MODULE WEEK NO.
3-4
TAGOLOAN Community College
Baluarte, Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental
Tel.No. (08822)740-835/(088)5671-215
College/Department : Education/social studies
COURSE Code : FSSE 3
Course Name : Trends and Issues of Social Studies
2nd Semester of A.Y. 2022-2023
Introduction
A social problem is an issue within the society that makes it difficult for people to achieve their full
potential. Poverty, unemployment, unequal opportunity, racism, and malnutrition are examples of social
problems. So are substandard housing, employment discrimination, and child abuse and neglect. Crime
and substance abuse are also examples of social problems. Not only do social problems affect many
COURSE MODULE
people directly, but they also affect all of us indirectly. The drug-abusing driver becomes the potential
traffic accident that doesn’t choose its victims by race, color, or creed but does so randomly. The child of
abusive parents all too often becomes the victim or perpetrator of family violence as an adult.
Rationale
social problem from social issue
the different approaches to social problem
Intended Learning Outcomes
A. Distinguish social problem from social issue; and
B. Discuss the different approaches to social problem.
Activity
Lecture/ discussion
Concept Mapping
Venn Diagram of Social Problem from social studies
Discussion
MODULE 2:
Topic: SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND CURRENT ISSUES
What is social problem?
What is Current Issues?
Approaches to Social Problem
1
MODULE WEEK NO.3-4
COURSE MODULE
A social problem is any condition or behaviour that has negative consequences for large
numbers of people and that is generally recognized as a condition or behaviour that needs to
be addressed. This definition has both an objective component and a subjective component.
The objective component is this: For any condition or behaviour to be considered a social
problem, it must have negative consequences for large numbers of people, as each chapter of
this book discusses. How do we know if a social problem has negative consequences?
Reasonable people can and do disagree on whether such consequences exist and, if so, on
their extent and seriousness, but ordinarily a body of data accumulates—from work by
academic researchers, government agencies, and other sources—that strongly points to
extensive and serious consequences. The reasons for these consequences are often hotly
debated, and sometimes, as we shall see in certain chapters in this book, sometimes the very
existence of these consequences is disputed. A current example is climate change: Although
the overwhelming majority of climate scientists say that climate change (changes in the
earth’s climate due to the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere)
This type of dispute points to the subjective component of the definition of social problems:
There must be a perception that a condition or behaviour needs to be addressed for it to be
considered a social problem. This component lies at the heart of the social constructionist
view of social problems (Rubington & Weinberg, 2010). In this view, many types of negative
conditions and behaviours exist. Many of these are considered sufficiently negative to acquire
the status of a social problem; some do not receive this consideration and thus do not become
a social problem; and some become considered a social problem only if citizens,
policymakers, or other parties call attention to the condition or behaviour.
2
MODULE WEEK NO.3-4
Sometimes disputes occur over whether a particular condition or behaviour has negative
consequences and is thus a social problem. A current example is climate change: although
almost all climate scientists think climate change is real and serious, more than one-third of
the American public thinks that climate change is not happening.
COURSE MODULE
The history of attention given to rape and sexual assault in the United States before and after
the 1970s provides an example of this latter situation. These acts of sexual violence against
women have probably occurred from the beginning of humanity and certainly were very
common in the United States before the 1970s. Although men were sometimes arrested and
prosecuted for rape and sexual assault, sexual violence was otherwise ignored by legal
policymakers and received little attention in college textbooks and the news media, and many
people thought that rape and sexual assault were just something that happened (Allison &
Wrightsman, 1993). Thus although sexual violence existed, it was not considered a social
problem. When the contemporary women’s movement began in the late 1970s, it soon
focused on rape and sexual assault as serious crimes and as manifestations of women’s
inequality. Thanks to this focus, rape and sexual assault eventually entered the public
consciousness, views of these crimes began to change, and legal policymakers began to give
them more attention. In short, sexual violence against women became a social problem.
