The Life Cycle Of A Social Problem
Essay by 24 • November 2, 2010 • 1,465 Words (6 Pages) • 3,631 Views
The Life Cycle of a Social Problem
A social problem is a condition that a group of people view as being undesirable. These can be a variety of different “problems.”They can occur in your community, school, church or any place that people interact with each other or an object. When a social problem arises there is a general way that they are handled.
The earliest of definition on how a social problem is recognized
was made by Richard Fuller and Richard Myers. There cycle had three stages. The first stage was that the group had to some situation or behavior as a problem. Once they stated that there was a problem the next step was to transforms the situation or beahvior into a public debate to discuss that certain problem and how it could be dealt with and how the problem existed in the first place. This was a long process in which both sides discussed how it would be handled and also what would make both sides of the argument happy. The final stage is reform. This is the stage in which the solution to the problem would actually be put forth to the public so it would resolve or in many cases make the problem much more easy to live with.
The previous form of the stages of a social problem was thought to be the guidelines until Robert Ross and Gramham Staines revamped the cycle. In their cycle there were a few more details and checks that a social problem had to go though to complete the cycle. The first stage in the life cycle of a social prolem is when group of people that has determined that a situation or behavior is presienaic in terms of their ideas and or beliefs.Why the cycle started this way was pretty simple, without someone or a group of people having a problem with a situation or particular thing then there couldn't be a social problem in the first place.
The next stage in the life cycle cycle was to turn the issue into public knownledge. They could demonstrate for there solution or they could even write into a newspaper and tell them there story and how they would like it too be handled. The most important aspect in this step is by far the media. Although the people that are opposed to your point of view might try to sway the publics views on the situation by making you look like the guilty party, the media can always show something different. The bottom line is that a camera can not lie.
When a social problem has become public it will spark a debate about the issue that is at hand. This is the most important part of the life cycle of a social problem . This part have huge impact on how and what solutions are considered. During this debate there are a couple of various causal interpretations. One of these is a systematic attribution which the critical approach leans towards. In way of thinking the system itself is problematic and generates difficulties for the individual. This means that the issue is a problem and the person or group of people that brought forth this issue will have to show why it is a problem in the social world. This can difficult situation which is a norm when trying to change something. The next way of interpreting a situation is called personal attribution. This is primarily used by dominated groups and also public officials. They use this because it is much easier to blame the person or group that has brought this issue into public light then to try to fixing it. Once all sides has said there peace the last part of this step is complex bargaining between both sides.
The last stage of the life cycle of a social problem is that of a resolution. Power is the number one way on how the solution is going to come about and what solutions are going to be even considered to be a way to solve the issue at hand. People in power determine four basic things. They first have the decision on if the issue will even reach the public eye. If this doesn't happen then the issue will not proceed and just become trash. The second issue is if they allow it to become public information they will have to show interest in the problem they will have to have to define the problem and causes of problem. The last part of this stage is that if they have a lot of power they will decide how the problem is going be solved and implicated. These roles of power also have concentrated link to the critical approach. When a problem is merely a micro problem it is normally blamed on the attributes of people rather than the integrity of the system.
With any social problem in general there are two moral entrepreneurs. They are the rule creators ,which is the group that is trying to fix a behavior or situation that doesn't agree with there ideals or belifs, and the rule enforcers which are the police and other
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