Social Problems Abstracts

Books on Social Problems, Bibliography, Syllabus, Journals, Social Problems

Public Perceptions of Social Problems: Some Propositions and a Test 
Mark C. Stafford, Washington State University, Mark Warrk, Pennsylvania State University
The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Vol. 21, No. 3, 307-316 (1985)
Research on social problems has largely overlooked a central question: What characteristics must a phenomenon possess before the general public will consider it a social problem? Only by answering that question will one have a clear basis for predicting the outcomes of campaigns to define phenomena as social problems. The authors propose that any phenomenon will be perceived as a social problem to the degree that people (1) condemn it (i.e., view it as wrong or hazardous), (2) perceive it to be frequent or prevalent, and (3) consider it mutable. Data from a 1981 survey of Seattle residents provide strong support for this position, but they also show that the effect of perceived mutability is contingent on the type of social problem under consideration. - jab.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/21/3/307

W.E.B. Du Bois on the Study of Social Problems - LUCIUS T. OUTLAW, JR. 
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 568, No. 1, (2000)
This close reading and interpretation of Du Bois's "The Study of the Negro Problems" (Du Bois 1898b) focuses on several matters: the historical and biographical contexts within which Du Bois produced and presented the essay; what the author takes to be Du Bois's convictions regarding the nature and production of scientific, truthful knowledge, and the importance of such knowledge for resolving social problems and thereby contributing to progressive social evolution. These convictions presupposed and were conditioned by a particular conception of social reality in terms of which Du Bois formulated a conception of "social problems," particularly those having to do with "the Negro" in the United States. Finally, the author reviews Du Bois's critique of then-prevailing social science and his proposed "Program for Future Study" of "Negro problems" and concludes with a brief assessment.

Social Sciences and Social Problems - The next century - Neil J. Smelser
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California 
International Sociology, Vol. 11, No. 3, 275-290 © 1996 International Sociological Association
After identifying a number of distinctive processes of social change - and their associated social problems - that may be expected to continue into the next century, the argument turns to the role of social-science knowledge in understanding and dealing with such problems. The author develops a critique of the utilitarian model of applied social science - a model based on supposed analogies with the natural sciences and engineering. Next, the logic of a `social problem' is dissected into the necessary ingredients it must have to qualify as a problem. As an alternative to the utilitarian model, the author suggests that social-science knowledge provides multiple points of entry in understanding the social-psychological and political dynamics by which social problems are recognized and dealt with as such. - iss.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/11/3/275

The Politics of Analyzing Social Problems. 
Authors: Ross, Robert; Staines, Graham L. 
Abstract: Two crucial processes are discussed: (1) that through which social problems become public issues; and (2) that through which conflicts between competing diagnoses of, and responses to, publicly recognized social problems are resolved. Regularities in these transformations are conceptualized as follows: groups differ in their definitions of social problems according to self-interest, ideology, and social values. For a social problem to become a public issue, a complex political process develops around the activities of the media, officialdom and private interest groups. Similarly, conflicts arise among official authorities, underdog partisans, privileged partisans, policy planners, etc. as to how to respond to the problem. Various strategies for handling the conflicts are seen as generating significant political outcomes for the parties concerned and for the policy process. In sum, the paper serves to point out a whole area of important political considerations in the analysis of social problems. - eric.ed.gov

ASKING WHY ABOUT SOCIAL PROBLEMS: IDEOLOGY AND CAUSAL MODELS IN THE PUBLIC MIND 
Allen H. Barton 
In ‘The Art of Asking Why’ Paul Lazarsfeld (1935) pointed out the deficiency of simply asking people ‘why’ they did something, and developed the idea of accounting models to guide a much more extensive series of questions about reasons for action. A similar problem arises when people are asked ‘why’ about social phenomena like unemployment, poverty, inflation, or urban riots. A review of research asking people for their explanations of social problems shows that open-ended responses are rarely probed to elicit the whole ‘causal model’ which the respondent has in mind; that closed-ended questions tend to offer limited choices, and not to explore the possibility of ‘causal chains’ or conditional effects; and that there is a tendency to classify answers into crude dichotomies rather than explore the public's ideas about specific causal mechanisms for social problems. Particular problems arise in studying élite belief systems since these are likely to be more elaborate than the public's. Content analysis of élite group discussions and élite media offer one avenue for studying such groups. - ijpor.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/7/4/299

