Alayna’s Social Problems Blog

  Aging, health, and medicine are important topics because they affect everyone. Aging is not just about getting older in years. Chronological age means the number of years a person has been alive. There is also social age, which refers to changes in a person’s roles and relationships as they grow older. For example, someone may retire from work or become a grandparent. As people live longer, the United States has more older adults than before. This is sometimes called the “graying of society.” Health means a person’s physical, mental, and social well-being. Medicine is the system that works to prevent and treat illness, and health care is the service people receive from doctors and hospitals. Even though the United States spends more money on health care than other countries, not everyone has equal access. Poor adults are more likely to have serious health problems. Women usually live longer than men, but they also experience more health conditions like osteoporosis and autoimmu...

  Understanding Social Problems Labels: SYG 2010, Understanding Social Problems A social problem is any condition or behavior that has negative consequences for large numbers of people and is recognized as something that needs to be addressed. There are two important parts to this definition: the objective component and the subjective component. The objective component refers to measurable harm, such as poverty rates or unemployment statistics. The subjective component refers to whether people believe the issue needs attention. If society does not see something as a problem, it may not receive action or policy changes. The idea of the social construction of social problems explains how issues become recognized through awareness and claims-making. For example, before the 1970s, sexual assault was not widely recognized as a major social problem even though it existed. Through activism and increased awareness, it became acknowledged as a serious public issue. C. Wright Mills introduc...