Understanding Social Problems
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Questions and Answers

What is the goal of your text?

A better way of thinking about social problems that interest them

What does the natural history model of social problems outline?

Most social problems go through a process.

When applied to the study of social problems, what does the term natural history refer to?

The sequence of stages that a condition often moves through as it comes to be defined as a problem.

Why might a subjectivist suggest that heightism is not a social problem in the United States?

<p>Americans do not think of discrimination based on height as a problem.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the social problems process refer to?

<p>How a problem is identified, discussed, and acted upon.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the discussion of reclassifying Pluto illustrate?

<p>The way we use and change language reflects our efforts to better describe and understand the world around us.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Objectivists focus on __________ when it comes to defining social problems.

<p>Objectively measurable characteristics of conditions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does it mean to say that something is socially constructed?

<p>It is shaped by people's definitions and understandings of it.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What most accurately describes the role of resources in the social problems process?

<p>Access to resources like money and powerful people is critical and can determine whether claims get heard.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What can claimsmaking be described as?

<p>A process in which people bring to the attention of others a situation that they find troubling.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why is it important to carefully evaluate claims and evidence?

<p>Because we know that knowledge is socially constructed.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How can the objectivist definition of harm be criticized?

<p>It is so broad that it is vague to the point of losing its meaning.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does feedback refer to in the social problem process?

<p>The fact that each stage in the social problem process influences the stages both before and after it.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What do Best's arguments suggest about resources and rhetoric?

<p>They affect every stage in the social problems process.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who typically performs policymaking intended to reduce social problems?

<p>School officials, legislative bodies, and government agencies.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does Best's discussion of claimsmaking about obesity demonstrate?

<p>Even people who agree that a condition is a social problem might disagree about its problem.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does Yoda's quote illustrate?

<p>Anastrophe.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How do subjectivists tend to think of social problems?

<p>As the process of responding to social conditions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is rhetoric?

<p>The study of persuasion.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the term 'troubling conditions' refer to?

<p>Situations people make claims about to draw attention to the fact that claimsmaking is about people pointing out things that trouble them rather than objectively assessing problematic conditions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How is the impact of claimsmaking on public perception typically measured?

<p>Using public opinion polls.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How is social construction best defined?

<p>The way people assign meanings to the world around them.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are social problems workers responsible for?

<p>Carrying out the necessary practical actions to manage a problem.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why are policy outcomes important in the natural history model?

<p>This is when different constituents react to the social problems process.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What must claimsmakers who are activists typically do?

<p>Draw attention to their cause, recruit allies, and manage operations for their movement.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the necessity of operating within existing cultural resources imply?

<p>It limits potential claims somewhat but still leaves many possibilities open.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the well-established rhetorical formula for claims about victimization?

<p>Claiming that it is widespread, serious, and extraordinary measures are needed to identify it.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why are early statistics associated with problems often rough estimates?

<p>Due to a lack of research.</p> Signup and view all the answers

___________ claims tend to work best.

<p>Simple and strong.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How do audiences typically change over time?

<p>They tend to become bored with older claims and more interested in new claims.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are valence issues?

<p>Problems that tend to inspire widespread acceptance of the claims.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a statistic?

<p>A number used to measure or characterize a situation.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the main claim in the 'Oh, My Darling Clementine' commercial?

<p>Use a nicotine patch.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are typifying examples usually?

<p>Extreme examples that try to catch the audience's attention.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does it mean when a troubling condition piggybacks on a well-established problem?

<p>Claimsmakers argue that the new condition is similar enough to the existing problem that if one deserves attention, so does the other.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What do ideologies typically emphasize?

<p>Particular warrants.</p> Signup and view all the answers

In the Toulmin Model, what is the claim?

<p>The assertion that you hope to prove.</p> Signup and view all the answers

By arguing that a new troubling condition is like an established type of problem, what do claimsmakers do?

<p>Draw on existing resources already devoted to solving the established type of problem.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is a position issue?

<p>Abortion.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was the target audience in the 'Oh, My Darling Clementine' commercial?

<p>Smokers.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Regarding claims, how are most audiences characterized?

<p>They are made up of segments with differing perspectives that can be persuaded by different types of rhetoric.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a counterclaim to the assertion that child abuse has been increasing over the last fifty years?

<p>True child abuse is now so uncommon that activists have started labeling some non-abusive behaviors as abuse.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of a warrant related to motorcycle riders who do not wear helmets?

<p>The argument that something should be done about it to keep health care costs lower.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the motivational frame also known as?

