Hi all, A thread on another list of sociologists demonstrated the problems we have defining social problems. I have found the same problem with texts that were assigned for the courses that I taught. One of the difficulties is the word itself. For example, some usages of the term problem are the same as question.... as in research problem. These types of problems can also important social problems.
But that is another discussion. Most social problems texts focus on poverty, unemployment, delinquency,domestic violence and other so called social ills. We sociologists make calls for social justice and making the world better. These calls to action are particularly hollow because so little of the sociology effort is applied. This is one of the reasons that we have earned the reputation of naive do gooders. All of this may be true. However, I see this as a product of the shape of our thinking. A shape of thinking that is biased and mechanical. We assume that all problems are bad. Thinking that is adoptive rather than adaptive. Durkheim claims that a crime is that which calls forth a corrective response. Also, that there will always be crime even in a society of saints. If such phenomena many of which are considered social problems will always exist they may not be destructive or possible to eliminate. Being the ornery cuss that I am I developed an exercise for a class to test some of these elements. The one below is for delinquency but I have used several other so called social problems listed in the text being used. Before the exercise I usually tell a story like the following. A military base was a target of a great deal of community anger. The community claimed that the base was the cause of every imaginable problem faced by the community. The base decided to pay everyone who worked on the base including the civilians with $2 bills. The community got the message. ========================================= Delinquency exercise (this is a draft and can be modified for a particular class) This exercise is designed to promote the reshaping of thinking more than an answer. The class works in groups. Each group is given a written assignment that describes the task. The Task Over night all traces of Juvenile delinquency have dissapeared. When people wake up they find that they must live their lives without delinquency. Your task is to calculate the over all social impact of the disappearance of delinquency and give a report to the class reporting and supporting your findings. The groups are given 3 assignments. A. list the over all of the benefits and losses.... is delinquency a plus or minus B. list the benefits to whom/society C. list the losses to whom/society Suggested starting impact areas Industries education pain and suffering institutions Jobs ============================== The students usually discover the industry that has developed to support/deal with the social problem. In one class the daughter of a juvenile court judge was quite up set. Most of the classes become involved in heated debate. It does change the shape of their thinking. They see the plus side of social problems. This can pave the way to the exploration of victim less social problems. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Teaching Sociology" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/teachsoc -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
