essay COURSE CITIATIONS ARE ATTACHED
Hachley101
Week1_lecture1.pptxWHAT ARE Social Problems?
Lecture 1
Prof Rennie Lee
SYG2010
Social Problems
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Lectures
Course is 7 weeks (Fall term A)
Lectures will be asynchronous
Available Monday (12am) of each week
Office hours on Tuesdays 5-6pm on Zoom or by appointment
Zoom link in Canvas Syllabus
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Structure of the Class
Assessment:
1.) Weekly Quizzes (70%)
Eight total
Based on reading and lectures
Available Monday (12am) of each week and due by Sunday 11:55pm of the assigned week
2.) Introductory discussion post (5%)
Due Week 2
3.) Take-home final exam essay (25%)
Distributed Week 5
Due Week 7
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COURSE TOPICS
What is a social problem? Definitions and concepts
Investigating claims
Social/cultural capital
Racial/ethnic discrimination
Claimsmakers
Insider and Outsider claimsmakers
Media
Policymaking
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Defining Social Problems
What is a social problem?
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Defining Social Problems
Objectivist definitions of social problems
Conditions considered objectively harmful include crime, racism, and sexism.
Objectivist definitions attempt to measure the characteristics of harmful conditions.
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Defining Social Problems
Problems with objectivist definitions
Harmful conditions are not always identified as social problems.
Sexism was not considered a social problem until recently.
Ex: Me Too movement
Conditions that some identify as harmful may not be considered harmful by others.
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Defining Social Problems
Problems with objectivist definitions
Social problems are very diverse, so definitions that try to include them all are often vague.
It can be difficult to specify what constitutes harm.
Not everyone will agree if or why a condition is harmful.
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Defining Social Problems
Constructionism (subjectivist approach)
Conditions are not viewed as problems because of objective standards.
They are problems because people think they are.
What matters is people’s responses to, and perceptions of, harmful conditions.
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Defining Social Problems
What makes a social problem?
Subjective reactions, not an objective quality.
Social problems vary by country because experiences shape what we see as bad.
Social problems are not a type of condition, but rather a process of responding to conditions.
That process involves social construction.
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Defining Social Problems
The social problems process
The only thing social problems have in common is that some people have defined them as social problems.
How and why do particular conditions come to be constructed as social problems?
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Defining Social Problems
Claim: a statement asserting that a condition is troubling or harmful
Claimsmaking: asserting that a condition should be perceived as a social problem
Claimsmakers: individuals or groups seeking to convince others that a condition is troubling and that something should be done
Ex: Activists, experts, and officials
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Natural History of a Social Problem
Stage 1: Claimsmaking
People make claims that there is a problem.
Stage 2: Media coverage
Media report on claimsmakers.
Stage 3: Public reactions
Public opinion focuses on the social problem.
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Natural History of a Social Problem
Stage 4: Policymaking
Lawmakers and others address the problem.
Stage 5: Social problems work
Agencies implement the new policies.
Stage 6: Policy outcomes
The various responses to new arrangements.
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Malcolm Gladwell ON Drunk Driving
What is he arguing?
Is drunk driving the problem or is dangerous driving?
Why don’t we target SUVs or impose heavier fines for drivers who are using their cell phones while driving?
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Claims
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Rhetoric of Claims
Claimsmakers attempt to persuade others that something is a social problem.
What are some examples of this?
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Rhetoric of Claims
Rhetoric is the study of persuasion.
Constructing social problems is rhetorical.
Three fundamental components of persuasive arguments:
Grounds
Warrants
Conclusions
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Rhetoric of Claims
Grounds: identifying the troubling condition
Grounds often follow a rhetorical recipe with three ingredients.
Grounds often start with a typifying example of the problem.
These stories do not always reflect “typical” cases.
The problem is named and given an orientation.
Type of medical condition, abuse, etc.
Statistics imply how bad the condition is.
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Rhetoric of Claims
More rhetorical devices used to establish grounds:
Painting the groups involved as either victims or villains
Claiming that many different kinds of people are hurt by the troubling condition
Challenging preexisting ways of constructing the social problem
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Rhetoric of Claims
Warrants: explaining why people should care
A claim’s warrants justify doing something.
Claims utilize values.
Since different people have different values, claimsmakers use multiple warrants to cover the reasons why people might care.
Ex: Immigration policies
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Rhetoric of Claims
Conclusions: what should be done
The proposed solutions must be in line with the grounds and warrants.
Conclusions can include both short-term and long-term goals and policy changes.
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Claims and Audiences
Valence issues:
Conditions that nearly everyone will agree are significant social problems
Position issues:
Divisive, controversial topics
It is more difficult to find agreement, so claimsmakers target sympathetic audiences.
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Claims and Audiences
Audiences for claims can be segmented.
Segmented audiences may have different interests and ideologies.
Certain demographic groups worry more about certain social problems than others.
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Claims and Audiences
Social problems marketplace
Audiences hear claims about many problems.
Claimsmakers struggle to get and keep the attention of the audience.
Even if an issue is well-established, claimsmakers need to keep refining claims.
They risk losing the attention of policymakers, the media, and the general public.
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Claims and Audiences
How do claimsmakers refine claims?
Domain expansion: claimsmakers broaden the definition of the problem, adding in more victims to help and villains to confront.
Piggyback: claimsmakers can rely on established problems and allow newer claims to build upon older ones.
Civil Rights Movement
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Claims and Audiences
Most claims inspire counterclaims.
Counterclaims often involve disputes over grounds or warrants.
“Stat wars” focus on which statistics are true.
Debates over ideologies are usually linked to warrants.
Both sides modify claims as a response to counterclaims.
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