Social issues vocabulary Flashcards
Poverty
the state of being poor
Unemployment
lack of workplaces.
Might be caused by troubled economics or fast development of technologies able to complete task traditionally completed by humans.
Brain drain
the movement of highly skilled and qualified people to a country where they can work in better conditions and earn more money
Juvenile delinquency
the problem of young people who are not yet adults committing crime
Drug/alcohol abuse
the problem connected with using too much drugs/alcohol
Domestic violence
physical (sometimes psychological) violence inside a family
Descrimination
depriving a cathegory of people of equal rights.
Includes rasism, sexism, ageism etc.
Environmental pollution
contamination of the environment
Illegal immigration
huge traffic of foreigners coming into a country against the law.
Considered as a problem since immigrants might be taking workplaces of the native people and/or forcing their native religious and social traditions.
Gun ownership/gun control
measures to control legal purchases of weapon to prevent crime
Human rights
basic rights of a human being including right to life, liberty and security, equality before the law, freedom of thought, access to information, and protection against descrimination etc
Social inequality
the situation when different social groups have access to different rights and resources, f.e. women get lower salaries than men or poor people have no access to healthcare
Sex education
school subject teaching biological, psychological and social sides of sexual relationships
Abortion
the deliberate ending of a pregnancy at an early stage
Child abuse
the crime of harming a child in a physical, sexual or emotional way
Bullying
the use of strength or power to frighten or hurt weaker people
Increase awareness
make more people realize a problem, not percieve it as norm, make sure they know what to do when facing it
Burning/urgent issue
an issue which has to be solved immediately
Run-down area
an area that is in bad condition
Gap
a metaphor emphisizing big differences and possible misuderstandings between two groups, f.e. generation gap, payment gap, social gap
Long-term/short-term measure
a measure which helps in a long run/immediately
Ban
to forbid sth from happening, make sth illegal, f.e. to ban gun ownership
Hate crime
a crime motivated by hatrid to a group of people, f.e. genocide of black people
Tackle/adress a problem
to attempt to solve a problem
Traffic congestion
too much traffic in a city
Novel solution
a brand new innovative solution
Fresh drive
new attempt to deal with a problem
Volunteer work
socially beneficial work which is not paid for
Strong opinion
an opinion a person is absolutely sure about
Pass a law
to transform a bill into a law
Charity
an organization for helping people in need
Refugee
a person who has been forced to leave their country or home, because there is a war or for political, religious or social reasons
Provide with a shelter
to give a person in need a safe place to stay
Victim to violence
a person who has suffered from violent actions
Deter, a deterrent to sth
to prevent sth from happening by scaring sb, something that makes somebody less likely to do something, f.e. prison is a deterrent to crime
Disabled
unable to use a part of your body completely or easily because of a physical condition, an illness, an injury, etc.; unable to learn easily
Deprive of sth, deprivation
to prevent sb from having or getting sth, f.e. to deprive poor people of basic human rights, economical deprivation
Possible questions to consider:
- What social issues are the most urgent ones in your region/country? What does the govenment/do the local authorities do to solve them?
- Are you socially active? What do you do to help?
- Is prison a good deterrent to crime? Why/why not? What should be done to punish juvenile delinquents?
- What discrimination have you seen/been a victim to? How did you react? What do you think should be done to stop discrimination?
- Is sex education at school necessary? At what age? Why? What kind of sex education have you been provided with? Was it enough?
