understanding social problems

Question 1

what is a personal problem

Answer 1

causes and solutions lie within the individual and their immediate environment

Question 2

what is a social problem

Answer 2

causes and solutions lie outside the individual and their immediate environment

Question 3

what are solutions to personal problems

Answer 3

individual strategies

Question 4

what are solutions to social problems

Answer 4

collective action

Question 5

what is structural functionalism

Answer 5

focuses on social systems and the way in which their interdependent parts maintain order

Question 6

what is conflict theory

Answer 6

focuses on the contradictory interests of groups, inequalities in society and the resulting conflict and change

Question 7

symbolic interactionism

Answer 7

this focuses on the interactions between individuals and the ways in which social life is constructed through interaction

Question 8

what are the three theoretical perspectives in sociology

Answer 8

structural functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism

Question 9

what are the levels of social problems

Answer 9

individual, group, societal, and global levels