Social Problem Chapter 1 - 5

The goal of your text is to provide readers with:

A better way of thinking about social problems that interest them

What most accurately describes the role of resources in the social problems process?

Access to resources like money and powerful people is critical and can determine whether claims get heard.

A subjectivist might suggest that heightism is not a social problem in the United States because

Americans do not think of discrimination based on height as a problem

When Yoda from Star Wars "judge me by my size, do you?" instead of "Do you judge me by my size?" This is an example of

Anastrophe

The term social construction is best defined as the way people

Assign meanings to the world around them

Claimsmaking can most accurately be described as a process in which people

Bring to the attention of others a situation that they find troubling

Social problems workers are typically responsible for

Carrying out the necessary practical actions to manage a problem.

The term troubling conditions is used when describing the situations people make claims about in order to draw our attention to the fact that

Claimsmaking is about people pointing out things that trouble them rather than objectively assessing problematic conditions

Best's discussion of claimsmaking about obesity as a social problem demonstrates that

Even people who agree that a condition is a social problem might disagree about its problem.

Best argues that resources and rhetoric affect

Every stage in the social problems process

In the video "Why Activists are Targeting Famous Art to Protect Climate Change," the activists destroyed the artwork.

False

In the video "Why Activists are Targeting Famous Art to Protect Climate Change," the activists shouted, "Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our oil and gas omissions?"

False

Only the people who are worse off join social movements.

False

Vegetarian activists emphasizing both the immorality of eating animals and the environmental and health implications of eating meat is an example of

Frame extension

Sociologists refer to the pattern in which people resist change due to the effort that change requires as

Inertia

__________ often have the most direct access to policymakers.

Insider claimsmakers

Because we know that knowledge is socially constructed

It is important to carefully evaluate claims and evidence

Which of the following is an example of a counter-movement?

Members of a community lobbying to protect a law that bans lawn ornaments.

The natural history model of social problems outlines the process that:

Most social problems go through.

__________ is an example of domain expansion.

Moving from defining poverty as a situation where people cannot meet their basic survival needs to a situation that includes people who have to work very long hours to meet their needs

Objectivists focus on ___________ when it comes to defining social problems.

Objectively measurable characteristics of conditions.

What role did the activists take In the "Why Activists are Targeting Famous Art to Protest Climate Change"?

Outsider claimsmaking

The impact of claimsmaking on the public's perceptions is typically measured using

Public opinion polls

Early in the social problems process, the statistics associated with problems are often

Rough estimates due to a lack of research

Policymaking that is intended to reduce social problems is done by

School officials, legislative bodies, and government agencies.

Saying that something is socially constructed means that it is

Shaped by people's definitions and understandings of it

___________ claims tend to work best.

Simple and strong

Who was the target audience in the "Oh, My Darling Clementine" commercial?

Smokers

The objectivist definition of harm can be criticized for being

So broad that it is vague to the point of losing its meaning.

In the video "Why Activists are Targeting Famous Art to Protect Climate Change," who was the intended audience?

The British Government

In the Toulmin Model, the primary components of the model are:

The claim, the evidence, and the warrant.

The term feedback refers to

The fact that each stage in the social problem process influences the stages both before and after it

Frame amplification relies on __________ to draw supporters.

The power of widely held values or beliefs.

Rhetoric is:

The study of persuasion

The discussion of reclassifying Pluto as a dwarf or an interplanetary body illustrates the fact that

The way we use and change language reflects our efforts to better describe and understand the world around us

A successful social movement eventually gets absorbed into the existing institution when it has achieved its desired change.

True

According to Tim Nichols in the video "The problem with thinking you know more than the experts,". People today doubt expert advice.

True

Even failed social movements leave a mark on society

True

Social movements can cause panic and anxiety.

True

What was the main claim in the "Oh, My Darling Clementine" commercial?

Use a nicotine patch

Ideologies usually emphasize particular

Warrants

Naming the problem is the moment when

a catchy term like identity theft is created for the problem.

Frame bridging is when

a new frame gains acceptance by drawing supporters whose values already support that frame.

The social problems process refers to how

a problem is identified, discussed, and acted upon.

Which of the following is a position issue?

abortion

A master frame is

an overarching orientation easily adapted to help frame many different issues.

Regarding claims, most audiences

are made up of segments with differing perspectives that can be persuaded by different types of rhetoric

Experts are among the most influential claimsmakers because they

are thought to have special knowledge that qualifies them to interpret problems.

To maintain ownership, a claimsmaker typically needs to

be willing to shift their focus to respond to political and cultural change.

