What is a Social Issue? Flashcards
What are the three core areas of social issues?
Embodied Issues
Political Issues
Economic Issues
What does it mean to study sociology?
The study of ISSUES
“The study of the development, structuring and functioning of human society”
Who were one of the founders of the sociology of sport?
UNESCO- in the 1960’s due to conflicts.
Why are sporting issues so prominent?
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- The visibility of sport in our Media
- The Globalisation of sport
- The Emotion that sport generates
- Because sports have explicit Rules (and are highly competitive, both the scope and motive for rule breaking is high)
- Because sports are thought to be ‘socially Good’. (Coakley, 2015, The GREAT SPORT MYTH
- How does the social Construction of Social Issues take place?
Issues= the subjects that people talk about
=The topics highlighted in the media
= The things that show society isn’t working properly
= Creates the idea that ‘something should be done’= morally right and fair.
(Berger and Luckman, 1996)- BUT WHY certain issues and not others? How does an issue become constructed?
- Who rules? Who sets the agendas?
Different groups have different NORMS and IDEOLOGIES but society has one set of RULES (laws).
= Culture wars, issues seen from different eyes, the outsiders vs those who hold the status quo.
eg: rule 40 of the IOC- places rules and regulations in regards to sponsorship and advertising.
eg: QUATAR WORLD CUP 2022, the rest of the world shunned LGBTQ+ views, migrant workers, BUT is this ETHNOCENTRISM?= the criticism of one culture from the views and values of another.
- Power?
Should not be seen as NVE, a STRUCTURAL PROPERTY of all human relations.
Is CONTESTED and has DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS (political, economic, social capital (Bourdieu)
HARD (military, personnel) AND SOFT (diplomacy, sports washing, propaganda, greenwashing)
Explain Stephen Luke’s three dimensions of power?
A radical view: 1974, upside down triangle
AT THE TOP
SOCIETY- ideological power- the ‘unthinkable aims’ eg: is sport a suitable activity for women? Most dangerous, ability to influence everyones perceptions.
GOVERNING BODY- non-decision making power, who sets the agenda? eg: establish competitors in womens sport
COACH- decision making power- who makes the decisions? eg: establish a womens team.
(Individuals may believe that the are making decisions by their own free will, but are so constrained by the society that they live in, that they cannot fathom any other actions)
- What’s the cycle of Folk Devils and Moral Panics?
(1973- Stanley Cohen)
Media concern= Folk devils, political response= Public calls for action= Political response= Moral Panic= Media concern= FD- a cycle.
- CYCLE of news, behind any story there is a concern of what is newsworthy.
- Explain the concept of Folk Devils and Moral Panics?
(1973- Stanley Cohen)
-For ACTION to be taken, there is usually an exaggeration of the harm being done= MORAL PANIC- panic about the affects and concerns of an issue.
-Always an ATTRIBUTION to a small, stereotypical group of people= FOLK DEVILS- a need to identify a person responsible.
In any social issue, these dual concepts will be together.
- Personal Troubles and Public Issues?
C.W.Mills gives advice on what we sociologists should examine.
eg:
PERSONAL trouble of being dropped from a team
STRUCTURAL issue of drop-out
HISTORICAL issue/ development of professional sport.
- Explain what a Structural issue is?
C.W.Mills
C.W.Mills gives advice on what we sociologists should examine.
- Public negotiation over what issues are/ aren’t socially important
- Certain groups have more power than others when setting agendas
- Public agenda - shaped by the media, OWN MOTIVES.
- Social issue vs Sport scandal?
(Wagner and Storm, 2021)- Theorising the form and impact of sport scandals
Bureaucratic failure- related to ORGANISATIONS
Charismatic failure- related to individuals
What do sociologists do with issues?
-Take high profile PUBLIC issues
-Scrutinise the issue using specific frameworks/ a set of concepts
-De-bunking myths attempting objective analysis and considering BIAS
-Forward a SOCIAL JUSTICE agenda.
Explain Coakley’s ‘Great Sport Myth’ (2015)?
Sport is inherently good and pure
=
The purity and goodness of sport is transmitted to those involved
=
Individual and community DEV
=THE GREAT SPORT MYTH- no need to challenge or study sport critically.
Give an example of people who have challenged the Great Sport Myth?
(Donnelly and Atkinson, 2015)
http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/76391/1/84.pdf#page=115
= challenges the view that sport is a relatively meritocratic sphere of social life that promotes social inequality.
