A social problem is a social condition or pattern of behavior that has negative consequences for individuals, our social world, or our physical world (Leon-Guerrero 2014). From a sociological viewpoint, social problems are broken into two realities: objective and subjective. An objective reality of a social problem comes from acknowledging that a particular social condition does exist (Leon-Guerrero 2014). Many social problems exist, but there are ones that become more significant than others. They become significant within our social culture by way of positive and negative results. Take illegal immigrants or “aliens”, Passel and Cohn (2012) noted that the number of unauthorized or illegal immigrants, in the United States, peaked at 12 …show more content…
Joe Feagin and Pinar Batur (2004) predict that by the 2050s, the majority of the U.S. population will comprise African, Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Native Americans. Currently, White Americans are a minority in half of the largest 100 U.S. cities and in Hawaii, New Mexico, Texas, and California (Leon-Guerrero 2014). In 2010, there were 40 million foreign-born individuals in the United States. This is the highest number of foreign born ever recorded in U.S. history (Leon-Guerrero 2014). Labor migration is defined as making a physical movement from one country to another for employment. As previously mentioned, cheap labor costs and filling much needed job slots contribute to that concept. The practice of prohibiting or restricting the entry or participation of groups in society is defined as exclusion. On the opposite of the spectrum of utilizing the immigrants to fulfill work requirements, would be the state of Arizona’s Immigration Law. After the U.S. Congress was unable to pass a bipartisan immigration bill, the states took matters into their own hands, debating similar immigration issues in their own state legislatures (Preston 2007). Arizona legislators passed SB 1070, the toughest immigration bill in 2010, requiring local law enforcement agencies and officers to demand proof of citizenship from suspected illegal immigrants (Leon-Guerrero 2014). Could this not be seen as exclusion? No cause, no due regard, nothing required other than law enforcement agencies suspicions. If an illegal immigrant is detained the next social concept that may take place is expulsion. Expulsion is defined as the removal of a group by direct force or intimidation (Leon-Guerrero
Gusfield, J. (2011). How Do We Decide What are Social Problems? Retrieved April 6, 2011 from http://www.soc.iastate.edu/sapp/soc235ch02.html
Home Land security statistics on immigration verifies that there are approximately 11 million illegal immigrants who reside in the United States. In Arizona, there is an estimate of 460,000 unauthorized immigrants in 2009. (United States). Arizona borders with Mexico and it is implied that the majority of the illegal immigrants are of a Mexican background. These figures are understandable disturbing to Arizona’s local government primarily and the nation as a whole. The large influx of illegal immigrants is causing severe economic and social problems. Prisons, schools, and hospitals are the institutions that receive the direct blows of the state’s immigration problems. For these reasons, law makers in the State of Arizona justify their new “suspicious” immigration law (Matthews Mark K).
A social problem is an issue that is defined by society to be exactly that; an issue. This can range from issues such as murder; which is commonly agreed on in Australia, or to issues such as smoking or loud music being played in parks, where only certain individuals in society see it as a problem. Unemployment in Australia is considered to be a social problem, due to it affecting around 6 percent of Australia’s population (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014). If unemployment only affected a few people then it could be said that those individuals being lazy or could not hold down a job, but due to it affecting a majority of society it then becomes a social problem.
The United States is in the midst of a major debate over immigrants and their place in our economic and political life. As during other times in our history, immigrants, are being blamed for causing or contributing to the social, economic and political ills of our society. Politicians from both major parties, at both the national and state levels, are promoting a range of punitive legislative proposals that single out immigrants for adverse treatment by the government. Many violate basic civil liberties principles.
