What is a social problem? What does it mean to say that social problems are constructed? How do politics guide the process of constructing problems and defining solutions?
What will be an ideal response?
• Social problems come into being as people define an issue as harmful and in need of change.
• Most of today's problems differ from those that concerned the public several generations ago.
• Politics is usually a matter of claims and counterclaims about what should and should not be defined as social problems.
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The Boomerang effect
A) is made up of grown children returning to live with their parents. B) can be caused by divorce and high housing costs. C) consists of empty nesters having to now care for their elderly parents. D) Both A and B are correct.
Jane goes to a bar after work several nights a week to seek relief from job tensions. She is in the __________ stage of becoming an alcoholic
a) first, prealcoholic b) second, crucial c) middle, crucial d) final, chronic
In an urban neighborhood, people feel a sense of a community because they do not live in isolation. They are not self-sufficient. They depend heavily on others for food, services, entertainment, education, healthcare, etc. This is an example of ________ solidarity.
A. rational B. urban C. instrumental D. organic
Service workers, migrant workers, and day laborers routinely experience periods of the year when they are unemployed and poor. This is known as __________
a. absolute poverty b. relative poverty c. episodic poverty d. the poverty threshold