social problems


social problems

aspects of social life seen to warrant concern and intervention, e.g. CRIME, domestic violence, child abuse, POVERTY, drug abuse. The identification of a 'social problem’ is the outcome of social processes including a moral evaluation of people's behaviour. In analysing social problems it is important to identify the group of people for whom the behaviour is a ‘problem’. For example, some authors have suggested that social policies dealing with poverty have been implemented to support the interests of landowners and owners of capital rather than to eliminate poverty out of humanitarian concern for the poor. The identification of a social problem suggests that there ‘ought to be’ some form of social intervention through SOCIAL POLICIES, new laws and new forms of social and COMMUNITY WORK, and some authors have suggested that there is a relationship between the 'social construction’ of social problems, social policy and SOCIAL CONTROL. see also HIERARCHY OF CREDIBILITY.