Chapter Summary

Causes, consequences, and coping are all key components for dealing with problems, whether those problems are personal or social. At either level they seek to address the fundamental questions of why and how we should respond.

A crucial point is this: We must be alert to the potential confusion of social problems with personal problems in order to deal more effectively with either or both. This section deals with such confusion through related causes, consequences, and coping efforts, with particular reference to the functions of attitudes, communication, and power structure.

Sociologists believe both individuals and groups of people are important. Individuals are rarely isolated; rather, we each interact with others and join together in groups of varying size and purpose. We do not exist in a social vacuum but within a human society that has attitudes, norms, behavior patterns, role relationships, and social institutions (among other things) to provide an atmosphere for living together. It is within this atmosphere that the sociological approach deals in its analysis of social problems. If we ignore the social nature of humanity, we do so at our own peril, for human life is social life. The sociological approach to problems involves the identification of those social factors that account for the problems: attitudes, norms, group memberships, and other factors examined elsewhere in this text.

Five theories that have been used to explain social problems are (1) social disorganization; (2) social change; (3) value conflict; (4) deviance; and (5) social structure. Each theory has a different set of key concepts, with each rendering a unique portrait of the problem in focus.

To social disorganization theorists, the concept of consensus is important, for when consensus among the people breaks down, there is resulting social instability. When existing rules of behavior no longer apply and are not replaced by new ones, or when existing rules are challenged by a new set of expectations, the society is said to be in a socially disorganized condition.

Advocates of the social change theory are concerned with alterations in social interaction patterns or such cultural aspects as norms, values, and technology. In this view, social problems are caused by conflicting or rapid rates of change.

To proponents of the value conflict theory, the notion of a power struggle is central. Social problems result from value clashes stemming from intergroup conflict among groups with diverse values.

To deviance theorists, a crucial term is norm, for they see social problems in relation to violations of norms rather than resulting from a general breakdown. This orientation may be subdivided into three important types: anomie, differential association, and labeling.

Advocates of the social structure theory tend to share an underlying rejection of the structure of society and thus are apt to be termed "radical" by others. This perspective includes Marxist and neo-Marxist views, though not exclusively, of course.

These orientations complement rather than contradict one another in that certain problems seem to be better or more fully explained by one than by another. No single approach appears adequate as an explanation for all social problems.

Lauer and Lauer point out that their approach to social problems is complex because social life is complex: Social problems involve multiple causes and are manifested at multiple levels of human life. Social problems arise when one or more opposing phenomena are defined as incompatible with the desired quality of life; these phenomena may be contradictory sets of norms, conflicting values, different rates of change, a contradiction between ideology and reality, or a contradiction between values and patterns of interaction. All social problems are characterized by opposing groups with opposing ideologies and contrary definitions of the contradiction.

Lauer and Lauer's perspective is best captured through their complete definition of a social problem: A social problem is a condition or pattern of behavior that (1) contradicts some other condition or pattern of behavior and is defined as incompatible with the desired quality of life; (2) is caused, facilitated, or prolonged by factors that operate at multiple levels of social life; (3) involves intergroup conflict; and (4) requires social action in order to be resolved.