Questions and Answers
What defines experts in the context of social problems?
What is medicalization?
The process of defining troubles as medical problems.
Scientific expertise is defined as the analysis of evidence through generating hypotheses and testing them.
True
What are some issues with expert knowledge?
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Why do officials seek ownership of social problems?
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The process of defining troubles as _____ problems is known as medicalization.
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Experts can fully control how mass media portray their claims.
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Study Notes
Experts
- Individuals with specialized knowledge on a subject, influencing social problem discourse.
- Perceived as credible claimsmakers; often utilized by non-experts to enhance credibility through terminology.
Medicalization
- Defined as classifying social issues as medical problems, shift responsibility from individuals to medical entities.
- Problems labeled as personal ailments (e.g., cancer, diabetes) risk overlooking broader societal factors.
- Growth industry: increasing oversight of behaviors by medical professionals; links with "Pharmaceuticalization."
- "Biomedicalization": newest phase emphasizing genetic causes of conditions, framing them within biological solutions.
Scientific Expertise
- Science progresses through evidence analysis, hypothesis generation, and testing, reinforcing accepted findings over time.
- Media often prioritizes sensationalized, rapid results, sometimes isolating singular studies and neglecting comprehensive perspectives.
Expert Knowledge
- Assumed to be objective but is often imperfect, influenced by the expert's context and biases.
- Ideological beliefs or disciplinary affiliations can shape interpretation of data.
- Experts may tailor findings to please funding agencies, affecting objectivity.
Officials as Expert Claimsmakers
- Officials possess significant resources for data gathering and claim-making regarding social issues.
- Aim to establish ownership of social problems to enhance governmental power and secure budgetary increases.
- Often classified as Insider Claimsmakers, playing a crucial role in policymaking processes.
Experts and Feedback
- Technical language can alienate broader audiences; general feedback can lead to more accessible communication.
- High expectations of experts may shift focus towards understanding limitations of technical knowledge in social problems.
- Mass media play a critical role in distributing expert claims and clarifying the constraints of expert knowledge; control over media narratives is limited for experts.
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Description
Dive into Chapter 4 of Joel Best's work on social problems, exploring the concept of experts and their influence in the claimsmaking process. This quiz tests your understanding of how experts are perceived and how their specialized knowledge shapes discussions on social issues.
