1. Social Problems
Chapter 1
John Bradford, Ph.D.

2. SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND CULTURE

3. What is a ‘social problem?’
• There are two sides to every
social problem:
1. Objective element- the facts
as they ‘really are’
2. Subjective element- how
people perceive things to be.
• A social problem is “a social
condition that a segment of
society views as harmful to
members of society and in
need of remedy” (p. 3)

4. What is a society?
• Your book asks you to
visualize society as
consisting of two parts:
1. SOCIAL STRUCTURE, and
2. CULTURE

5. I. Social Structure
• Social structure refers to the way society is
organized. The structure of a society includes:
institutions, social groups, statuses and roles.
Social Structure
Institutions
Social Groups
Statuses Roles

6. I. Social Structure
• Institutions = An institution is an established and
enduring pattern of social relationships (p. 4)
• Social Group = two or more people having a
common identity.
• Status = is a position in a social structure.
• Role = how we (generally) expect members of a
status to behave.
– Statuses and Roles exist independently of their
‘incumbents’ or ‘occupants’

7. I. Social Structure
• A social status is a ‘position that a person
occupies in a social structure’
– You can think of these are different ways of
categorizing people in different situations.
– Examples: Family statuses, occupational statuses
, social class statuses, demographic statuses, etc.
1. Achieved statuses – positions that are achieved by
the individuals for themselves (but not always on
purpose); these statuses can change.
2. Ascribed statuses – statuses given to individuals
generally at birth, and from which they cannot
escape; these statuses are fixed.

8. I. Social Structure
• A role is the ‘sum total of expectations about
behavior attached to a particular social status’;
how we expect occupants of a social status to
behave.
– ‘Occupants of a social status are expected to perform
certain roles’
– Role = the common denominator among all occupants
of a status; (i.e. removing all idiosyncracies, what they
all have in common)
– Example: I have the status of ‘teacher’; My role is to
teach.

9. II. Culture
• Culture = the meanings and ways of life
characteristic of that society (p. 5)
• Elements of culture include: beliefs, values,
norms, and symbols.

10. Norms and Sanctions
Norms- rules about behavior.
Types of Norms:
i. Folkways: Casual norms; violations are not taken
very seriously. (e.g. eating pizza for breakfast)
ii. Mores: important rules (e.g. norms against
unjustified assaults)
iii. Taboos: norms that are so deeply held that even the
thought of violating upsets people. (e.g. eating
human flesh; incest)
• (Note: the textbook lists ‘law’ and not ‘taboo’; according this
schema, laws are one type of more.)

11. Norms and Sanctions
• Norms are enforced by sanctions.
– Positive sanctions = rewards.
– Negative sanctions = punishments
– Formal sanctions = official responses from specific
organizations within society
– Informal sanctions = unofficial responses from
individuals within the group
Types of sanctions:
Positive Negative
Formal 1 2
Informal 3 4

12. Values and Beliefs
Values – general or abstract ideas about what is
good and desirable, as opposed to what is bad
and undesirable, in a society.
– Sometimes values can come into conflict
– Examples of values: work ethic;
equality, freedom, democracy, etc.
Ideas/Beliefs – a belief refers to a person’s ideas
about what is real and what is not real.

13. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

14. I. Functionalist Theory
1. Consensus about values and norms
makes society possible
2. Society is a whole made of
integrated parts that work (i.e.
function) together.
– A change to one part of society will
affect all others.
– All parts are interdependent.
– Society is ‘more than the sum of its
parts.’
3. Society seeks stability and tends to
avoid conflict

15. Functions and Dysfunctions
• Prefixes: ‘Dys’ vs ‘Dis’
– Dys- Greek prefix meaning ‘defective’, ‘difficult’, or
‘painful.’
– Dis- Latin prefix meaning ‘apart’, ‘asunder’, or
‘deprived of.’
• Functional – positive; something works
• Dysfunctional- negative consequences;
something that doesn’t work.

16. Latent and Manifest Functions
• Manifest function = intended and/or
conscious consequences of actions.
– The reasons people give for why they do things.
• Latent function = unintended and/or
unconscious consequences of actions.
– The ‘real reasons’ or purposes that people’s
actions may have, as seen by outside observers
(sociologists)

17. Latent and Manifest Functions
1. Rain Dance Ceremony
– Manifest function:
• ‘We dance to bring rain’
– Latent function:
• The ceremony is ‘really’ a way of
building social solidarity through Rain Dance
ritual participation

18. Latent and Manifest Functions
2. University Education
– Manifest function:
• Higher Learning, Education
– Latent function:
• Keep young adults out of the job
market University
• Conduct research that supports
the ‘Military-Industrial-Complex’
(Eisenhower)
• …?

19. II. Conflict Theory
1. In every society, there are disagreements and
differences (i.e. lack of consensus) about values and
norms
2. Society is made up of subgroups (aka ‘classes’) that
are in ruthless competition for scarce resources
3. Society is not harmonious: conflict is normal in a
society.
– The conflict can be latent (i.e. conflict of interests) or
manifest (i.e. real conflict such as violence).

20. III. Symbolic Interactionism
• Focuses on how people
interpret and ascribe meaning
to other peoples behavior and
the larger world.
• Emphasizes people’s
perceptions of reality.
• Micro-sociology: Focuses on
small encounters

21. What is Social REALITY?
• Thomas theorem: "If people define
situations as real, they are real in their
consequences“
• To understand human inter-actions and
relations, sociologists have to
understand both reality, and perceived
reality.
W. I. Thomas
1863 - 1947

22. Which theory is correct?
• Society is like this cube: we
can see it from multiple
perspectives!
• The paradigms are just lenses
through which we view society.

23. HOW TO DO SCIENCE

24. Three Simple Steps to Social Science
(easier said than done)
STEP 1: Select some concepts of interest
(variables)
STEP 2: Posit (suggest) some relationship
between these concepts (Hypothesis)
STEP 3: Test these suggestions empirically to
see if they are right.

25. Variables:
Independent (X) vs Dependent (Y)
• Independent variable (X) = the “cause.”
Variable that influences.
• Dependent variable (Y) = the “effect.”
Variable that is influenced by the cause; it is
dependent on the cause.
• INCA: the INdependent variable is the
CAuse.

26. Research Methods
• All research begins with a ‘Literature
Review’!
– A ‘lit review’ is a review of the existing literature
on the topic
Types of Research
1. Experiment
2. Surveys
3. Field Research (aka observation)

27. I. Experiment
• An experiment involves manipulating the
independent variable (X) and observing the
effect on the dependent variable (Y)
• Experiments are the only means by which we
can explore causal relationships; only way we
can know for sure if changes to X cause changes
in Y.
• Experimenter needs two groups of Y:
1. Experimental group- receives ‘treatment’ of
independent variable (X)
2. Control group- does not receive treatment; is left
alone.

28. I. Experiment
• Imagine a scientist testing the
effect that some drug, X, has on
growth of rats, Y.
• To see how the drug effects rat
growth, the experimenter will
compare growth in two groups
of rats: Y₁ , the group of rats
that gets the drug (X) and a
group of rates Y₂ that will not.
• Y₁ is the experimental
group, and Y₂ is the control
group.

29. II. Survey
• Survey: a series of questions
asked of a number of people
1. Interview
2. Self-administered
questionnaire
– Surveys are especially good
for discovering basic
‘demographic information’-
age, gender, income, educati
on, etc.