Control of Selection Effects in the Evaluation of Social Problems 
Alfred Blumstein, Carnegie-Mellon University 
Jacqueline Cohen, Carnegie-Mellon University 
Evaluation Review, Vol. 3, No. 4, 583-608 (1979) DOI: 10.1177/0193841X7900300405 © 1979 SAGE Publications
Evaluations involving nonrandom assignment to treatment or control groups are vulnerable to an accidental or intentional confounding of a selection effect with the treatment effect. The resulting selection bias is compensated with two techniques, discriminant analysis and base expectancy analysis, which model the selection process that generates the treatment and control groups. These models permit separate estimation of the selection and treatment effects in the final results. These techniques are applied to the evaluation of a college program in a maximum-security prison. - erx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/3/4/583

China Under Reform - Social Problems in Rural Areas 
Victor N. Shaw 
China Report, Vol. 42, No. 4, 341-368 (2006) DOI: 10.1177/000944550604200401 © 2006 SAGE Publications
This article examines social problems in Chinese rural society as it undergoes economic reform and social transformations on an unprecedented scale. First is a historical review of social change in rural China under communist rule. Second is a systematic categorisation and description of social problems and their essential characteristics in rural regions. Third is an analytic explanation of rural social problems in relation to larger social structures and processes. The last part explores strategies and tactics that can be taken to deal with social problems in rural society. To preserve rural China as a peaceful living environment for the majority of the Chinese population, this article suggests that education be improved, business opportunities be created, the outflow of surplus labour be curbed, law enforcement be strengthened, governmental behaviour be regulated, grass-roots organisations be maintained, conflict resolution be promoted and self-defence be guided, across rural communities. - chr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/42/4/341

Social Information for What? 
Itzhak Galnoor 
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 393, No. 1, 1-19 (1971) DOI: 10.1177/000271627139300101 © 1971 American Academy of Political & Social Science
Proposals for using "social indicators" and "social accounting" and for initiating "social reports" by governments have been put forth in the United States and certain European countries. These proposals are closely related to the emergence of explosive social problems in the economically developed countries. But, at the same time, there has been also growing dissatisfaction in economically developing countries with planning based on narrowly construed economic models and with the conspicuous absence of the adjective "social" in the definition of "development." If both developed and developing countries are now more concerned with the social aspects of life, then perhaps social information can be useful in both cases. A cluster of ideas deeply rooted in a certain situation cannot be easily transplanted. The differences between the social problems of a "developed" and a "developing" situation are so great that entirely different kinds of social information are needed in each. Nevertheless, certain ideas contained in the various social information proposals could prove to be extremely useful for the specific problems of developing countries. - ann.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/393/1/1

Social Problems and Patterns of Juvenile Delinquency in Transitional Russia 
William Alex Pridemore 
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Vol. 39, No. 2, 187-213 (2002) © 2002 SAGE Publications
This article is an introduction to social problems and juvenile delinquency in transitional Russia. Although crime in Russia is a popular topic of discussion in the popular press, there is relatively little work in the scholarly literature that directly addresses this issue and even less that examines juvenile delinquency in the country. This article is thus meant to be an introduction to this theme. The author reviews the current state of several institutions (such as the economy, education, and the family) as well as specific issues (such as alcohol and drug use, leisure activities, and the absence of a dedicated juvenile justice system in Russia) that are often thought to be related to juvenile delinquency and crime. The author then employs official data from the Russian Ministry of the Interior to describe the characteristics of young offenders in the country and the patterns of juvenile offending during the 1990s. - jrc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/39/2/187

Volunteerism and Social Problems: Making Things Better or Worse?
Louis A. Penner11Wayne State University and University of Michigan1Wayne State University and University of Michigan
Journal of Social Issues, Volume 60 Issue 3 Page 645 - September 2004 
Abstract: Volunteerism is described and defined and then a model of the decision to volunteer is presented. Data from an archival analysis of volunteering after the September 11, 2001 attacks and an on-line survey of volunteers are presented in support of the model. Finally, the implications of increasing volunteerism for the solution of social problems are considered. - blackwell-synergy.com

