Understanding Social Problems Third Edition

1
Understanding Social ProblemsThird Edition

• Mooney
• Knox
• Schact

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Chapter 1Thinking about Social Problems

• What Is a Social Problem?
• Elements of Social Structure and Culture
• Sociological Imagination
• Theoretical Perspectives
• Social Problems Research
• Goals of the Text

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Elements of Social Structure

1. Institutions
2. Social groups
3. Statuses
4. Roles

4
Elements of Culture

• Beliefs definitions and explanations about what
  is assumed to be true.
• Values social agreements about what is good and
  bad, right and wrong.

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Elements of Culture

• Norms socially defined rules of behavior.
• Sanctions consequences for conforming to or
  violating norms.
• Symbols language, gestures, and objects whose
  meaning is commonly understood by the members of
  a society.

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Three Types of Norms

1. Folkways - customs and manners of society.
2. Laws - formal norms backed by authority.
3. Mores - norms with a moral basis.

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Structural-Functionalist Perspective

• Society is composed of parts that work together
  to maintain a state of balance.
• Social pathology - problems result from sickness
  in society.
• Social disorganization - rapid social change
  leads to anomie.

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Conflict Perspective

• Society is composed of groups and interests
  competing for power and resources.
• Marxist theories social problems result from
  class inequality in a capitalistic system.
• Non-Marxist theories conflicts arise when groups
  have opposing values.

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Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

• Human behavior is influenced by meanings that are
  created and maintained through interaction with
  others.
• Labeling theory a social condition or group is
  viewed as problematic if it is labeled as such.

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Stages in Development of a Social Problem

1. Societal recognition
2. Social legitimation
3. Mobilization for action

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Stages of Conducting a Research Study

1. Formulating a research question.
2. Reviewing the literature.
3. Defining variables.
4. Formulating a hypothesis. 

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Methods of Data Collection

• Experiments
• Surveys
• Field research
• Secondary data research