<p>Warrants.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the primary components of the Toulmin Model?

<p>The claim, the evidence, and the warrant.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is rhetoric often associated with?

<p>The study of persuasion.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are cultural resources?

<p>Our shared ideas about how the world should and does work.</p> Signup and view all the answers

When analyzing claims as arguments, what is the most important factor?

<p>Determining whether the audience finds the claim convincing.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does naming the problem signify?

<p>The moment when a catchy term like identity theft is created for the problem.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of domain expansion?

<p>Moving from defining poverty as a situation where people cannot meet their basic survival needs to a situation that includes people who have to work very long hours to meet their needs.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the term social problems marketplace refer to?

<p>The fact that claimsmakers must compete with other claimsmakers for the public's attention.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What do grounds often include?

<p>Assertions regarding the type of problem being addressed and offer supporting evidence.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does directing claims toward a sympathetic audience do?

<p>It can energize existing supporters to take wider action.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does ethos refer to in claimsmaking?

<p>Establishing one's authority and credibility.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does it mean that claims tend to take standard forms?

<p>Within a given culture, most claims will tend to have similar elements.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is frame alignment?

<p>The way claimsmakers must get others to adopt their frame to recruit members.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What do most social movements have?

<p>Both moderate and radical wings that appeal to different groups.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does maintaining ownership involve for a claimsmaker?

<p>Being willing to shift their focus to respond to political and cultural change.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is frame bridging?

<p>When a new frame gains acceptance by drawing supporters whose values already support that frame.</p> Signup and view all the answers

In the video 'Why Activists are Targeting Famous Art to Protect Climate Change,' the activists destroyed the artwork.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does someone claiming ownership of an issue tend to do?

<p>Help the issue gain and maintain public attention.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What do activists who have established ownership of a problem typically have?

<p>A frame that is generally acknowledged as the best way to look at the issue.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Many modern social movements have shifted their goals from ____________ to ____________.

<p>Mobilizing people to action; raising money.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What do social movement scholars discuss when they talk about motivational frames?

<p>What constructionists call warrants.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does frame amplification rely on?

<p>The power of widely held values or beliefs.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are conscience constituents?

<p>People who support a movement from which they do not expect to benefit personally.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Social movements can cause panic and anxiety.

<p>True</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the polity consist of?

<p>Groups whose interests policymakers typically take into account.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of frame extension?

<p>Vegetarian activists emphasizing both the immorality of eating animals and the environmental and health implications of eating meat.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does resource mobilization refer to?

<p>A way of looking at a social movement that focuses on the importance of resources, such as members, money, and organizational skills.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the term cultural opportunities refer to?

<p>A situation where there is something in the larger culture that causes people to become more aware of or sympathetic to a particular type of claim.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the type of frame alignment that poses the most significant challenge for claimsmakers?

<p>Frame transformation.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Only the people who are worse off join social movements.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

In the video 'Why Activists are Targeting Famous Art to Protect Climate Change,' the activists shouted, 'Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our oil and gas emissions?'

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is an example of a counter-movement?

<p>Members of a community lobbying to protect a law that bans lawn ornaments.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a master frame?

<p>An overarching orientation easily adapted to help frame many different issues.</p> Signup and view all the answers

A successful social movement eventually gets absorbed into the existing institution when it has achieved its desired change.

<p>True</p> Signup and view all the answers

What do frames typically reflect?

<p>The claims to which activists predict supporters are most likely to respond.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why does the need to mobilize resources make organizations within the same social movement competitors?

<p>Because the need to mobilize resources tends to make organizations within the same social movement competitors for scarce resources.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What role did the activists take in 'Why Activists are Targeting Famous Art to Protest Climate Change'?

<p>Outsider claimsmaking.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who do moderates typically appeal to?

<p>Older people in the middle class.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which claimsmakers often have the most direct access to policymakers?

<p>Insider claimsmakers.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Even failed social movements leave a mark on society.

<p>True</p> Signup and view all the answers

What do sociologists refer to the pattern in which people resist change due to the effort that change requires?

<p>Inertia.</p> Signup and view all the answers

In the video 'Why Activists are Targeting Famous Art to Protect Climate Change,' who was the intended audience?

<p>The British Government.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why are experts among the most influential claimsmakers?

<p>They are thought to have special knowledge that qualifies them to interpret problems.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is an example of medicalization?

<p>Redefining drug use as a psychological issue rather than as a moral one.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are government agencies typically responsible for?

