CHAPTER XII: SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND SOCIAL CHANGE

SECTION I: WHAT IS A SOCIAL PROBLEM?

The society has been said to be a place where human being meet and interact.
Socialization takes place all the time inside the society. However, the society is not at perfect
shape all the time. As a matter of fact, problems in the society seem to be a natural occurrence
which can be found in all societies all over the globe. A social problem can be defined as a
social condition or a pattern of behavior that harms some individuals or all people in a society
and that a sufficient number of people believe warrants public concern and collective action to
bring about social change (Kendal 2010). A social condition can only be considered as a
problem if it has harmful effects on other people or the entire population of the society. A social
problem is also believed to be addressed in policy making legislations. A social problem is also
associated with social change.
In this chapter, we will try to look into some of the different social problem that besiege
the society.

USING SOCIAL RESEARCH METHODS TO STUDY SOCIAL PROBLEMS

The research method has been discussed in the second chapter of this book. It can be
defined as a systematic process of collecting data and analytically analyzing gathered data to
formulate conclusions a social research can make use of quantitative or qualitative research. A
quantitative research is a research process whereby the data gathered can be numerically
measured through the use of statistical means. A qualitative research on the other hand is a
research process whereby the data gathered is in the form of interpretative descriptions which
can be hardly analyzed by statistics.
Here are the three most commonly used research methods by sociologists:
1. Field research- it is the study of social life in its natural setting: observing and
interviewing people where they live, work and play (Kendall 2010).in this type of
research, the sociologists observes the behavior of the test or research subject by
participating in their activities. During such time, the researcher gathers valuable
information that will serve as data for research.
2. Survey research- it is the type of research whereby the researcher asks certain
respondents to answer a survey questionnaire about a specific subject and records their
responses to be analyzed. It is conducted by the researching by looking for the proper
respondents to answer questions regarding a specific topic. After the researchers
collects the responses, they now treat them as valuable data to their research. The data
gathered will go either quantitative or qualitative treatment.
3. Secondary analysis of existing data- it is a type research method utilized by
sociologists to analyze secondary data which was originally gathered by another
researcher for some other purpose. This research method is very useful when data is
already available. The researchers will simply collect existing data and will treat it
according to the theoretical framework of his own research. Most of the time, this
method utilizes content analysis which is a systematic evaluation and examination of
cultural artifacts or written documents to extract thematic data and draw conclusions
about some aspect of social life.
SECTION II: SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Poverty
Poverty is a social problem that is experienced by many third world and
developing countries. It could be characterized as a kind of social problem whereby
people find it difficult to sustain their day to day needs. However, the treatment of
poverty may be different from the perspective of a high income, middle income and low-
income societies. High income societies are those which are highly industrialized and
advanced in their fiscal administration and have a relatively high national and personal
income. Middle income societies are those experiencing an undergoing transformation
from agrarian way of life into industrial way of life. The last kind of society according to
its economy are low income societies. These societies are agrarian societies with little
industrialization. The national and personal income of a low-income society is also low
compared to the other kind of societies.
Poverty is affected by the life chances of individuals living in the society.
Individuals experiencing poverty have little access to basic human needs such as health
care, food and shelter, clothing and education. Thus, poor people often times are
deprived of their basic needs because they cannot afford to buy such things. In a world
where industrialization is the trend, people who are not equipped with the proper
capacities will be impoverished. Poverty in extreme cases can even escalate into what
sociologist call absolute poverty. In a state of absolute poverty, people can no longer
provide for their basic needs especially food, shelter and clothing. Thus, you will see
many cases of absolute poverty in the Philippines where people are just sleeping on the
streets or under bridges with not enough food and decent clothing that can protect them
from the forces of nature.
Poverty is not just an ordinary occurrence in the society as what most people
believe especially those living in the third world countries or the low-income nations.
Poverty is a social problem that is harmful not only to human physical conditions but to
human dignity as well. Everyone has the right to live a decent life with a fair chance of
survival. This prompted many governments of the world to exert the necessary effort to
combat poverty and raise the standard of living for their people. Even the family of
nations is doing its best to eradicate poverty and alleviate the suffering experienced by
poor people all over the world.
The causes of poverty can be seen in different lights. On can be inclined to think
that poverty is cause by the lacking of individual effort to improve his life. This could be
true but one should also look in the social structures that harbor the tendency of poverty.
There is unequal distribution of national wealth that is acquired through the consolidated
effort of the all workers but it seems that the workers have no proportionate share of the
income derived from their labor. This approach is the conflict theory espoused by none
other that Karl Marx. The capitalist continue to dominate the economic activity of the
state that belittling the efforts of the proletariats. The government at present is trying to
act on this predicament by the introduction of the concept of social justice. Social justice
rests on the concept of humanization of laws which implies that in order to strike a
balance between the humongous discrepancy between the rich and the poor, the state
will see to it that those who have less in life should have more in law. An example of this
is a project of the government to construct a public cemetery for the dying poor man who
has no means for proper and decent burial. The state will allot public for such project
even though not everyone will be benefited by that project.

