SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND

PHENOMENON
DISS
MODULE 15
 SOCIAL PROBLEMS

• A SOCIAL PROBLEM IS AN ISSUE WITHIN THE SOCIETY THAT MAKES IT DIFFICULT FOR
PEOPLE TO ACHIEVE THEIR FULL POTENTIAL. SOCIAL PROBLEMS TEND TO DEVELOP
WHEN WE BECOME NEGLECTFUL AND FAIL TO SEE THAT SERIOUS PROBLEMS ARE
DEVELOPING. COULD THESE PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN PREVENTED IF OUR SOCIAL
INSTITUTIONS HAD BEEN WORKING WELL? I THINK SO, BUT THIS IS WHERE POLITICAL
PHILOSOPHIES ARE IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND. SOME PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT THE
GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE VERY INVOLVED IN PROVIDING SERVICES TO PEOPLE MOST
AT RISK.
 SOCIAL PROBLEMS

• A PROBLEM IS A CONDITION OF DISCONTENTMENT RESENTED BY SOMEONE. BUT

WHEN IT IS RESENTED BY MANY PEOPLE, IT BECOMES A SOCIAL PROBLEM. FOR A
PROBLEM TO BE SOCIAL, IT MUST INVOLVE A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE, SOMETIMES
GROUPS AND INSTITUTIONS, WHO CONSIDER A PARTICULAR CONDITION AS
UNDESIRABLE AND INTOLERABLE AND WANT TO CORRECT THROUGH A COLLECTIVE
ACTION.
 SOCIAL PROBLEMS

• THUS, NOT ALL PROBLEMS ARE SOCIAL, UNLESS THE DISCONTENTED PERSONS COME IN
CONTACT, VOCALIZE THEIR DISCONTENTMENT AND ASSOCIATE TO DO SOMETHING FOR
ITS SOLUTION. A PROBLEM BECOMES SOCIAL WHEN IT IS COMMUNICATED TO OTHERS
AND THE ACTIVITY OF ONE PERSON LEADS TO A SIMILAR ACTIVITY FOR OTHER PERSONS.
THUS, A SOCIAL PROBLEM IS DIFFERENT FROM AN INDIVIDUAL PROBLEM. INDIVIDUAL
PROBLEM IS ONE WHICH IS FELT BY ONLY ONE PERSON OR A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE.
• IT DOES NOT AFFECT THE PUBLIC AT LARGE. ITS RESOLUTIONS LIE WITHIN THE POWER
AND IMMEDIATE MILIEU OF THE INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP. A PUBLIC ISSUE HOWEVER
REQUIRES A COLLECTIVE APPROACH FOR ITS SOLUTIONS.
 SOCIAL PROBLEMS

• NO ONE INDIVIDUAL OR FEW INDIVIDUALS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE APPEARANCE

OF A SOCIALLY PROBLEMATIC SITUATION AND THE CONTROL OF THIS SITUATION IS
ALSO BEYOND THE ABILITY OF ONE PERSON OR A FEW PERSONS.
• SOCIAL PROBLEM IS A GENERIC TERM APPLIED TO A RANGE OF CONDITIONS AND
ABERRANT BEHAVIORS WHICH ARE MANIFESTATIONS OF SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION. IT
IS A CONDITION WHICH MOST PEOPLE IN A SOCIETY CONSIDER UNDESIRABLE AND
WANT TO CORRECT BY CHANGING THROUGH SOME MEANS OF SOCIAL ENGINEERING
OR SOCIAL PLANNING‖ (OXFORD DICTIONARY OF SOCIOLOGY, 1994
 COMPONENTS OF SOCIAL PROBLEM

• AN OBJECTIVE CONDITION, LIKE CRIME, POVERTY, COMMUNAL TENSIONS AND SO

FORTH, THE PRESENCE AND MAGNITUDE OF WHICH CAN BE OBSERVED, VERIFIED AND
MEASURED BY IMPARTIAL SOCIAL OBSERVERS; AND
• A SUBJECTIVE DEFINITION BY SOME MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY THAT THE OBJECTIVE
CONDITION IS A ‗PROBLEM‘ AND MUST BE ACTED UPON. HERE IS WHERE VALUES COME
INTO PLAY. PEOPLE START PERCEIVING THAT SOME VALUES ARE BEING THREATENED.
 COMPONENTS OF SOCIAL PROBLEM

