Full summary of the chapters from Social Problems: A Down to Earth Approach by J. Henslin that were preparatory literature for the course Introduction to Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at Utrecht University. Study ISW. Chapters 1 to 9.
Werkgroepen Introductie Interdisciplinaire Sociale
Wetenschappen – een samenvatting van aantekeningen en
Henslin (2007). Social problems: a down to earth approach.
Schooljaar 2022-2023
Inhoud
Stof werkcollege 1................................................................................................................................. 1
Stof werkcollege 2................................................................................................................................. 3
Stof werkcollege 3................................................................................................................................. 8
Stof werkcollege 4................................................................................................................................. 8
Stof werkcollege 5............................................................................................................................... 12
Stof werkcollege 6............................................................................................................................... 17
Stof werkcollege 7............................................................................................................................... 21
Stof werkcollege 8............................................................................................................................... 26
Begrippenlijst ...................................................................................................................................... 30
H1: How Sociologists View Social Problems: The Abortion Dilemma. ............................................ 30
H2: Interpreting Social Problems: Aging ......................................................................................... 30
H3: Alcohol and Other Drugs .......................................................................................................... 31
H4: Violence in Society: Rape and Murder ..................................................................................... 31
H5: Crime and Criminal Justice ....................................................................................................... 31
H6: Economic Problems: Poverty and Wealth ................................................................................ 31
H7: Inequalities of Gender and Sexual Orientation ......................................................................... 31
H8: Racial-Ethnic Relations ............................................................................................................ 32
H9: Medical Care: Physical and Mental Illness ............................................................................... 32
Stof werkcollege 1
Bronnen:
• Bogt, T., Westerbeek, J. (2015). Social Problems: A Down-to-earth Approach. Utrecht
Universiteit. Gebaseerd op Henslin (2015). Social Problems: A Down-to-Earth Approach.
Pearson Education.
o H1 pagina 1-17 & 23-25
• Werkgroep Introductie ISW op 08-09-2022
Sociological imagination (sociale verbeeldingskracht) → looking at people’s actions and attitudes in
the context of the social forces that shape them. To understand our experiences in life, we must
understand our historical period and the social forces from the time we live in. Also called
sociological perspective. Term by C. Wright Mills.
So, we have to understand how our personal troubles are connected to the broader conditions of our
society. (Voorbeeld: deze generatie kijkt anders naar abortus dan een oudere generatie). But the
sociological imagination also helps us see how larger social forces influence our personal lives. In
places focus on the social context, to see how it shapes or influences our ideas, attitudes, behaviors
and even our emotions, rather than seeing it from our own close-up perspective.
Social context occurs on three levels:
1
,Saskia Ensel (2022-2023)
1. Broad → historical events (war and peace, economic booms etc.)
2. Narrow → gender, race-ethnicity, religion and social class.
3. Intimate/personal → the relationships we have
The three levels come together and make for the way you look at life.
Social location → where you are located in society. This is physical (neighborhood) but also
personal characteristics (education, sex, race, age etc). Voorbeeld: vrouwen die rond de 20 zijn
hebben vaker een abortus dan vrouwen die ouder of jonger zijn. Vrouwen die gehuwd zijn hebben
minder vaak een abortus dan vrouwen die ongehuwd zijn.
Social location does not determine our actions. It just means that people in each corner of life are
surrounded by particular ideas, beliefs and expectations. It helps make predictions about groups but
not individuals.
Social problems → aspects of society that a large number of people are concerned about and would
like changed. These problems are socially constructed (not meaning a pandemic or hurricane),
people decide if it’s a problem or not.
Social problems have two components:
1. Objective condition: a condition of society that can be measured or experienced.
2. Subjective concern: the concern that a significant number of people have about the objection
condition.
Social problems are dynamic. Voorbeeld: vóór 1973 was het voor sommigen een probleem dat
abortus illegaal is. Na 1973 is het voor sommigen een probleem dat abortus legaal is.
Social problems are relative. What some view as a social problem, others see as a solution, this
depends on their values. Voorbeeld: dieven vinden stelen geen problem.
Social problems go through 4 stages (the natural history of social problems).
1. The beginning: pressures for changes
a. Defining the problem → people have to become upset about something
b. Emergence of leaders → leaders appear who have something to say about the
problem. The problem is discussed.
c. Initial organization → organization of leaders in for example medicine, business,
politics and media.
2. The Official response
a. Reactions to the growing pressure → an official response from an organization
b. Reprisal, condemnation, accommodation, cooptation
3. Reaction to the Official Response
a. Taking sides
b. Acts of approval and disapproval
c. Further division of dissident elements.