Inequality
Inequality is a natural consequence of poverty. People will be unequally treated
because of poverty. People who are poor will have little or no access at all to the basic
commodities of life such as food, clothing, shelter, health care and education. This is so
because poor people cannot afford to pay for these very expensive basic commodities.
The Rich people on the other hand have more than enough to provide from themselves
and their family. Inequality results in when some people cannot access basic needs in
the same manner as how people can. However, inequality does not only arise because
of wealth although it could be the most prominent source of inequality just as the
philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau had claimed in his essay “On the Origin of
Inequality”. Inequality can also be brought racial, ethnic, gender and age issues.
Inequality can result when people cannot get access to basic goods because of their
race, ethnicity, gender and age. This was discussed in the chapter on social stratification
thus will no longer be elaborated in this chapter.

The Sex Industry

In the Philippines and as well as almost all the countries of the world, the sex
industry is prevalent even though it is banned and even penalized by the criminal laws of
states. The sex industry could be roughly characterized as a means of living facilitated
through sexual exploitation most especially of women and children. The sex industry is
associated most of the time with prostitution and pornography which could be extensive
topics by themselves. These acts are considered by the society as immoral, unethical,
illegal and evil. However, despite all the society’s objections the sex industry is very
much alive all over the world.

Prostitution
Prostitution can be narrowly defined as the sale of sexual services (of oneself or
another) for money or goods and without emotional attachment (Kendall 2010). It is the
sale of sexual services for the pleasure of another person. It is mostly done without any
personal or emotional attachment between the prospective client and the prostitute.
Prostitutes are those persons who sell themselves to be exploited sexually for money or
goods. The profession of prostitution is also not limited to women alone, men and as well
as children could be involved in the social problem. At present, prostitution also makes
use of technology such as the internet for easy access for their patrons and clients.
Prostitution has been regarded by people as the oldest existing profession
because it can be found in all recorded history. There were times when it is allowed but
there were more instances when it was considered as immoral. Prostitutes were also
associated most of the time to an indecent woman. Today, prostitution is an illegal act in
the Philippines but the prostitutes are to be regarded as victims and not criminals. They
are considered victims because their social conditions prompted them to become
prostitutes. If given the chance, prostitutes will choose a different way of life. The people
who induce people to become prostitutes and the patrons are the ones that are put to
criminal prosecution.
 Pornography
Not only prostitution is the major part of sex industry. Pornography is considered
as a social problem related to the sex industry. Pornography is the graphic depiction of
sexual behavior through pictures and/or words- including by electronic or other data
retrieval systems- in a manner that is intended to be sexually arousing (Kendal 2010).
Pornography is seen by many as an obscene exhibition of sexuality. It was regarded as
a social problem because it utilizes a kind of sexual exhibition that is regarded by the
society as immoral because it is a kind of exploitation for women. It also induces other
people who watch it to be sexually stimulated and sometimes results in a commission of
a crime such as rape and acts of lasciviousness.

Alcoholism and Drug Addiction

Alcoholism and drug addiction are two kinds of addiction that are recognized by
the society as harmful to oneself but to other people as well. Many crimes are
associated with the use of alcohol and prohibited drugs. An intoxicated person and a
person under the influence of drugs are likely to commit a crime. In this way, alcoholism
and drug addiction is considered as a social problem.

