SOCIO221 CH 1 Social Problems/Social Policy

• 1. threatens the values of an influencial group
• 2. affects a large number of people
• 3. can be remedied through collective substance

war, peace, poverty, wealth, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, racism, etc.

a group of people that can have a significant impact on public debate and social policy

• When the Black Panther Party went to Sacramento to stage a protest  and show a public display to impact public debate and social policy about guns in 1966.
• This was a time when members would be present during an arrest and read rights to that person while carrying a gun that did not have bullets in them.

laws, administrative procedures, and other formal and informal social practices that are intended to promote social changes focused on alleviating particular social policies

HUD's one strike rule for drug possession connected to housing projects and Section 8 certificates

The intended function was to stop the selling of illegal drugs in housing projects

• There became an epidemic of homeless senior citizens.
• The cause of this came from the grandchildren the seniors were caring for that were caught selling illegal drugs in their housing projects.

• 1. Problem Formulation
• 2. Policy Formulation
• 3. Policy Implementation
• 4. Evaluation
• 5. Closure

Assess extent of problem, who is affected, and costs of doing nothing.

Assess positive or negative impact of various policy alternatives.

Assess whether a program achieves policy goals in an efficient and effective manner.

Assess whether and how a solution has an impact on a problem or on other groups in society; determine whether any new problems are created.

Assess whether any further policy application would be warranted.

• Prevention
• Intervention
• Social reform
• Reconstruction
• Alleviating consequences

The effort to focus on preventing a problem from arising in the first place.

Drug education programs attempt to stop young people from taking drugs before they start.

To focus on intervening after a problem has emerged with an effort to reduce or eliminate it.

Drug treatment programs focus on weaning people off drugs after they have become addicted.

Involves significant change in some social institutions or social practices.

some serious failings in social organization or social institutions. It suggests that society is not healthy, and the persistence of the social problem is a symptom of this.

• 1. prevention
• 2. intervention
• 3. prevention
• 4. intervention

To redefine social problems by redefining their nature and extent to alleviate the problem

Changing the law through legislation to reconstitute that marriage is no longer only accepted legally between a heterosexual couple, but to also include homosexual couples as well

Finding ways to direct attention toward alleviate the negative consequences of the problem

Even though the problem of drug abuse persists, we can still do things such as help the victims of crimes that are committed as a part of the problem of drug abuse.

• 1. Can we accept the costs of a solution?
• 2. Does a solution to one problem create yet other problems?
• 3. Is a particular solution feasible?

a collective, organized effort to promote or resist change institutionalized of noninstitutionalized means or conventional or unconventional means

• 1. movement
• 2. problem

• Black Panther Party and police brutality
• Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) and drunk driving
• Hip Hop Movement and self-expression
• Punk Rock Movement and self-expression

things (such as, social conditions) that affect individuals and those immediately around them

a serious drug problem which affects the values and goals of one family

things (that is, social conditions) that have an impact on large numbers of people and are matters of public debate

• The possible war with Syria
• The use of Crack and Meth
• The new drug Molly (pure form of ecstasy that comes from the root of the plant)

• specific guidelines for behavior
• rules of conduct that guide people's behavior

• socially shared ideas about what is right or wrong
• people's ideas about what is good or bad, right or wrong

• Value: Get as much education as you can.
• Norm: take notes in class, study for tests, read chapters before class discussions, etc.

behaviors or characteristics that violate important group norms and as a consequence are reacted to with social disapproval

• cursing in a church or classroom
• using racial slurs in a church or classroom

relatively stable cluster of social relationships that involve people working together to meet some basic needs of society

family, elementary school, high school, community college, university, church, etc.

The family structure.

a group within a culture that shares some of the beliefs, values, and norms of the larger culture but also has some that are distinctly its own

age, sex, social standing, religion, leisure pastimes, etc.

teenagers, Cubans in Miami, gays in large cities, skinheads, the drug set, prison inmates, hip-hop youth of the 1990s, hippies of the 1960s

the tendency to view one's own culture as the best and to judge other cultures or subcultures in comparison to it

when one is a proponent of being culturally bound and not a proponent of cultural relativity

legitimate power that is obeyed because people believe it is right and proper that they obey

the congress of the USA has the legitimate authority to declare war on another country

a group whose members share distinct and common concerns and who benefit from similar social policies and practices

the top 1% may oppose the Millionaire Tax Initiative in CA as an interest group

a interest group that benefits from existing policies, practices, and social arrangements, and generally resists social changes that might threaten their privileges

the top 1% may oppose the Millionaire Tax Initiative in CA as a vested interest group because it may threaten their privileges of having lower tax rates

people's perceptions and interpretations of what is important in a situation and what actions are appropriate

people's interpretations or definitions of the behavior of other people

perceptions and interpretations of looking at others wearing different colors, sagging, and wearing ear rings