Over time, audiences tend to become:

bored with older claims and more interested in new claims.

Directing claims toward an audience that you already know to be sympathetic to your cause

can energize existing supporters to take wider action.

When a troubling condition piggybacks on a well-established problem, it means that

claimsmakers argue that the new condition is similar enough to the existing problem that if one deserves attention, so does the other.

The term social problems marketplace draws our attention to the fact that

claimsmakers must compete with other claimsmakers for the public's attention.

Frame alignment is the way

claimsmakers must get others to adopt their frame to recruit members.

The need to mobilize resources tends to make organizations within the same social movement

competitors for scarce resources.

Government agencies are typically responsible for

compiling and disseminating information.

When analyzing claims as arguments or statements, the most important thing is

determining whether the audience finds the claim convincing.

In colonial times, people often relied on ministers as experts and thus looked at problems in religious or moral terms, whereas in modern society, we often look to __________ as experts and think about problems in __________ terms.

doctors; medical

Claimsmakers who are activists typically must

draw attention to their cause, recruit allies, and manage operations for their movement.

By arguing that a new troubling condition is like an established type of problem, such as crime or disease, claimsmakers

draw on existing resources already devoted to solving the established type of problem.

Ethos refers to

establishing one's authority and credibility.

Typifying examples are usually

extreme examples that try to catch the audience's attention.

The type of frame alignment that poses the most significant challenge for claimsmakers is

frame transformation

Conscience constituents are people who support a movement

from which they do not expect to benefit personally.

The polity consists of

groups whose interests policymakers typically take into account.

Activists who have established ownership of a particular problem typically

have a frame that is generally acknowledged as the best way to look at the issue.

Most social movements

have both moderate and radical wings that appeal to different groups.

Someone claiming ownership of an issue tends to

help the issue gain and maintain public attention.

The term sociological imagination refers to the emphasis sociologists place on

how culture and social structure shape human experience.

The term resource mobilization refers to a way of looking at a social movement that focuses on the

importance of resources, such as members, money, and organizational skills.

By taking ownership of battered child syndrome, pediatric radiologists

improved the prestige of their profession.

The well-established rhetorical formula for claims about victimization involves claiming that

it is widespread, and serious and extraordinary measures are needed to identify it.

The necessity of operating within the existing cultural resources

limits potential claims somewhat but still leaves many possibilities open

Many modern social movements have shifted their goals from ____________ to ___________.

mobilizing people to action; raising money.

A statistic is a

number used to measure or characterize a situation.

Moderates typically appeal to

older people in the middle class.

Cultural resources are

our shared ideas about how the world should and does work.

Rhetoric is the study of

persuasion

Research questions and answers are typically the most clear-cut in the

physical sciences

During the claimsmaking process, activists and experts typically

provide different and complementary skills.

Which of the following is an example of medicalization?

redefining drug use as a psychological issue rather than as a moral one

Scientific findings become accepted or rejected slowly over time as scientists

repeat their studies.

Our societal focus on assessing risk began with claims that

smoking was detrimental to one's health.

In the Toulmin Model, the claim is

the assertion that you hope to prove.

Saying that science is dependent on the generation of falsifiable theories means that

the claims being made can be tested and rejected if proven false

Frames typically reflect

the claims to which activists predict supporters are most likely to respond.

Subjectivists tend to think of social problems as

the process of responding to social conditions.

An audience's willingness to grant authority to scientists often depends on

the relevance of the scientists' expertise.

When applied to the study of social problems, the term natural history refers to

the sequence of stages that a condition often moves through as it comes to be defined as a problem.

Experts make good claimsmakers because

their use of research methods gives their claims credibility.

It is difficult to design an experiment that assesses risk because

there are many ethical issues.

The term cultural opportunities refers to a situation where

there is something in the larger culture that causes people to become more aware of or sympathetic to a particular type of claim.

Policy outcomes are an important phase of the natural history model because

this is when different constituents react to the social problems process.

A counterclaim to the claim that child abuse has been increasing over the last fifty years would be that

true child abuse is now so uncommon that activists have started labeling some non-abusive behaviors as abuse

Grounds often include assertions regarding the

type of problem being addressed and offer supporting evidence

The argument that something should be. done about motorcycle riders who do not wear helmets to keep health care costs lower is an example of a

warrant

The motivational frame is also known as

warrants

When social movement scholars discuss motivational frames, they discuss what constructionists call

warrants

Valence issues are the kinds of problems that tend to inspire

widespread acceptance of the claims.

Saying that claims tend to take standard forms means that

within a given culture, most claims will tend to have similar elements.