4. Alternative strategies
a. Continuing controversy
b. New strategies to overcome the opposition → radical activists
These stages don’t have neat boundaries.
Around some social problems, a social movement develops. The trigger is sometimes a dramatic
event that is acute or it can be slow, simmering for decades.
Social problems by sociologists:
• Sociologists can measure objective conditions → they can measure how many abortions are
performed, how women make their decisions etc.
• Sociologists can measure subjective concerns → they can determine people’s attitudes and
views about social problems.
2
,Saskia Ensel (2022-2023)
• Sociologists can apply the sociological imagination → they can place social problems into
their broad social context.
• Sociologists can identify possible social policies → they can suggest potential courses of
actions
• Sociologists can evaluate likely consequences of social policies → they can estimate the
social effects of a proposed social policy
Common sense → the ideas common to our society.
Why not use common sense to solve social problems? => Because some of our ideas are built on
faulty assumptions.
Aantekeningen werkgroep
Elk sociale probleem wordt bekeken vanuit 3 perspectieven:
1. Conflicttheorie → er is strijd over een bepaald vraagstuk; social problems come in two
forms, one is the trouble experienced by people who are exploited by the powerful. The other
is the trouble experienced when the exploited rebel.
2. Symbolisch interactionisme → welke betekenis je aan iets geeft, hoe interpreteren we een
bepaald verschijnsel. If our culture provided different symbols, we would interpret our
experiences differently.
3. Functionalisme → de samenleving is in balans, onbalans komt door disfunctie.
Society is like a well-oiled, self-adjusting machine. Parts of that machine are interrelated,
adjusting to one antoher.
Stof werkcollege 2
• Bogt, T., Westerbeek, J. (2015). Social Problems: A Down-to-earth Approach. Utrecht
Universiteit. Gebaseerd op Henslin (2015). Social Problems: A Down-to-Earth Approach.
Pearson Education.
o H2 pagina 27-46 & 51-53
o H6
• Werkgroep Introductie ISW op 15-9-2022.
INTERPRETING SOCIAL PROBLEMS
Theory = something that explains how to or more concepts are related. A theory gives us a
framework for organizing facts. There are three main theories that sociologists use:
functionalism, conflict theory and symbolic interactionism.
3
, Saskia Ensel (2022-2023)
Functionalism/functional analysis:
Functionalists compare society to a self-
adjusting machine. Each part of the
machine has a function. When a part is
working properly, it fulfils that function
and contributes to stability.
Failures are called dysfunctions,
they can be minor and soon resolved or
they can become a social problem.
Problems often arise after changes (that
happen too fast) in society.
The development of functionalism
Auguste Comte (1798-1857) regarded
society as being similar to an animal: just
as an animal has tissues and organs that
are interrelated and functional together,
so does society.
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) built
on this idea that a society is composed of
parts that perform functions. When
society’s parts perform as they are supposed to a society is in a normal state. When
society’s parts fail to perform their functions, society is abnormal. Durkheim stressed that we
must not only look at function but also at structure: how parts of a society are related to one
another.
Robert Merton (1910-2003) dropped the idea that society is like an animal but refined
functionalism’s concepts. He defined functions as the beneficial consequences of people’s
actions. Functions can be either manifest or latent. Manifest function = an action that is
intended to help some parts of the system. Latent function = consequences that help some
parts of the social system but were not intended for that purpose. Merton stressed that
human actions also have dysfunctions. These are consequences that disrupt a system’s
stability, making it more difficult to survive. Most of the time these are unintended = latent
dysfunctions.
Society is a social system composed of interconnected parts that function together. Each of
those parts, if it is working well, contributes to the equilibrium of society. Equilibrium =
society’s parts are balanced.
Conflict theory
From the conflict perspective, social problems are the natural and inevitable outcome of
struggle over limited resources. Social problems are an outcome of unequal power. No
matter what a social problem may look like, at its essence is conflict between groups. As the
more powerful exploit society’s resources, they oppress the less powerful, creating such
social problems as poverty, discrimination and war.
The development of conflict theory
Karl Marx (1818-1883), the founder of the conflict theory, concluded that the hallmark of
history is a struggle for power. In this struggle, some group always gains the top position,
and, that group oppresses the groups beneath it. Marx also concluded that a major turning
point in this historical struggle occurred when capitalism became dominant in the Western
world. As machinery replaced workers’ tools, the capitalists gained the power to exploit
workers.
Some sociologists have extended conflict theory well beyond the relations between
workers and capitalists. Georg Simmel (1858-1918) compared the relationships of
superordinates (=people who occupy higher positions) with subordinates (=those in lower
positions). Superordinate-subordinate relationships are marked not by one-way power but by
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