How Individuals Explain Social Problems: The Influences of Media Use
Mira Sotirovic11Mira Sotirovic (PhD, University of Wisconsin, Madison) is an associate professor in Department of Journalism and Institute of Communications Research at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.1Mira Sotirovic (PhD, University of Wisconsin, Madison) is an associate professor in Department of Journalism and Institute of Communications Research at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Journal of Communication, Volume 53 Issue 1 Page 122 - March 2003 
Abstract: This study examined the role of media use in individuals' explanations of crime and welfare. Attribution theory and the information-processing approach to media effects provided a theoretical framework for this research. Media effects on explanations of social problems are enhanced by individuals' patterns of information processing. Specifically, active processing of national television public affairs content increased while active processing of newspaper public affairs content decreased the likelihood of individualistic explanations. The study also showed that individualistic explanations of crime and welfare are related to support for the death penalty and to opposition toward welfare programs. - blackwell-synergy.com

The Brown Decision Revisited: Mathematizing Social Problems 
William F. Tate, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Carl A. Grant 
Educational Policy, Vol. 7, No. 3, 255-275 (1993) DOI: 10.1177/0895904893007003002 © 1993 SAGE Publications
Almost 40 years after the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision, African-Americans are still attempting to understand its meaning and significance in their daily lives. Unaware of the potential for divergent constructions of equality, citizens who were barred from equal access to schooling continue to struggle with poor-quality schooling. This article argues that a restrictive form of equality, rather than an expansive one, limits the ability of African-Americans to benefit equally from schooling in the nation `public schools. The article also suggests that the Brown decision represents the Supreme Court's attempt to apply a largely mathematical solution to a social problem. The failure of the court to provide a verbal interpretation of the mathematical model it constructed left individual school districts free to develop educational responses that failed to address the needs of African-American students. The article concludes with an expansive vision of a desegregated/integrated school that reconsiders student diversity, curriculum, instruction, and parent-community involvement. - epx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/7/3/255?ck=nck

Using Social Policy Research for Reducing Social Problems: An Empirical Analysis of Structure and Functions 
Mark Van de Vall, Department of Sociology, University of Leyden, 242 Stationsplein, 2312 AR Leyden, The Netherlands; State University of New York at Buffalo 
Cheryl Bolas, Buffalo Area Chamber of Commerce 
The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Vol. 18, No. 1, 49-67 (1982) DOI: 10.1177/002188638201800106 © 1982 NTL Institute
Investigating three samples of social policy research in The Netherlands, the authors analyzed the conditions and functions influencing utilization (impact). Interorganizational context, intergroup relations, and role interaction were found to relate to utilization. The impact of social policy research upon organizational decisions is cognitive, communicative, and diagnostic. The cognitive function correlates negatively with publishing for scholarly audiences. Of the communicative function, six feedback strategies were evaluated with targeting scoring highest on impact. In the diagnostic function, creating consensus among decision-making groups has the greatest impact on decision making. The results suggest the latent operation of a professional paradigm of social policy research, distinct from the disciplinary social science paradigm. - jab.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/18/1/49

Constructing Social Problems in an Age of Globalization: A French–American Comparison 
Authors: Benson, Rodney; Saguy, Abigail C.
Source: American Sociological Review, Volume 70, Number 2, April 2005, pp. 233-259(27)
Abstract:: Despite growing academic interest in political and cultural globalization, sociologists have failed to systematically account for the factors that favor cross-national convergence or divergence in the form or content of public political debates in news media. This article uses two original data sets on American and French news reporting on immigration and sexual harassment to test the effects of four factors potentially relevant to such convergence or divergence: 1) cultural repertoires, 2) legal constraints, 3) journalistic field relations to the state and market and competition among journalistic outlets, and 4) global position of nation-states. Differences in dominant national cultural repertoires correlate with persistent cross-national variations in media frames. Legal reform related to the two issues offers a strong explanation of shifts in framing over time. Lesser news media autonomy vis-à-vis the state is associated with fewer journalistic enterprise stories on immigration and less reporting on sexual harassment scandals, while greater competition may make sensationalized reporting on immigration more likely. America's dominant position in the global political economy correlates with substantially greater visibility of U. S. policies and personalities in France, than vice versa. There is some evidence for greater cross-national divergence in issue frames over time, as U. S. global visibility and influence have increased. - ingentaconnect.com

