Understanding Social Problems

This chapter about Aging, Health, and Medicine talks about how getting older affects us in many ways, including our bodies, our minds, our relationships, and even our place in society. Researchers use different theories to explain these kinds of changes, such as the idea that older adults should step back to make room for younger generations to thrive (disengagement theory), or the view that staying active helps people age more positively (active theory). Even though people today are living longer than ever, not everyone has the same opportunities for good health. Factors like poverty, poor diets, and limited access to care make a big difference in someone's life expectancy.  Health is more than just not being sick, it’s about overall well-being for the mental, physical, and social parts of life. While Medicine is the system that works to prevent and treat illnesses. Sociologists study how health care works, pointing out issues like inequality, power balances, and the ways societ...

 When we think about social problems like crime, racism, and poverty we often times assume that they are all obvious and recognized. Although, social problems must be developed and agreed upon by a majority in a society. Chapter one explains what makes an issue become seen as a social problem and how that process comes to be. It says a social problem isn’t just something harmful but it’s a situation or behavior that affects many people and is broadly accepted as needing additional attention. There are two concepts that are involved with deciding on social issues: there’s the objective component , which is the real evidence that the harm is actually happening through evidence such as data or surveys, and the subjective component , which is about how people view and react to the issue. For example, sexual violence was widespread long before the 1970s, but it wasn’t taken seriously by most of society until the women’s movement brought it into the light. The chapter also describes...