Alcohol Use and Abuse

The use of alcohol is not necessarily a social problem. The use of alcohol is
actually seen as normal in the ordinary course of everyday life. Alcoholic beverages
include beer, wine and liquor. An alcoholic beverage is a liquid substance which if taken
can induce a person into an intoxicated condition. Alcohol and alcoholic beverages has
three generic terms in which ethyl alcohol or ethanol is consumed. These three kinds of
beverages are:
1. Wine- it is made from the fermentation of some fruits which can roughly contain 12-14
percent of ethanol.
2. Beer- it is brewed from grains which can contain up to 3-6 percent of ethanol.
3. Liquor- is a kind of alcoholic beverage which can contain 40 (80% proof) to 50 (100%
proof) percent of ethanol. Examples of these are scotch and whiskey, vodka and gin.
Alcoholic drinks are considered by many as allowable inside the society because it is
often used in social gatherings. Many states even allow the selling of alcoholic
beverages. However, alcoholic drinks are categorized as a psychoactive drug which is
actually depressant drug which lowers the activity of the central nervous system. When a
person is under the influence of alcohol, many of his cognitive faculties are impaired
making his judgement unreliable. The intake of alcohol is actually dangerous to an
individual. An individual can lose many of his physical and as well as mental functions
because the functions of the nervous system are being impaired. Too much alcohol at
times can even induce a person to the state of being comatose or worse, even death.
Medical experts categorize drinking patterns into four patterns. These are:
1. Social drinkers- these drinkers are associated with occasional drinking and most of
the time tolerable and even desirable in a social environment.
2. Heavy drinkers- these drinkers are frequent drinkers who consume large quantities
of alcohol and have a great tendency to become intoxicated.
3. Acute alcoholics- these drinkers have trouble in controlling their desire for alcohol
intake and will even plan their schedule of drinking.
4. Chronic alcoholics- these people already lost their control over their drinking
activities and will even drink anytime of the day when opportunity presents itself.
These drinkers already exhibit compulsive behavior towards drinking.

Drug use and Abuse

There are many drugs that are open for the consumption of the public. However,
there are also drugs which barred by the state for public consumption. In the
Philippines these drugs which cannot be used by anyone on any occasion are called
illegal or prohibited drugs. For the sake of our discussion here, a drug can be
generally defined as a chemical substance other that food or drinks which when
taken by individual can induce him to do unintended actions or alter his functions in
some way.
Drugs can be utilized for various purposes. It can be used for medicinal purposes
or recreational purposes. However, if left unchecked, it could result into drug abuse
and such drug abuse can result into drug addiction. Drug addiction or drug
dependency can be defined as a psychological and/or physiological need for a drug
to maintain a sense of ell-being and avoid withdrawal symptoms (Kendall 2010).
When drug addiction happens, the victim can no longer control his urge to take in
drugs.in short, the person can no longer live with the use of such drugs. When a drug
addiction discontinues the use of drugs, he then experiences an uncomfortable
feeling called withdrawal. Withdrawal leads to a psychological and/or physiological
symptoms that creates to the addicts mind that he needs a drugs to survive.

Crimes
An act constituting a crime is considered by the society as harmful to the safety
of the entire membership in the society. However, a particular undesirable act is not
necessarily a crime unless a law defines it as a crime and provides for its penalty.
The concept of crimes has been already elaborated in the chapter on deviance so it
will no longer be elaborated in this chapter.