• AN OBJECTIVE CONDITION, LIKE CRIME, POVERTY, COMMUNAL TENSIONS AND SO

FORTH, THE PRESENCE AND MAGNITUDE OF WHICH CAN BE OBSERVED, VERIFIED AND
MEASURED BY IMPARTIAL SOCIAL OBSERVERS; AND
• A SUBJECTIVE DEFINITION BY SOME MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY THAT THE OBJECTIVE
CONDITION IS A ‗PROBLEM‘ AND MUST BE ACTED UPON. HERE IS WHERE VALUES COME
INTO PLAY. PEOPLE START PERCEIVING THAT SOME VALUES ARE BEING THREATENED.
 ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS:

• A CONDITION OR SITUATION RESENTED AS OBJECTIONABLE BY A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF PEOPLE.

• IT IS CONSIDERED AS UNDESIRABLE BECAUSE OF ITS INJURIOUS CONSEQUENCES.
• ALL SOCIAL PROBLEMS WANT CORRECTION THROUGH COLLECTIVE ACTION. THEY WARRANT
CHANGE IN CONDITIONS VIA SOME MEANS OF SOCIAL ENGINEERING.
• ALL ABERRANT BEHAVIORS OR DEVIATIONS FROM ACCEPTED NORMS ARE TERMED AS SOCIAL
PROBLEMS SUCH AS CRIME, JUVENILE DELINQUENCY, PROSTITUTION, RAPE, DRUG ADDICTION, AND
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, ETHNIC OR COMMUNAL TENSION.
• SOCIAL PROBLEMS ARE NOT STATIC BUT CHANGE WITH THE CHANGE IN TIME AND SPACE.
CHANGES IN LAW ALSO AFFECTS THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL PROBLEM.
 TYPES OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS:

• SOCIOLOGISTS DISTINGUISH BETWEEN TWO TYPES OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS. FIRST, PROBLEMS

OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION WHICH ARE CREATED BY THE WAY THE COMMUNITY OR THE SOCIETY
IS ORGANIZED. COMMUNITY OR SOCIETY PRODUCES SITUATIONS THAT SOME MEMBERS OF THE
SOCIETY REFUSE TO ACCEPT AS RIGHT OR NECESSARY OR EVEN INEVITABLE. THESE ARE, FOR
INSTANCE, COMMUNALISM, CASTEISM, REGIONALISM, POVERTY, GENDER DISCRIMINATION,
POPULATION, ENVIRONMENTAL IMBALANCE (DIFFERENT KINDS OF POLLUTION, HEALTH
HAZARDS, ETC.). SECOND, PROBLEMS OF DEVIANCE HAVING TO DO WITH THE ADJUSTMENT OF
PEOPLE TO CONVENTIONAL WAYS OF LIVING. THESE INCLUDE, FOR EXAMPLE, DELINQUENCY,
DRUG ADDICTION, ALCOHOLISM, MENTAL ILLNESS, VARIOUS FORMS OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR
(RAPE, INCEST, SODOMY), BIGAMY, PROSTITUTION, VANDALISM AND HOST OF OTHER
BEHAVIORS, MOST OF WHICH ARE FORBIDDEN BY LAW.
 TYPES OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS:

• SOCIOLOGISTS DISTINGUISH BETWEEN TWO TYPES OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS. FIRST, PROBLEMS

OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION WHICH ARE CREATED BY THE WAY THE COMMUNITY OR THE SOCIETY
IS ORGANIZED. COMMUNITY OR SOCIETY PRODUCES SITUATIONS THAT SOME MEMBERS OF THE
SOCIETY REFUSE TO ACCEPT AS RIGHT OR NECESSARY OR EVEN INEVITABLE. THESE ARE, FOR
INSTANCE, COMMUNALISM, CASTEISM, REGIONALISM, POVERTY, GENDER DISCRIMINATION,
POPULATION, ENVIRONMENTAL IMBALANCE (DIFFERENT KINDS OF POLLUTION, HEALTH
HAZARDS, ETC.). SECOND, PROBLEMS OF DEVIANCE HAVING TO DO WITH THE ADJUSTMENT OF
PEOPLE TO CONVENTIONAL WAYS OF LIVING. THESE INCLUDE, FOR EXAMPLE, DELINQUENCY,
DRUG ADDICTION, ALCOHOLISM, MENTAL ILLNESS, VARIOUS FORMS OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR
(RAPE, INCEST, SODOMY), BIGAMY, PROSTITUTION, VANDALISM AND HOST OF OTHER
BEHAVIORS, MOST OF WHICH ARE FORBIDDEN BY LAW.