Contemporary Social Problems - Essay Example

Contemporary Social Problems Q. How do different values, beliefs and norms affect the definition of social problems Societal induced conditions that harm the different aspects of the society and violate the rules, regulations and values of a society cover the definition of social problem. There are objective social realities like poverty, racism, sexism etc that cause social problems of material or psychological anguish to the people and they form part of such a definition. However, subjective factors always occupy a position in the definition of social problems.

The myths, stereotypes and official dogma that exist at the time also affect the definition. The study of social problems is never value-free. We cannot just accept the definitions of social problems made by those who enjoy power, and the media act as mediators of such a definition. The values, beliefs, and norms of the society are determined by the powerful groups that affect the definition of the social problems. Thus, the definition about the social problems that we arrive at is actually manipulated and partially distorted. Q. What is the sociological imagination How does it apply to the study of social problems Why is it important The study of social problems needs to be based on the sociological imagination.

By and large, people tend to limit the scope of studies on social problems to isolated and individual events like slavery or alcoholism, ignoring the relation of these with other major aspects of society like the culture, economy, religion or other social systems. The ability to make out the relationship of isolated experiences and the larger society in all its aspects is what we understand from the term sociological imagination. It is vital that we define the personal problems in terms of the larger historical changes and institutional contradictions.

We need to understand both the individual life and the course of the world simultaneously. This kind of a study about the social problems is the need of the day as we are what we study. (Long, 2007). Q. What are a socialist's and a capitalist's notion of human nature The common notion about the human nature is that it agrees with the capitalist views whereas totally disagrees with the socialist thinking. The common saying that "socialism is a great idea, but people are generally greedy" makes this view clear.

However, the socialist notion about the human nature is not that pessimistic as it is thought to be. It is true that socialism considers human nature as greedy, selfish and individualistic where as capitalism considers such aspects in people as natural to their character. Capitalism believes in the fighting nature of individuals whereas the other trusts the urge in human nature to fight for the common good. These are the basic paradigms for the two ideologies. As against the capitalist thinking that has naturalized the basic instincts in human nature like greed and individualism, socialists consider the human nature as fighting for the common good. Q. Democracy and capitalism are often treated as being the same.

Are they really equal types of systems Explain their differences and similarities. The discussion about the relation between capitalism and democracy is much less today though the significance of such a differentiation is highly relevant. It will be an overt simplification of the matter to consider both as same. Democracy is a process that organizes us to perform capitalism. Capitalism and democracy corroborates in a way to tell the 'what' and the 'how' of present time respectively. Democracy in its complete form comes in the capitalist world system.

Modern democracy is much assisted by capitalism in its formation and the two are mutually supportive. However, there are definite demarcations between their meanings. Capitalism is inherently nihilistic or pessimistic as opposed to democracy. Capitalism is just a system of economy whereas democracy is a system of governance that affects the dealings of the capitalist system. They are entirely different systems when we consider them in the sociological perspective. There are ever more distinguishing characteristics between the two and they are not the same or the equal types of systems.

References Long, Russ. (May 27, 2007). Social problems, Chapter 1, the Sociological Approach to Social Problems. Retrieved October 31, 2007, from http://www.delmar.edu/socsci/rlong/problems/chap-01.htm