Problems in the Family

The family as the basic unit of the society stand as the foundation of the society.
It is characterized by strong familial ties that are often times rest on moral and
emotional grounds. What could happen then if the family will lose its strength as the
foundation of the society? What if the family will be broken down to tiny pieces?
Where will people turn to for protection, guidance and social security? One thing is
for sure, if the family is gone, the society will not be as it used to be. Things will be
definitely different.
Here is a list of some family related issues that has a large impact to the family
and as well as to the society in general.
1. Decline of the family values- the family is the source of empowerment for
individuals who feel threatened by the outside world. It is also the first source of
social learning which the individuals will use when they go out to the society. It is
in the family that individuals learn values that they will need in order to live in
harmonious life inside the social world. However, families of todays are no longer
 functioning as it used to in order times. The family is slowly becoming a mere
small utilitarian community where an individual needs to be reared until he is
capable of providing on his own. It is true that family provides for individuals
when they are not yet capable of providing for themselves but there is more to it
than meets the eye. The value of a strong family tie is now being challenged by
the modern world.
2. Infidelity among husbands and wife- the family is built in the strong love existing
between husband and wife. This so called love or affection can be expressed
through affection and care. This builds trust inside the family circle. Once this
trust is destroyed by infidelity, it often results to the marriage being broken.
3. Broken family- once the husband and wife parts way with each other through
annulment, divorce and legal or de facto separation, they will go their separate
ways and will live their children in a state of confusion not only that it can create
confusion, there will also be a problem when it comes to the rearing of the
children since the parents can no longer fulfill this role together.
4. Domestic violence- domestic violence when the husband inflicts physical
violence against his wife. This can prove to be a very problematic and traumatic
experience not only for the wife but also to their children.
5. Child abuse- this happens when child is acutely battered by his parents and
creates a physical and as well as psychological impairment to the child. This will
hinder the development of a child into a fully grown responsible individual.
6. Child labor- many families in the poor countries tend to utilize children for manual
labor. Children who are supposed to be in school are actually working hard to
earn a living for their family. This problem creates a chain reaction to the future of
the society because the next generation since they exhausted all their time and
effort for manual labor can no longer be trained for other specialized job that will
shape the future of the society.
Problems in the Media
The media that serves a very powerful medium in the dissemination of
information that leads to socialization. The problems of media today are often
unnoticed but are prevalent and rampant. Media is a business so meaning to say
it is designed not actually to help the society but for profit. With this, media
sometimes through broadcast, print and movie industries are moved by profit
rather than by social responsibility. With this, media makes use of what will be
enticing to the clientele even if it is sometimes considered as immoral and
against decency. A very good example of this is a commercial where a beautiful
sexy woman half-dressed advertising particular item. In this way the consumer is
enticed to watch the advertisement but in the process may influence the
audience most especially an unguided minor to think of erotic things that can
escalate into a commission of an undesired act.
Population Growth
There is actually no need to explain how population growth can trigger a
social problem. The state only has a limited number of resources which cannot
be simply exhausted in one sweeping manner. It has to be stretched and utilized
in a systematic manner in order for the survival of the entire nation. Now, the
population growth if left unchecked can consume a large portion of the state’s
resources. This can lead to other social problems such as poverty, high crime
rates and hunger.

SECTION III: SOCIAL CHANGE AS THE SOLUTION TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Social problems tend to destroy the structure of the society and can even
create a pandemonium among social institutions. Social problems are
detrimental to both the society and the individual. Since social problems could be
seen as entrenched in the structure of the society itself, the best solution for
social problems is social change. Social change can be narrowly defined as the
alteration, modification or transformation of public policy, culture or social
institutions over time. Such transformation in the structure of the society cannot
simply happen overnight. It involves a slow and steady process of change which
is often times triggered by human adaptation to social problems. In reality, all the
things we have discussed in this book so far are dimension of social change. It
was once said that the only thing that is permanent in this world is change. This
implies the change happens all the time even though we cannot notice the entire
process.
Characteristics of Social Change
In order to understand better how social change social change affects the
society, it will be helpful to look at the characteristics of social change.

Social change happens all the time

Some societies change faster compared to other societies but even
though change cannot be measured through constant terms, change still
happens all the time. Changed is a force that cannot be stopped. It happens
even though people may find it uncomfortable and may even try to hinder it.

Social Change is sometimes Intentional but Often Unplanned

Social change can be intentional, deliberate and planned. In this way can
predict and even plan ahead of time regarding the changes that they want to take
effect in the society. A very good example of this is when people enact a
constitution or when a legislature enacts a law. Both the constitution and law will
outline social order. In this way change can deliberately effected.
Social change even if can deliberately made often times unplanned and
unforeseen. No matter how the society tries to deliberately enact the social
system through legislations the fact still remains that most of the things
happening in the socials setting are unplanned.

Social Change is Controversial

Social change just happens most of the time. People find it difficult to
adjust to it. However, no matter how controversial social change is, people can
still improvise ways to adjust to it.

Some Changes matter more than others

 Some changes are important to the society while some are not that
important. Some changes may seem to be significant to other people while
insignificant to other people. Social change can also be helpful for some but
harmful to others.

 Innovation
People often used old solutions in order to answer new problems. This are situations
when old solutions can remedy new problems but when these old solutions are no longer
capable of answering the needs of the current situations, innovation becomes necessary.
Innovation can generally be defined as a modification of old solutions in order to answer current
problems. Innovation includes a change in the structure of ideas that will adopt to the present
predicament.
Innovation can influences cultural, social and political changes. This happens when the
old mode of doing things is no longer capable of providing efficient solutions to modern
problems. People are required to think beyond the past and even the present in order to
innovate.

 Diffusion
There are many diverse cultures all around the world. A particular culture has many
traits unique to it. However, there is a great possibility that these various cultures will interact
and thus creating diffusions among cultures. Diffusion takes place when a certain cultural trait is
shared to other cultures. Diffusion happens through many facets of the process of socialization.
At present, diffusion becomes very feasible with the emerged of technological
implements such as media, internet, telecommunications and social media among other things.
The technological evolution is also coupled by rapid globalization. When these things are added
to the equation, diffusion becomes prevalent and can even create or start social, political and
cultural changes.

