Constructing Social Problems
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A01=John I. Kitsuse
A01=Malcolm Spector
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American Psychiatric Association
Author_John I. Kitsuse
Author_Malcolm Spector
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Category=JHBA
claims-making process
Constructing Social Problems
Definitional Processes
deviance analysis
empirical social research
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Imputed Condition
John I. Kitsuse
Judge Bazelon
Labeling Theory
Latent Social Problems
LC Subject Head
Merton's Definition
Modern Family
Nation's Mental Health
Natural History Model
Psychiatric News
Richard Fuller
Serbsky Institute
Social Disorganization
Social Disorganization Theory
social pathology conceptualization
Social Problems Activities
Social Problems Courses
Social Problems Theorists
sociological theory
Trailer Camps
undergraduate sociology
value conflict perspective
Vice Versa
Product details
- ISBN 9780765807168
- Weight: 280g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 31 Aug 2000
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Inc
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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There is no adequate definition of social problems within sociology, and there is not and never has been a sociology of social problems. That observation is the point of departure of this book. The authors aim to provide such a definition and to prepare the ground for the empirical study of social problems. They are aware that their objective will strike many fellow sociologists as ambitious, perhaps even arrogant. Their work challenges sociologists who have, over a period of fifty years, written treatises on social problems, produced textbooks cataloguing the nature, distribution, and causes of these problems, and taught many sociology courses. It is only natural that the authors' work will be viewed as controversial in light of the large literature which has established a "sociology of" a wide range of social problems-the sociology of race relations, prostitution, poverty, crime, mental illness, and so forth. In the 1970s when the authors were preparing for a seminar on the sociology of social problems, their review of the "literature" revealed the absence of any systematic, coherent statement of theory or method in the study of social problems. For many years the subject was listed and offered by university departments of sociology as a "service course" to present undergraduates with what they should know about the various "social pathologies" that exist in their society. This conception of social problems for several decades has been reflected in the substance and quality of the literature dominated by textbooks. In 'Constructing Social Problems', the authors propose that social problems be conceived as the claims-making activities of individuals or groups regarding social conditions they consider unjust, immoral, or harmful and that should be addressed. This perspective, as the authors have formulated it, conceives of social problems as a process of interaction that produces social problems as social facts in society. The authors further propose that this process and the social facts it produces are the data to be researched for the sociology of social problems. This volume will be of interest to those concerned with the discipline of sociology, especially its current theoretical development and growth.
Malcolm Spector, John I. Kitsuse
