Chapter 18
Can Social Problems be Solved?
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The Problem with Tackling Social
Problems

Ideal vs. Practical Solutions
 Conflict
between ideal solutions and the workable one
 Preventive measures are costly an are often allocated
a small percentage of money and resources

New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina
 We
usually rely on after-the-fact measures to deal
with both natural and social disasters

Defining the Problem vs. Fixing it
 No
agreement about what the problem is and what it
needs to fix it
 Those who identify it usually don’t fix it
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Social Change and Reducing
Social Problems

Obstacles, delays, and frustrations
confront those who attempt social change
 Social
change is the transformation of public
policy, culture or social institutions over time

Solving a social problem can entail shortterm, middle-term or long-term efforts
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Micro-level Solutions and
Limitations
Micro-level solutions

Focus on how individuals operate within small
groups to solve problems
 Primary
groups
Limitation: Fails to consider that secondary groups
and institutions play a major part in creating,
maintaining, and exacerbating many social
problems
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Mid-range Attempts to Deal with
Social Problems
Mid-range attempts

Focus on how secondary groups and formal
organizations deal with problems such as drug
addiction
 Grassroots
groups often work to change a perceived
wrong
Limitation: Local efforts usually lack the capacity to
produce the larger changes needed at the
national or international levels
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Macro-level Attempts to Deal with
Social Problems
Macro-level attempts

Focus on how large-scale institutions (e.g.,
government) may become involved in remedies
Limitations:
 Overemphasizes structural barriers in society,
making them appear insurmountable
 De-emphasizes the importance of individual
responsibility
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Working through Special Interest
Groups for Change
Special Interest Groups
 Political coalitions designed to protect or
advance specific issues
1. Issues
 Single
issue versus multiple demands
2. View of the present system of wealth and power
 Positive
versus negative
3. Beliefs about elites
 Whether
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to influence them or replace them
Working through Social Movements
to Reduce Social Problems
Collective Behavior

Voluntary, often spontaneous activity of a large number
of people and typically violates group norms and values
 Riots and public demonstrations
Civil Disobedience

Collective behavior that is nonviolent and seeks to
change a policy or law by refusing to comply with it
 1960s Civil Rights Movement
 Protest crowds
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Major Categories of Social
Movements

Reform movements
 Seek

Revolutionary movements
 Seek

to renovate people through “inner change”
Alternative movements
 Seek

to bring about a total change in society
Religious movements
 Seek

to change some aspect of the social structure
limited change in some aspects of behavior
Resistance movements
 Seek
to prevent or undo change
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A Human Agenda
Human Agenda

Focuses on the needs of people and offsets the
corporate agenda
Criteria include:
 Improving the lives of the majority of the world’s people
 Corresponding to widely held common interests
 Providing handles for action at a variety of levels
 Including elements that can be implemented
independently but are compatible
 Making it easier to solve non-economic problems, such
as environmental protection
 Growing out of social movements in response to the
needs of diverse peoples
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Functionalist Approach

Social problems arise when social institutions do
not fulfill their functions or when dysfunctions
occur
Solution:
 Social institutions need to be more effective
 Social change needs to be carefully managed
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Critical Conflict and the Symbolic
Interactionist Approach
Conflict Approach
Social problems arise out of
the major contradictions
inherent in a social
organization
Solution:
 Major changes are
needed in the political
economy
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Symbolic Interactionism
Examines how a certain
behavior becomes a
social problem, and why
people engage in that
behavior
Solution:
 More adequate
socialization of people
 Understand how labeling
affects behavior