Contemporary Social Issues Exam 1

What did Max Weber mean by “verstehen”? What sociological paradigm does it correspond with?

• Verstehen: “understanding” or emphasizing the need to understand the meaning behind people actions and perspectives in understanding social phenomena

• Subjectivist paradigm

What sociological paradigm is Karl Marx associated with? What does this paradigm essentially say about the role of social science in society?

• critical theory: emphasis on power, inequality and social change. The role of social science can never be truly value-free and should be conducted with the express goal of social change in mind.

Functionalism

• Understand society by examining the roles that social institutions/process play in its functioning as a whole

• Macro level

• Manifest vs latent functions

• Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons

Conflict Theory

• Understand society through the idea that conflict between competing interest groups is what drives social change and social conditions

• Macro-level

• Karl Marx (proletariat vs. bourgeoisie, class struggle)

• C. Wright Mills, Antonio Gramsci, Franz Fanon, W.E.B. DuBois

Symbolic Interactionism

• Understand society through focus on how sense of self, beliefs, and behaviors are shaped by social interactions with others

• Micro-level

• George Simmel, Charles Horton Colley, George Herbet Mead, Ervin Goffman

Micro-level

Focuses on individual attributes and interactions

Macro-level

Focuses on groups, populations, and social structures

What is “the sociological imagination”?

Refers to the ability to connect aspects of an individual's life to historical/societal forces

Socialization

•  the process by which individuals internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of a given society and learn to function as members of that society

Ethnocentrism

• the belief that one’s own culture or group is superior to others, and the tendency to view all other cultures from the perspective of one’s own

Cultural relativism

taking into account differences across cultures without passing judgement or assigning value

What is a social construct?

a concept that exists not in objective reality, but because of human interaction

What is the “social constructionist” approach to social problems?

• a sociological theory that posits knowledge and reality are created through social interactions rather than existing independently of individuals. 

•  no absolute truth or objective reality; instead, meaning is fluid and shaped by cultural, historical, and social contexts

Grounds

• information and evidence about the problem

  • Diagnostic frame

  • typifying : a description of a particular instance/real world example

  • Name: catchy/concise name to describe the problem

  • Statistic: big numbers seem powerful

Warrants

• justifications for action to address the problem

  • Motivational frame

Conclusions

• statements on what should be done to address the problem

  • Prognostic frame

Valence Issue

• common goal

  • Ex: economic well-being

Position Issue

• divided sides

  • Gun control

Inside claims makers

• have direct access to policy/decision-makers and attempting to influence them to promote social change

  • Politicians, established interest groups

Outside claims makers

• working through the media and public opinion to promote social change

  • Activists, protesters

Frame alignment

• the ways in which social movements must address the existing frames or ways of looking at the world held by prospective members

Frame Bridging

connecting two or more frames/groups

Frame Amplification

invigorating existing values/beliefs

Frame Extension

extending the boundaries of a primary framework

Frame Transformation

changing old understanding to new worldview

Social inertia

• resistance to social change, whether active resistance or just apathy/inaction

Reformative:

•  specific changes, fix policy/behavior

Radical

revolutionary, fundamental transformation

Professional

movement organization with salaried, full time staff

Participatory

decentralized, grassroots organizations

Name and describe the six conditions which need to be met for a social movement to be successful according to Smelser’s Value-Added Theory

1. Structural conduciveness

2. structural strain

3. generalized belief

4. precipitating factors

5. mobilization

6. failure of social control

Structural conduciveness

societal conditions enable collective action; people can freely communicate and organize

Structural strain

 a problem has emerged/is recognized that the existing social structure is unable to/refused to resolves

Generalized belief

a shared conceptualization of the problem, its causes, and possible solutions develops

Precipitating factors

a dramatic event triggers action

Mobilization

people get organized and gather resources; leaders may emerge

Failure of social control

powerful institutions are unable to thwart the efforts of the social movement

Positivism

• emphasis on objectivity, knowability, and deductive logic

• society can and should be studied empirically and scientifically

Postmodernism

• emphasis on inherent problems’ with previous scientific paradigms

• truth in any form may or may not be knowable

The Natural History of Social Problems/ The Social Problems Process

1. Claims making

2. Media Coverage

3. Public Reaction

4. Policy Making

5. Social Problems Work

6. Policy Outcomes

Resources

• The power, status, contacts, education, money that actors involved have and bring to influence every stage of social problems process

Rhetoric

• A troubling condition can be understood in various ways and be reconstructed to fit the concerns of actors involved at that stage