Will Dispersed Housing Programmes Reduce Social Problems in the US? 
Authors: Galster G.; Zobel A.
Source: Housing Studies, Volume 13, Number 5, 1 September 1998, pp. 605-622(18)
Abstract: In recent years, US policy-makers have given increasing emphasis to geographicallydispersing recipients of housing subsidies, based on the assumption that residence in concentrated poverty neighbourhoods abets socially dysfunctional behaviours. The paper assesses this assumption, both theoretically and through a metaanalysis of extant empirical studies. It demonstrateshow only modest differences in the functional relationship between spatially concentrated poverty and resultant socially problematicbehaviourswill radically affect conclusions about the desirability of housing dispersalprogrammes.Dispersalwill only lead to a net reduction in problem behaviours in society as a whole if the relationship between neighbourhood poverty rate and individual propensity to engage in problem behaviours is characterised by a positive threshold or by an increasing marginal impact. Three types of empirical studies are reviewed in an attempt to ascertain the state of knowledge regarding the nature of this functional relationship: (1) case studies of participants in dispersed housing programmes; (2) statistical studies of property value impacts of dispersed housing programmes; and (3) statistical studies of the neighbourhoodcorrelates of the behaviour of individuals. Meta-analysisconcludes that the evidence is thin and contradictory.Thus, the US now faces the unenviable situation of having adopted a major housing strategy with only a shred of evidence to suggest what effect it might have on aggregate social problems. - ingentaconnect.com

Dealing with Complex Social Problems: The Potential of the "Decision Seminar."
By: Garry D. Brewer 
The "decision seminar," a creation of Harold Lasswell, is designed to permit a group of specialists to integrate their knowledge to deal with a complex policy problem. Its overriding purpose is to translate a decisionmaking context into terms that make it understandable and that suggest ameliorative action. Specific procedures are prescribed. Starting with simple, relatively abstract games and verbal-visual scenarios of plausible policy innovations, seminar members move to "field tests" and controlled experimentation, finally arriving at policy recommendations. Participants represent diverse area specialties, methodological skills, and viewpoints (academic, policymaking). Emphasis is on the use of critical imagination, methodological flexibility, and orientation to the future. Decision seminars typically extend over several years, and the author recounts the experience of several already held on political development. The discussion concludes with a look at strategies to sharpen insights, narrow the problem, assign institutional responsibility, and manage data. - rand.org/pubs/papers/P4894/

Social Problems in Estonian Mass Media 1975-1991 
Mikko Lagerspetz, Estonian Institute of Hurnanities, Tallinn, Estonia 
Acta Sociologica, Vol. 36, No. 4, 357-369 (1993) DOI: 10.1177/000169939303600404 © 1993 Scandinavian Sociological Association
The lack of legitimacy of the Soviet rule in Estonia was manifested among other things by a deep disagreement between rulers and the ruled over the central problems of society. As the political situation changed from 1985 on, also the problems were defined in new ways, and partially by new actors. From 1988 on, censorship and state monopoly of the mass media were gradually abolished. A content analysis was made on so-called problem articles in the leading Estoman daily Rahva Haal. The years 1975 to 1991 were divided into four periods, characterized by different political situations. The periods were compared with each other; 394 statements of a social problem were coded according to the problem, to the presented reasons and suggested solutions, and to the source of the statement. The so-called Singing Revolution penod 1988 to 1990 differs dramatically from both the earlier and the later periods Many new problems were addressed then, among them the problems of environment, political institutions, and nationality The causes and solutions were often sought from the political and structural level, which was something totally new. The most usual source of statements became the specialists. From 1990 to 1991, the focus is on the problems of economy and political institutions. - asj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/36/4/357

Alcohol Abuse: A Crucial Factor in the Social Problems of Negro Men 
LUCY JANE KING M.D., GEORGE E. MURPHY M.D., LEE N. ROBINS PH.D., and HARRIET DARVISH 
Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo. 63110
American Journal of Psychiatry 125:1682-1690, June 1969 doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.125.12.1682 © 1969 American Psychiatric Association
In an interview study of 223 young urban Negro men, the authors found that increasing degrees of alcohol use were associated with increasing evidence of social deviance. Absence of the father from the childhood home and failure to complete high school strongly predict heavy drinking in adult life. Heavy drinking, with or without these negative factors, is equally predictive of social deviance. The authors conclude that alcohol abuse is not simply another symptom of social deviance but an important intervening variable in the ghetto cycle of broken home, delinquency, underemployment, and broken home. - ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/125/12/1682