As we come to the end of this chapter, I hope you are grounded in the field of social problems. Together, we’ve learned that social problems arise from conflict and inequalities in our society. We’ve reviewed a social problems process, to understand more about the steps that many problems go through. We’ve learned the value of our own stories, exploring our own identities and locations and those of others. While these identities give each of us a unique experience in the world, we remain connected because we are interdependent. Finally, we looked at the both and solutions of individual agency and collective action to relieve social problems.

In Chapter 2 we examine the question, “What is sociology?”. We will learn more about why sociology arose as a discipline in a particular place and time. We will look at how sociologists explain why the world unfolds as it does. We will also explore the scientific tools that scientists use to learn more about the social world.

In our subsequent chapters, we look at specific social problems. Part I focuses on the social problems of wealth. Part II focuses on the social problems of health. Finally, we wrap things up by ending where we started—with the Echo Mountain Fire. By looking at the community response to this disaster, we can explore the interplay between all the social problems happening at once, and the resilient responses of a community committed to rebuilding.

1.6.1 Key Concepts

Explain a current social issue using the five characteristics of a social problem (CO1, CO2)

A social problem is a social condition or pattern of behavior that has negative consequences for individuals, our social world, or our physical world. Most social problems share five characteristics: 1) A social problem goes beyond the experience of an individual. 2) A social problem results from a conflict in values.3) A social problem arises when groups of people experience inequality.4) A social problem is socially constructed but real in its consequences. 5) A social problem must be addressed interdependently, using both individual agency and collective action.

Describe the process by which social problems are created (CO1, CO2)

Sociologists use a five step social problems process to describe how social problems arise and resolve. These steps are: 1. Claimsmaking: People make claims that there is a social problem, with certain characteristics, causes, and solutions. 2) Media Coverage: Media…report on claimsmakers so that news of the claims reaches a broader audience. 3) Public Reaction: Public opinion focuses on the social problem identified by the claimsmakers. 4) Policymaking: Lawmakers and others with the power to set policies to create new ways to address the problem. 5) Social Problems Work: Agencies implement the new policies, including calls for further changes.

However, this model has limits, including an overreliance on social construction and quantitative data instead of stories and an overly objective approach to the cost of inequality and resistance.

Describe how social identity and social location impact how people experience social problems (CO3 CO4, CO6)

People differ in their social identity. People and groups also differ in their relationship to privilege and power, based on their social location. This inequality is both personal and structural. Social problems are manifestations of this inequality.

Explain why the interdependent nature of social problems requires both individual agency and collective action. (CO6)

Addressing social problems requires a both/and approach. We need collective action, people acting in groups to address social problems, because the problems are too interconnected to be addressed alone. We also need social agency because individual people must act to create change in their own way. Each act of positive social agency matters to that person and their community, even if the small waves of change are hard to see in the wider world.

1.6.3 Discussion Questions

1. Social Problem—Definition: Choose a social problem that interests you. Please describe how it meets the definition of a social problem as described by Leon-Guerrero, or the five characteristics of a social problem.
2. Social Problem—Social Problem Process: How would you explain sexual violence or COVID-19 as a social problem using Best’s model in figure 1.12?
3. Social Problem—Social Construction: Do you think that social problems are socially constructed or objectively real? Why or Why not?
4. Social Location: Where do you have power, based on your social location? How do your race, class, gender identity, able-bodied status, and other social locations combine to give you less power or more power? How could you use this power to create change in your own life or in society?
5. Structural Inequality: Identify one law that changed access to power and privilege in the United States. Which law did you choose? Why? What condition in society did it try to change? Do you think that the change in the law has fully transformed our world? Why or why not?