Understanding Social Problems
Social problems are conditions that negatively affect individuals and society and require collective action to resolve. According to the course textbook, social problems involve both an objective component and a subjective component . The objective component refers to measurable facts, such as poverty rates or crime statistics, while the subjective component refers to how people perceive those conditions as harmful or needing change. This shows that not all harmful conditions are automatically recognized as social problems unless society defines them as such. This process is known as the social construction of social problems , meaning social problems develop based on public awareness, discussion, and shared meaning. Textbook reference: https://open.lib.umn.edu/socialproblems/ Sociologists use three major theoretical perspectives to explain social problems: functionalism , conflict theory , and symbolic interactionism . Functionalism views society as a system where each part work...