Understanding Social Problems

 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...