Social Problems

401 Pages·2017·1.975 MB·English

by  Joel Best

Social Problems
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Social
Problems
Third Edition
j o e l b e s t
B
W. W. Norton & Company
New York London
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W. W. Norton & Company has been independent since its founding in 1923, when
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Copyright © 2017, 2013, 2008 by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Best, Joel, author.
Title: Social problems / Joel Best.
Description: Third edition. | New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2017] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016016095 | ISBN 9780393283419 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Social problems.
Classification: LCC HN28 .B45 2017 | DDC 306—dc23 LC record available at
https://lccn.loc.gov/2016016095
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110-0017
wwnorton.com
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
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Contents
Figures vii
Boxes ix
A Note to the Reader xiii
Acknowledgments xv
1 The Social Problems Process 3
2 Claims 29
CASE STUDY 7 Threats to the American Dream as a
Cultural Resource 62
3 Activists as Claimsmakers 66
CASE STUDY 7 Mobilizing over Income Inequality 95
4 Experts as Claimsmakers 99
CASE STUDY 7 Forecasting the Future 126
v
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vi Contents
5 The Media and Claims 130
CASE STUDY 7 Democratizing the Means of Media
Production and Reproduction 161
6 Public Reaction 165
CASE STUDY 7 Public Reactions to Epidemics 195
7 Policymaking 199
CASE STUDY 7 Legalizing Marijuana and Same-Sex
Marriage 227
8 Social Problems Work 231
CASE STUDY 7 Responding to Police Violence 260
9 Policy Outcomes 264
CASE STUDY 7 Modifying Student Loans 292
10 Claims across Space and Time 296
CASE STUDY 7 Is Social Problems Theory
Ethnocentric? 325
11 The Uses of the Constructionist Stance 329
Glossary 341
References 349
Index 363
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Figures
1.1 B asic Natural History Model of the Social
Problems Process 19
1.2 R esources and Rhetoric Affect Each Stage
of the Social Problems Process 24
2.1 The Structure of Social Problems Claims 31
2.2 Dynamics Shaping Claims 60
3.1 C laimsmaking by Outsider and Insider
Claimsmakers 67
3.2 Activists’ Concerns in Making Effective Claims 93
4.1 Experts’ Role in the Social Problems Process 125
5.1 The Media’ s Role in the Social Problems Process 159
6.1 The Public’ s Role in the Social Problems Process 192
7.1 Kingdon’ s Policy Stream Model 208
7.2 Policymaking in the Social Problems Process 225
8.1 Social Problems Workers in the Middle 235
9.1 One Social Problems Process Can Inspire Others 273
10.1 B ases for Comparison among Social
Problems Processes 301
11.1 B asic Model of the Social Problems Process 330
11.2 I nteractions in the Social Problems Process 333
vii
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Boxes
1.1 A Weighty Disagreement 7
1.2 Pluto: A Planetary Problem? 13
2.1 T he Basic Recipe: Grounds for Viewing Prescription
Painkillers as a Social Problem 34
2.2 Making Model Immigrants 39
2.3 How Close Do Strange Bedfellows Get? 45
2.4 Different Ways to Expand Bullying’s Domain 49
2.5 Claims and Counterclaims Can Share Warrants 51
2.6 Expanding the Domain of Stockholm Syndrome 56
2.7 Cell Phones and Driving: What’s the Problem? 58
3.1 The Name Mirrors the Frame 71
3.2 Competing Ecological Frames 76
3.3 Someone Has to Ask 78
3.4 A Scandal Creates Opportunities 83
3.5 Choosing Corporate Targets 86
3.6 Consolidating a Cause 90
4.1 Legitimizing Migraine 103
4.2 Disputing Autism Classifications 105
4.3 When Experts Succeed Too Well 108
4.4 Conservatives Losing Confidence in Science 114
ix
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