Social problem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Social problem - Essay Example Clearly, there are a number of factors involved in making social change. Time does play a part but changes normally do not come of their own accord. There are several forces such as political influences, technological innovations, economic changes, legal demands and other catalysts which drive how a social problem can become a social issue that demands action from the people at large (Hill, 2003). An analysis of these forces therefore is very important for all students of sociology and human behaviour since an understanding of these forces can lead to an understanding of how the norms of society change. In many ways, these forces are also connected with each other and certain drivers of social change overlap amongst the factors mentioned above. For example, the media is one source of social awareness which overlaps with technology and with the economy since individuals which are socially better off may have access to various types of media such as the internet and foreign news sources while those in a lower stratum of society may not be aware of such avenues of getting of information (Baldock, 2004). Therefore, it is better if an analysis is made individually for these factors to show they can convert issues into social problem. Perhaps the easiest way today to make an issue a social problem is to bring it into politics and it can easily be used to distract the public from other issues which might be more pertinent or important. For example, the war on terrorism is a prime situation where the attention of the media, the newspapers, public opinion as well as private discussion were all diverted towards the topic and other problems like the genocide in Sudan, the rising poverty levels of the world and the problem of the environmental degradation of the planet due to human activity were all pushed under the carpet. This situation, If not permanently true, was at least very true for the time being. For example, the case of