determinants of health throughout our lives but it is the standard at which we experience these determinants that will ultimately lead onto them affecting our health or ultimately leaving us unaffected. The Social Determinants of Health which I am going to examine include • Education • Unemployment • Stress • Living Conditions • Cultural Norms.
Looking at society as a whole with individual units that work together to make society function efficiently is the structural functionalism concept. Each unit has a part and is describe as institutions such as family, religion, education, politics, economy and inequality. Because structural functionalism looks at social structure and patterns of behavior it is able to create values for society. As well as, distinguish between visible and suppressed problems within the social structures that may need to be addressed. For instance, homelessness is indication of dysfunction in structural functionalism system.
Homelessness and Functionalism The social problem that I chose was homelessness. Homelessness has increased by 8% since 2011-2012 to more than 225,000 people in 2014-15 and in 2011 censers 105,237 people where homeless. As also the unemployment rate and the domestic violence rate which both are increasing as well as these are some of the big factors . The biggest reason homelessness is domestic violence.
C. Wright Mills puts forth in Ch. 1 “The Promise” that the discipline of sociology is focused primarily on the ability to distinguish between an individuals “personal troubles” and the “public issues” of one’s social structure. In the context of a contemporary society, he argues that such issues can be applied by reappraising what are products of an individual’s milieu and what are caused by the fabric of a society. The importance of this in a contemporary society is that it establishes the dichotomy that exists between an individual’s milieu and the structure of their very society.
Personal problems are specific to an individual. These are issues that are outside of the individual’s environment and control. If a large number of people experience this problem then that makes it a societal issue. These issues are both predictable and preventable. 2.2
Certain problems are considered significant while others are not because problems affecting the upper echelon or social elite are deemed notable in our society. When social problems do not effect the social elite then, social problems tend to written off and deemed insignificant. Many of times in the political realm, politicians are professed as the voice of "The People". "The People" are the majority, unspoken for in most instances, lower middle class down to the poverty stricken citizens that have limited input in social change and are those that are likely to be most affected with social issues.
Emile Durkheim developed a theory called functionalism, which explained how the individual and society were related and how society changed over time. According to functionalism, society is a system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of balance and social equilibrium for the whole. Durkheim believed that society should be analyzed and described in terms of functions. Society is a system of interrelated parts where no one part can function without the other. These parts make up the entirety of society and therefore, if one part changes, society is impacted.
Typically, one does not think about unemployment being a social problem, unless you are someone that is unemployed or has experienced unemployment. Unfortunately, unemployment is becoming a serious social problem today in society. Many people who happen to be unemployed are more than capable of working they just do not have the proper experience or flexibility that a job requires. Many are also unemployed because there are not enough jobs for everyone. The unemployment rate is rising every day and the something needs to be done to stop this.
Social Problems in Societies Social problems are issues which are considered to affect majority if not all members of a society either directly or indirectly. Whenever people come to live together in a social setting, conflict arises from their differences in opinions regarding political issues, religion, ethnic issues, cultural practices and other health and hygiene issues. In such a situation, we can say a society inevitably develops social problems. The various social issues present today vary from society to society, and as such, we cannot say that all societies face similar social issues.