 Acculturation
Acculturation takes place when a minority group in a particular society adopts the culture
of the majority group without totally obliterating their old cultural traditions. These are instances
in a society when a minority group wants to be a part of the larger group in order to feel that
they belong. However, the minority group still retains the substance of their original culture. This
can be seen from ethnic group dressing like ordinary people but still practices their ancient
cultural traditions.

 Assimilation
Assimilation can be considered as the vice versa of acculturation. Assimilation happens
when members of the minority group in the society adopt the culture of the majority but unlike in
acculturation, in assimilation the minority totally abandons their original cultural traditions.

Social Contradictions and Tensions

Not everything inside the society is at all times fine and smooth-sailing. As a matter of
fact, the society is often times plagued by many conflicts and tension among the many members
of the society. These conflicts arise from many factors that lurk around social life for time
immemorial and are still continuing to besiege the society at present.

Inter-ethnic Conflicts
Since people belonging to many different ethnic groups, they are also immersed in
different cultural orientation. It is but normal to expect people from different cultural origin to
dissent in opinion. However, the problem arises when the conflict becomes large in scale that it
disturbs social peace.

Class Struggle
It has been discussed in the previous chapters most especially in the discussion on
inequality and social conflict theory that the society according to Karl Marx is actually under
constant conflict between the upper class or the capitalists and the lower class or the laborers.
The source of the conflict can be rooted from the modes of production and the relations of
productions this simply means that there is an unfair distribution of wealth among the capitalists
and laborers. This unfair treatment originates from the very structure of the capitalists society
itself.

Armed Conflict
When the situation inside the society worsens due to heightened inequality and dismay
in governance, this could result in an armed conflict. This happens when the people decided to
take up arms against the authority or the government. An armed conflict is detrimental to the
society as a whole because it involves violence as a means to obtain what the people want.
However, not all revolutions are dreaded by history. Some revolutions by armed conflict actually
helped shape the society into a better society with a more efficient governance just like the
glorious revolution in England.

Terrorism
Terrorism is a major threat to many social institutions and sometimes even the society
itself. Terror groups are fueled by a kind of idealism that is against the popular ideology in the
society. Terrorists want to alter the present social system and replace it with their own. This is
often times done through indiscriminate violence with an end result of victimizing the innocent
and non-combatants.

Protests
Protests are ordinary form of voicing out of the grievance of a particular group of people.
This usually takes place in a democratic regime which allows freedom of expression hence it will
be fruitful to discuss the idea of freedom of expression in the Philippine context in order to fully
appreciate protests.

The Right to Freedom of Expression

Freedom expression is a cherished right in a democratic regime. As a matter of fact it is
a preferred right in a society that dwells within the axis of freedom and liberty. If it will be given a
military rank vis-à-vis the other constitutional rights, it will definitely have the rank of a general
together with the other preferred rights such as the freedom of religion. Expressing one’s
opinion regarding the social and political concerns of the state is the essence of a democratic
and republican government. Without which, there will be no democracy to speak of. The
flowering of the right of freedom of expression is the height of democratic blessings. Public
concerns cannot be monopolized by the government alone. The people also have the right to
participate and do its part in matters concerning public interest. This is the main reason why
freedom of expression exists. It serves not only as an instrument of public participation but also
a guarantee that the right to speak will never perish as long as there is democracy.
Giving the far-reaching extent of freedom of expression, it does not cover purely private
matters. The right to freedom of expression merely guarantees freedom in expressing opinion
involving matters in public concern. It is a guarantee that the people can always voice out its
cries regarding things that touch the bottom of social order and the general welfare of the
people. It also serves as a power to check the governmental actions that tends to be arbitrary
and insensitive to the grievances of the people. Freedom of expression also covers the right to
say things that are not acceptable to the common folks. Even if there is only but one person who
believes in such unorthodox ideas, it will still be allowed. It also includes the right to be silent. An
individual has the right to say his piece and speak his mind but he also possess the right
contrary to it which is the right not to say it.

Gender Issues
Gender issues are also at the forefront of social issues today that has the tendency to
escalate into a full-blown social conflict. Before only equality among men and women are the
concern of gender movement but right now, it also includes gays, homosexuals and lesbianism.
This topic has been substantially discussed on the chapter concerning stratification.