Social Problems and sociological problems within society are difficult to define and the differences between them is part of an ongoing controversial issue. There seems to be no right or wrong answer and different people have varied views. Within this essay examples will be given of social problems and how they become more widely spread and result in a sociological problem. Differences between these two problems will also be clearly highlighted and the role of the sociologist will be given and how they tackle the day to day social/ sociological problems. Furthermore, there are many factors that influence both sociological research and social policy making. This essay will examine and define the importance of the role of the sociologist in three main policy areas.
Firstly, before any definitions of what is a social and or sociological problem are given it must be noted that there is no one specific correct answer. Different people share many different perspectives on this ongoing controversial question/ issue within society today.
A sociologist uses objectivity when studying problems within the whole of society. If sociologists see that there is a problem, for example a social problem becoming a bigger issue they will research it further and create arguments and it will become what is known as a sociological problem, they explain why it happened. It is the wider perspective of problems that occur within entire societies, not small groups within society. ‘Social problems are those aspects of social life that cause private unhappiness or public friction and are identified by those in power as needing some kind of social policy to deal with them’, (P McNeil, 1990: ‘Research Methods’, 2nd Ed, Routledge).

There are two aspects of a social problem being objective and subjective. The objective is the actual social condition and the subjective is the perception of a social condition as a social problem.

Not all social conditions become elevated to the status of “social problem”, the objective condition must be perceived to be a social problem publicly. At the beginning of the 20th century alcohol abuse was perceived to be a very serious social problem, responsible for family breakdown, abandonment of children, accidental death at work and violence in society. A “Temperance Movement” emerged that further consolidated public opinion to a point that people wanted to do something about it (http://www.alcoholism.about.com). If people affected by a condition are influential or powerful, the condition is more likely to be considered a social problem than if those affected are not influential. ‘People in power control the mass media, and therefore, control public opinion. Often “relevant issues” are defined by those who wield power through the mass media, (Russ Long, 2003, ‘The Sociological Approach To Social Problems’, www.delmar.edu/sociosi/rlong/problems/chap-01.htm). The mass media gives selective attention to certain conditions. The Liberal press will highlight certain issues while the Conservative pres will select others.
Alcoholism is a huge social problem within society, stats released on 4th march 2003 by the Charity Alcohol Concern, reveal that this equates to 1 in 13 adults- twice the amount of people that are dependant on all other forms of illegal drugs. 429,000 people from the south east are dependence on alcohol. Alcoholism is also linked to mental health problems, research has shown that around 65% of suicide attempts are associated with alcohol. Because of the increase of alcohol consumption Ireland has spent an estimated £1.5 billion on alcohol related car incidents and medical costs. As stated by the health Minister Michael Martin, “There has been the beginning of a realization that we have in relation to alcohol, a culture of acceptance”. A recent UK survey on underage drinking showed that from the age of 13 onwards more teens are drinking than not drinking. 59% of 13 year olds are classified as drinkers, 74% of 14 year olds and 84% of 15 year olds and this has become a serious issue within society and has been highlighted to the Government which has put in place several strategies in an attempt to minimise the problem such as the HEBS adverts and other forms of advertising features i.e. in teen magazines. In 1997, 21 percent of the young drivers 15 to 20 years old who were killed in crashes were intoxicated, (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Young Drivers Traffic Safety Facts 1997, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1997). With such an important issue as alcoholism a social policy is made, this refers to those actions of governments that have a direct effect on the welfare of the citizens of a country. Further current US stats revealed that two thirds of teenagers who drink can buy their own alcohol, among teenagers who “binge” drink, 39% say they drink alone, 58% drink when they are upset, 30% drink when they are bored and 37% drink to feel high. As previously stated the first use of alcohol occurs at the age of 13 and alcohol use at an early age is an indicator of future drug and alcohol problems. (Maryland Underage Drinking Prevention Coalation, 2000, www.mudpc.org)

Furthermore, Mills Identified five overarching social problems being alienation, moral insensibility, threats to democracy, threats to human freedom, conflict between bureaucratic rationality and human reason. (C Wright Mills: The sociology of C. Wright Mills, 2002, pg. 59 http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Four/Presentations/MILLS/)

An example of a huge sociological issue is religion. A sociological definition of religion is social institutions, or stable clusters, created by society to answer questions science cannot. Sociologists of religion study every aspect of religion from what is believed to how persons act while in worship and while living out their stated convictions. They study the changing role of religion both in the public arena (political, economic and media) and in intimate interpersonal relationships. Global religious pluralism and conflict, the nature of religious cults and sects, the influence of religion on racial, gender and sexuality issues, and the effect of the media and modern culture has on religious practices are all topics of interest in current sociology of religion research. (No name or date given, Hartford Institute for Religion Research, http://hirr.hartsem.edu/sociology/sociology.html) Religion has become a wider problem within society, you could say it started with conflict among different religious groups and or cults, resulting in violent religious bigotry. As this social problem became more recognisable sociologists set out to find out the causes behind religion and the social problems that are brought about by it and to define religion. The Government also took on this controversial issue within society and set out to make the country less racist by putting on HEBS adverts and displaying the ‘Scotland one of many cultures’ logo to be seen. Laws were also passed to stop and or prevent religious bigotry, all is set out to make people equal no matter of their religion/ race and to make all different cultures accepted within society.

Furthermore, Michael Parenti stated, “Focusing on the poor and ignoring the system of power, privilege, and profit which makes them poor is a little like blaming the corpse for the murder” (in Eitzen and Baca- Zinn, 2000) Skolnick and Currie notes, “convential social problem writing invariable returns to the symptoms of social ills rather than to the source of those ills” (Eitzen 2000) These approaches to social problems can be categorized under what Eitzen calls the personal blame approach.

Therefore, according to most definitions, a social problem is a harmful social condition, according to the beliefs and values of some influential or dominant group in the society. A harmful social condition becomes a social problem when it persists over time and is not solved because there are a number of competing proposed solutions on which people do not agree. Thus social problems involve social issues. Sociological approaches to social problems usually involve research to determine the causes of social problems and the effectiveness of policies or programs in attempting to solve them. (Allyn & Bacon, 2002: ‘General Sociology, Applied Sociology and Social Problems’, http://cwabacon.pearsoned.com)(S.McGonigal)