Chapter 1-Social Problems

knowledge and behaviors that involve treatment of the patient's immediate needs and administration of care according to the doctor's orders

patient, in turn, is expected to cooperate in the administration of the treatment

how major social institutions actually operate

societies are always changing; failure to adapt successfully to change leads to social problems.

ocial problems arise out of major contradictions in the way societies are organized; contradictions that lead to struggle over scarce resources.

belief that social problems arise out of major contradictions in the way societies are organized

unequal distribution of resources, which lead to large-scale conflict

marx-class conflict

ocuses on the ways in which people actually take on the values of the group of which they are members, exploring how different groups define situations.

secondary deviance

a person labeled a drug addict may adopt elements of what is popularly viewed as a drug addict's lifestyle: resisting employment or treatment, engaging in crime, and so on.

focuses on the ways in which people actually take on the values of the group in which they are members

Social problems evolve, in part, because influential people may “construct” them and convince others that they exist

ethnographic studies, demographic studies, survey research, field observation, and social experiments

analysis of social problems focuses on public perception of conditions that come to be defined as problems

four stages in the development of a social problem

roblem definition, legitimacy, reemergence of demands, and rejection and institution building.

agree something needs to be done to remedy the problem