One of the most recent outbreaks in America, is illegal immigration. An illegal immigrant is a foreigner who enters the U.S. without an entry or immigrant visa, especially a person who crosses the border by avoiding inspection or who overstays the period of time allowed as a visitor, tourist, or businessperson; a foreigner who has entered or resides in a country unlawfully or without the country's authorization.(dictionary.com). The effect from illegal immigration impacts America directly dealing with: environmental ordinance, social and political concepts, and economic pursuits. "Illegal immigration generates insecurity about America’s borders, carries economic and fiscal costs, and risks the creation of an isolated underclass. The prevalence
For example, some people may believe an airline crash every year could be considered a social problem, but this does not follow the definition of a social problem because it does not affect a large group of people. If planes began crashing all the time, then one may be able to determine whether or not plane crashes are a social problem by looking at claims of the condition. I choose to include the specific criteria, in the previous paragraph, when utilizing my definition of a social problem because I believe that everyone has a subjective outlook on life and although someone may deem something as a social problem, someone else may not feel the same way. I believe discovering the claim and determining how something emerged, as well as discovering why it spread can help direct the general public when deciding if something is a social problem or not. Although claims are important, I still believe a social problem is also something that affects a large group of people. Similarly, I believe a social problem in the United States follows the same definition and criteria but it may be viewed differently. For example, “some societies with large populations of poor people have not viewed poverty as a problem. In contrast, in the United States poverty is considered a social problem” (Best 10). Overall, a social problem in the United States depends on
The United States of America, being a country founded by immigrants, is known all over the world as the land of great opportunities. People from all walks of life travelled across the globe, taking a chance to find a better life for them and their family. Over the years, the population of immigrants has grown immensely, resulting in the currently controversial issue of illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants are the people who have overstayed the time granted on their US, visa or those who have broken the federal law by crossing the border illegally. Matt O’Brien stated in his article “The government thinks that 10.8 million illegal immigrants lived in the country in January 2009, down from a peak of nearly 12 million in 2007.”(Para, 2).
The United States has often been referred to as a global “melting pot” due to its assimilation of diverse cultures, nationalities, and ethnicities. In today’s society, this metaphor may be an understatement. Between 1990 and 2010, the number of foreign born United States residents nearly doubled from 20 million to 40 million, increasing the U.S. population from almost 250 million to 350 million people. With U.S. born children and grandchildren of immigrants, immigration contributed to half of this population growth. These immigrants, consisting of mostly Asian and Hispanic backgrounds, have drastically changed the composition of the U.S. population. In 2010, Asians and Hispanics made up 20 percent of the U.S. population, in contrast to a 6 percent share of Asians and Hispanics in 1970. It is predicted that by 2050, the share of immigrants in the United States will increase to one half of the entire population. With this rapid increase in diversity, many citizens have opposing views on its impact on the United States. In my opinion, an increase in immigration does contain both positive and negatives effects, but in general it provides an overriding positive influence on America’s society (“Population”).
The arrival of immigrants to the United States is often associated with fear. Immigrants are vulnerable to attacks if they are cast as threats to the way of American life. A deeper look into immigration policies reveals that immigrant restrictions are seated in racialized notions. Immigrants before the founding of the nation came for the opportunities of a better life. The immigrants who would continue to come thereafter came for much the same reasons. But government policies demonstrate repeated attempts to block the immigration of undesirable immigrant communities.
According to the Objectivist view, a social problem is something that is a real threat to human life (Goode and Ben-Yehuda 1994). That meaning, if something does not harm a large group of people, the threat and therefore the social problem does not
Social problems are a rising problem caused by population growth. One of most well-known problems is the overcrowding of an area. Cities like New York and Washington D.C. are ridiculously crowded. Due to the increase of population in the city, the cost of living is much higher. The unemployment rate is also higher due to the lack of jobs over the amount of people living in the city. This causes for an increase in the crime rate. Criminals all have different motives, and one of the main motives is survival. Banks and stores are constantly robbed due to the high amount of unemployment. Families are stealing just to be able to put food on the table and clothes on their
ignores the subjective nature of social problems." [2] This becomes apparent when one realizes that not all harmful conditions are considered to be social problems, such as the nutritional concerns of a high fat diet. Another flaw in considering social problems to be the result of objective conditions of harm is that "the objective conditions that people define as social problems have relatively little in common." [3] A list of social problems will have a great
at least try to get a job. If there are more people like this, the country
Social issues are problems in the society today that are described as wrong, widespread and changeable. A category of conditions that people believe need to be changed. Poverty is a serious social issue in the society today. According to Peilin (2012), poverty brings hardships to families and individuals as well as political thereby negatively affecting the social stability and social development and posing a severe threat to human security (p. 243). This paper focuses on poverty as a social issue in today’s society. First, it gives a succinct introduction of the social issue, and then describes how it fits into the field of sociology. It also evaluates the sociological theories and terminology that relate to the social issue. The section that follows evaluates what is known and unknown about the particular social issue. This is followed by a discussion regarding the value of sociological research into the issue determining the available or possible practical implications of the sociological inquiry. The information presented here is strongly supported by the concepts and theories derived from reliable sources.
A social problem has many definitions. One way to define is that is a social condition/issue which has negative effects on an individual, our social and our physical world. A social problem does not have to be experienced by every individual to be called a problem, it comes from acknowledging that the problem exists and that a particular social condition affects a greater percentage of the population. We as sociologists and psychologists need to be able to face the one-sided reality of a social condition and need to address it as a social problem.