3
MODULE WEEK NO.3-4
COURSE MODULE
Before the 1970s, rape and sexual assault certainly existed and were very common, but they
were generally ignored and not considered a social problem. When the contemporary
women’s movement arose during the 1970s, it focused on sexual violence against women and
turned this behaviour into a social problem.
Women’s e News – Placards at the Rally To Take Rape Seriously – CC BY 2.0.
The social constructionist view raises an interesting question: When is a social problem a
social problem? According to some sociologists who adopt this view, negative conditions and
behaviours are not a social problem unless they are recognized as such by policymakers, large
numbers of lay citizens, or other segments of our society; these sociologists would thus say
that rape and sexual assault before the 1970s were not a social problem because our society as
a whole paid them little attention. Other sociologists say that negative conditions and
behaviours should be considered a social problem even if they receive little or no attention;
these sociologists would thus say that rape and sexual assault before the 1970s were a social
problem.
This type of debate is probably akin to the age-old question: If a tree falls in a forest and no
one is there to hear it, is a sound made? As such, it is not easy to answer, but it does reinforce
one of the key beliefs of the social constructionist view: Perception matters at least as much
as reality, and sometimes more so. In line with this belief, social constructionism emphasizes
that citizens, interest groups, policymakers, and other parties often compete to influence
popular perceptions of many types of conditions and behaviours. They try to influence news
media coverage and popular views of the nature and extent of any negative consequences that
may be occurring, the reasons underlying the condition or behaviour in question, and possible
solutions to the problem.
Social constructionism’s emphasis on perception has a provocative implication: Just as a
condition or behaviour may not be considered a social problem even if there is strong basis
for this perception, so may a condition or behaviour be considered a social problem even if
4
MODULE WEEK NO.3-4
there is little or no basis for this perception. The “issue” of women in college provides a
historical example of this latter possibility. In the late 1800s, leading physicians and medical
researchers in the United States wrote journal articles, textbooks, and newspaper columns in
which they warned women not to go to college. The reason? They feared that the stress of
college would disrupt women’s menstrual cycles, and they also feared that women would not
do well in exams during “that time of the month” (Ehrenreich & English, 2005)! We now
know better, of course, but the sexist beliefs of these writers turned the idea of women going
to college into a social problem and helped to reinforce restrictions by colleges and
universities on the admission of women.
In a related dynamic, various parties can distort certain aspects of a social problem that does
exist: politicians can give speeches, the news media can use scary headlines and heavy
coverage to capture readers’ or viewers’ interest, businesses can use advertising and influence
news coverage. News media coverage of violent crime provides many examples of this
dynamic (Robinson, 2011; Surette, 2011). The news media overdramatize violent crime,
which is far less common than property crime like burglary and larceny, by featuring so many
stories about it, and this coverage contributes to public fear of crime. Media stories about
violent crime also tend to be more common when the accused offender is black and the
COURSE MODULE
victim is white and when the offender is a juvenile. This type of coverage is thought to
heighten the public’s prejudice toward African Americans and to contribute to negative views
about teenagers.
The Natural History of a Social Problem
We have just discussed some of the difficulties in defining a social problem and the fact that
various parties often try to influence public perceptions of social problems. These issues
aside, most social problems go through a natural history consisting of several stages of their
development (Spector & Kitsuse, 2001).
Stage 1: Emergence and Claims Making
A social problem emerges when a social entity (such as a social change group, the news
media, or influential politicians) begins to call attention to a condition or behaviour that it
perceives to be undesirable and in need of remedy. As part of this process, it tries to influence
public perceptions of the problem, the reasons for it, and possible solutions to it. Because the
social entity is making claims about all these matters, this aspect of Stage 1 is termed
the claims-making process. Not all efforts to turn a condition or behaviour into a social
problem succeed, and if they do not succeed, a social problem does not emerge. Because of
the resources they have or do not have, some social entities are more likely than others to
succeed at this stage. A few ordinary individuals have little influence in the public sphere, but
masses of individuals who engage in protest or other political activity have greater ability to
help a social problem emerge. Because politicians have the ear of the news media and other
types of influence, their views about social problems are often very influential. Most studies
of this stage of a social problem focus on the efforts of social change groups and the larger
social movement to which they may belong, as most social problems begin with bottom-up
efforts from such groups.
