Norton Media Library
Chapter 2
Claims
Joel Best
Rhetoric of claims
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Many claims tend to use a standard format
with three components
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Grounds
Warrants
Conclusions
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company
Rhetoric of claims
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Grounds: Descriptions of the troubling condition
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Basic rhetorical recipe
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Typifying examples/atrocity stories which shapes public’s
perception of what the condition is like; notice however that
these stories do not reflect “typical” cases
The problem is named and given an orientation (e.g., medical
condition, scientific trouble, etc.)
Statistic(s) offered that implies how severe the troubling
condition actually is
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Big numbers preferred because they suggest that condition is
widespread and thus serious enough for others to pay attention
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company
Rhetoric of claims
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Other types of grounds
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Claims that problem is getting progressively worse
Construct profiles of both victims and villains
Range claim: many different kinds of people are hurt by
the troubling condition
Challenges to other ways of constructing the social
problem
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company
Rhetoric of claims

Warrants: why we should be concerned
about the troubling condition; focuses on why
“ought to care”
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Utilize values (standards of good and bad, right
and wrong that a majority of people share)
Since different people hold to different values,
best to use multiple warrants in order to cover as
many possible reasons why people should care
as possible
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company
Rhetoric of claims
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Conclusions: what should be done about the
social problem; the solution
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Proposed solution must be in line with the
grounds and warrants put forth by the
claimsmaker
Might offer both short-term and long-term goals
(policy changes)
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company
Claims and Audiences

Claimsmakers must try to create claims that
others will find persuasive
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Valence issues:
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topics that nearly everyone will agree are significant
social problems; easier for claimsmakers to make
certain kinds of claims about these social problems
Position issues:
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topics over which it is unlikely that most people will ever
come to consensus; more difficult for claimsmakers to
persuade most individuals, so often target those who
think like themselves
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company
Claims and Audiences
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Audiences are differentiated or segmented
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Different social demographics often creates smaller
audiences which worry about only certain kinds of social
problems the most
These segmented audiences may have different interests
and ideologies
Tactics for claimsmaking to various kinds of segmented
audiences
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“Preach to the choir: make claims only to those who think as
your group does
Seek out the widest possible audience, for claim, often using
multiple grounds and warrants to accomplish this
claimsmaking goal
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company
Claims and Audiences
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Audiences are not passive but active; they
might seek out some claims; reject others;
and pick and choose what makes most sense
to them. Successful claimsmakers are aware
of this and pay attention to how the audience
is responding to their claims
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company
Claims and Audiences
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Social problems marketplace
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At any given time, there are numerous claims about a
variety of social problems being made and which are
bombarding the audience
Claimsmakers struggle to get the audience’s attention and
keep refining their claimsmaking in an effort to be more
successful
Even if their issue has been come well-established as a
social problem, claimsmakers need to keep refining their
claims so that the problem does not become stale and
cause it to lose attention by policymakers and the general
public
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company
Claims and Audiences
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How do claimsmakers refine claims to keep
audience attention?
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Domain expansion: redefine/broaden the definition of
the problem, thereby adding in more possible victims to
help and villains to control
Piggyback: when a newer claim builds upon an older,
more established social problem’s claimsmaking, saying
that “it is just like X” where “X” is the more established
problem
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company
Claims and Audiences
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Most claimsmaking campaigns that are not about
valence issues will inspire counterclaims
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Often involve disputes over grounds or warrants
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“Stat wars” over which statistics are more reflective of the
“true” situation
Debates over ideologies (usually linked to warrants)
Usually both sides nuance and modify claims as a
response to counterclaims by the other side(s)
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company
Cultural resources
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While it is possible to create claims however
claimsmakers want to, in practical reality,
claims need to make sense to the intended
audiences and to the claimsmakers
themselves
Thus claimsmaking requires that
claimsmakers be attuned to the cultural
context where the claims are being made
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company
Cultural resources
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So claimsmakers must tap into cultural resources –
the well of words, ideas, and images that most
people (of that culture) see as reasonable
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Any one culture contains a large number of words, ideas,
and images to choose from
It is also not necessarily internally consistent and cohesive,
which allows claimsmakers about the same social
problems to construct it in a variety of ways
Culture is constantly changing, so claimsmakers need to be
aware of any shifts in meaning, etc.
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company
Cultural resources
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Cultural resources both limit and enrich
claimsmaking process
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Constrains claimsmakers by making them ground
their claims in what others are likely to see as
practical and reasonable
But within the realm of the reasonable,
claimsmakers will have a broad range of words,
images, and ideas from which to select
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company
Case study: Claims about gay
marriage
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company
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This concludes the Norton Media Library
Slide Set for Chapter 2
Social Problems
By
Joel Best