<p>Compiling and disseminating information.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How do scientific findings become accepted or rejected?

<p>Slowly over time as scientists repeat their studies.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does it mean to say that science is dependent on the generation of falsifiable theories?

<p>The claims being made can be tested and rejected if proven false.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What often influences an audience's willingness to grant authority to scientists?

<p>The relevance of the scientists' expertise.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why is it difficult to design an experiment that assesses risk?

<p>There are many ethical issues.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the term sociological imagination emphasize?

<p>How culture and social structure shape human experience.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What initiated our societal focus on assessing risk?

<p>Claims that smoking was detrimental to one's health.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Where are research questions and answers typically the most clear-cut?

<p>In the physical sciences.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What did pediatric radiologists achieve by taking ownership of battered child syndrome?

<p>Improved the prestige of their profession.</p> Signup and view all the answers

According to Tim Nichols in the video 'The problem with thinking you know more than the experts,' most people today doubt expert advice.

<p>True</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why do experts make good claimsmakers?

<p>Their use of research methods gives their claims credibility.</p> Signup and view all the answers

In colonial times, people often relied on ministers as experts and thus looked at problems in religious or moral terms, whereas in modern society, we often look to __________ as experts and think about problems in __________ terms.

<p>Doctors; medical.</p> Signup and view all the answers

During the claimsmaking process, what do activists and experts typically provide?

<p>Different and complementary skills.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Understanding Social Problems

  • Aim to foster a better understanding of social issues among readers.
  • Natural history model illustrates stages most social problems undergo.
  • Natural history in this context denotes the typical progression of defining a condition as a problem.

Perspectives on Social Problems

  • Subjectivists view heightism as non-problematic since it's not widely recognized as an issue.
  • Objectivists focus on measurable characteristics of social conditions to define problems.
  • Social construction refers to how people's perceptions shape the understanding of issues.

Claimsmaking and Public Perception

  • The social problems process involves identifying and acting on issues.
  • Resources and power significantly impact which claims gain attention.
  • Claimsmaking is about voicing troubling conditions to influence public perception.

Evaluation of Claims and Evidence

  • Knowledge about social problems is socially constructed, necessitating careful evaluation of claims.
  • The objectivist definition of harm can become overly broad, losing specificity.
  • Feedback in social problems indicates that stages of the process influence each other.

Activism and Policy Making

  • Resources and rhetoric play crucial roles at every stage of social problems.
  • Policymaking aimed at addressing social issues is executed by school officials and government entities.
  • Successful claimsmakers must draw attention to their causes and manage operations effectively.

Frame and Rhetoric

  • Rhetoric refers to the persuasive strategies used in claimsmaking.
  • Motivational frames, also known as warrants, help justify claims to potential supporters.
  • Adaptation of claims to resonate with cultural values can increase support for social movements.

Social Movements and Challenges

  • Social movements often consist of moderate and radical factions to appeal to diverse groups.
  • Challenges arise when new social issues connect to established ones in claimsmaking.
  • Cultural opportunities can amplify specific claims by aligning with societal awareness.

Audience and Engagement

  • Successful claims often simplify complex issues and hold appeal through relatable narratives.
  • Counterclaims emerge to challenge dominant narratives surrounding social problems, like child abuse claims.
  • Social and political dynamics influence how movements gather support and resource mobilization, sometimes leading to competition.

Experts and Knowledge in Social Issues

  • Experts are influential claimsmakers due to their perceived specialized knowledge.
  • Public receptivity to expert opinions often hinges on the relevance of the expert's credentials to the issue.
  • Social construction of issues reflects societal focus, shifting from historical to modern expert authority in problem definition.

Risk and Ethical Considerations

  • Assessing risk is complicated by ethical concerns, requiring a careful approach to scientific experimentation.
  • Scientific understanding evolves through replication and validation of findings, implying a slow acceptance of new knowledge.
  • Emphasis in sociology revolves around how culture and social structure mold individual experiences and perceptions of risk.

The Role of Claimsmakers

  • Activists and experts perform complementary roles during the claimsmaking process, enhancing credibility and support.
  • Ownership of social issues by specific groups can elevate their relevance and encourage public engagement.
  • Movements may adapt strategies from mobilizing action to fundraising as societal needs change over time.

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Description

This quiz explores key concepts around social problems, including their natural history and differing perspectives. It delves into how claims are made, perceived, and evaluated in society, highlighting the impact of power and resources on public perception. Engage with the material to test your understanding of these social dynamics.

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