5
MODULE WEEK NO.3-4
A social problem emerges when a social change group successfully calls attention to a condition or behavior that it considers serious. Protests like the one
depicted here have raised the environmental consciousness of Americans and helped put pressure on businesses to be environmentally responsible.
ItzaFineDay – Financing Climate Change – CC BY 2.0.
COURSE MODULE
Stage 2: Legitimacy
Once a social group succeeds in turning a condition or behavior into a social problem, it
usually tries to persuade the government (local, state, and/or federal) to take some action—
spending and policymaking—to address the problem. As part of this effort, it tries to
convince the government that its claims about the problem are legitimate—that they make
sense and are supported by empirical (research-based) evidence. To the extent that the group
succeeds in convincing the government of the legitimacy of its claims, government action is
that much more likely to occur.
Stage 3: Renewed Claims Making
Even if government action does occur, social change groups often conclude that the action is
too limited in goals or scope to be able to successfully address the social problem. If they
reach this conclusion, they often decide to press their demands anew. They do so by
reasserting their claims and by criticizing the official response they have received from the
government or other established interests, such as big businesses. This stage may involve a
fair amount of tension between the social change groups and these targets of their claims.
Stage 4: Development of Alternative Strategies
Despite the renewed claims making, social change groups often conclude that the government
and established interests are not responding adequately to their claims. Although the groups
may continue to press their claims, they nonetheless realize that these claims may fail to win
an adequate response from established interests. This realization leads them to develop their
own strategies for addressing the social problem.
Key Takeaways
6
MODULE WEEK NO.3-4
The definition of a social problem has both an objective component and a subjective component. The
objective component involves empirical evidence of the negative consequences of a social condition or
behaviour, while the subjective component involves the perception that the condition or behaviour is indeed
a problem that needs to be addressed.
The social constructionist view emphasizes that a condition or behaviour does not become a social problem
unless there is a perception that it should be considered a social problem.
The natural history of a social problem consists of four stages: emergence and claims making, legitimacy,
renewed claims making, and alternative strategies.
Exercise
( Please use another short size bond paper font size 11 single space )
1. What do you think is the most important social problem facing our nation right now?
COURSE MODULE
Explain your
answer:___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________.
2. Do you agree with the social constructionist view that a negative social condition or behaviour is not a
social problem unless there is a perception that it should be considered a social problem? Why or why
not?
Explain your
answer:___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
_____________.
Assessment
Trending Issues /current issues about social problems (2022-2023)
Please follow the instructions:
1. Local Summary your latest conclusion
Issues :
7
MODULE WEEK NO.3-4
1. Date
2. Place
3. Author
4. Content
5. Sources: primary or
secondary source
2. National Summary your latest Issues : conclusion
3. Date
4. Place
5. Author
6. Content
Sources: primary or
secondary source
7. International Summary your latest Issues : conclusion
8. Date
9. Place
10. Author
COURSE MODULE
11. Content
Sources: primary or
secondary source
( Please use another short size bond paper font size 11 single space )
Reflection
9781315763354_previewpdf.pdf (Please read)
Make your own Venn Diagram of Social problem from social issues.
Resources and Additional Resources
9781315763354_previewpdf.pdf
Bakoc-Miricm N. (2015). Current trends and issues in higher education: An
International dialogue. Cambridge Scholar University.
Ransaw, T. and Majors, R. (2017). Emerging issues and trends in education. Michigan
State University Press
8
MODULE WEEK NO.3-4
Additional Resources:
www.google scholoar.com
www.slideshare.com
www.academia.com
COURSE MODULE
