Norton Media Library: Claims

Norton Media Library
Chapter 2
Claims
Joel Best
Rhetoric of Claims
Claimsmakers attempt to persuade others
that something is a social problem.
What are some examples of this?
Social Problems, Third Edition

Copyright © 2016 W.W. Norton & Company
Rhetoric of Claims
Rhetoric is the study of persuasion.
Constructing social problems is
rhetorical.
Three fundamental components of
persuasive arguments:
◦ Grounds
◦ Warrants
◦ Conclusions

Rhetoric of Claims
Grounds: identifying the troubling
condition
◦ Grounds often follow a rhetorical recipe with
three ingredients.

Rhetoric of Claims
1. Grounds often start with a typifying
example of the problem.
 These stories do not always reflect
“typical” cases.
2. The problem is named and given an
orientation.
 Type of medical condition, abuse, etc.
3. Statistics imply how bad the condition
is.

Rhetoric of Claims
More rhetorical devices used to establish
grounds:
◦ Claiming that the problem is getting
progressively worse
◦ Categorizing the problem as a recognizable
type, such as crime or disease

Rhetoric of Claims
More rhetorical devices used to establish
grounds:
◦ Painting the groups involved as either victims
or villains
◦ Claiming that many different kinds of people
are hurt by the troubling condition
◦ Challenging preexisting ways of constructing
the social problem

Rhetoric of Claims
Warrants: explaining why people should
care
◦ A claim’s warrants justify doing something.
◦ Claims utilize values.
◦ Since different people have different values,
claimsmakers use multiple warrants to cover
the reasons why people might care.

Rhetoric of Claims
Conclusions: what should be done
◦ The proposed solutions must be in line with
the grounds and warrants.
◦ Conclusions can include both short-term and
long-term goals and policy changes.

Claims and Audiences
Valence issues:
◦ Conditions that nearly everyone will agree are
significant social problems
Position issues:
◦ Divisive, controversial topics
 It is more difficult to find agreement, so
claimsmakers target sympathetic audiences.

Audiences for claims can be segmented.
◦ Segmented audiences may have different
interests and ideologies.
◦ Certain demographic groups worry more
about certain social problems than others.

Audiences are not passive.
◦ They may seek out some claims and reject
others, picking and choosing social problems.
◦ Successful claimsmakers pay attention to how
audiences respond to their claims.

Social problems marketplace
◦ Audiences hear claims about many problems.
◦ Claimsmakers struggle to get and keep the
attention of the audience.
◦ Even if an issue is well-established,
claimsmakers need to keep refining claims.
 They risk losing the attention of policymakers, the
media, and the general public.

How do claimsmakers refine claims?
◦ Domain expansion: claimsmakers broaden
the definition of the problem, adding in more
victims to help and villains to confront.
◦ Piggyback: claimsmakers can rely on
established problems and allow newer claims
to build upon older ones.

Most claims inspire counterclaims.
◦ Counterclaims often involve disputes over
grounds or warrants.
 “Stat wars” focus on which statistics are true.
 Debates over ideologies are usually linked to
warrants.
 Both sides modify claims as a response to
counterclaims.

Cultural Resources
Claimsmakers can make any kind of
claim.
◦ However, their claims need to make sense to
the intended audiences.
Claimsmaking requires an understanding
of the cultural context in which claims are
made.

Cultural Resources
Claimsmakers tap into cultural resources,

the well of words, ideas, and images that
most people (of that culture) respond to.

Cultural Resources
Culture is constantly changing.

Claimsmakers are not always consistent in
the cultural resources that they use.
◦ They might frame the same issue in many ways
to appeal to a variety of audiences.

Cultural Resources
Cultural resources both enrich and limit
the claimsmaking process.
◦ They provide a broad range of words, images,
and ideas to use.
◦ They constrain claimsmakers by making them
ground claims.


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What are some examples of this?

Social Problems, Third Edition

Social Problems, Third Edition

Social Problems, Third Edition

Social Problems, Third Edition

Social Problems, Third Edition

Social Problems, Third Edition

Social Problems, Third Edition

Social Problems, Third Edition

Social Problems, Third Edition

Social Problems, Third Edition

Social Problems, Third Edition

Social Problems, Third Edition

Social Problems, Third Edition

Social Problems, Third Edition

Social Problems, Third Edition

Claimsmakers tap into cultural resources,

Social Problems, Third Edition

Culture is constantly changing.

Social Problems, Third Edition

Social Problems, Third Edition

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