Origins of Social Problems

Robert Heiner, in his book Social Problems: An Introduction to Critical Constructionism, tackles the root causes of the pernicious problems facing our society. According to Heiner, social problems are: (1) acts and conditions that violate the norms and values present in society and (2) societally induced conditions that cause psychic and material suffering for any segment of the population (Heiner, 9). These two differing factors set up a dichotomy in the way we can approach problems. We can view problems as individual problems or societal problems. The person-blame approach assumes that the individual is at fault for the problem and that the only way to rectify the problem

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aistline? Heiner would note that social norms change over time, and that this change is at the heart of deviance and the number of different ways in which deviance can be considered. Deviance is, at heart, difference from the norm although as a result of its negative connotations it is a rarely used term. According to Heiner, deviant behavior is any "activity that violates the norms of an organization, community, or society" (Heiner, 19). Individual deviance is something that occurs every day. What is far more pernicious, however, is institutionalized deviance, when "the organization of society in and of itself causes harm to some of its members" (Heiner, 20). Social norms change over time, but they do not necessarily change by themselves. Often, there are special interest groups that work to effect changes in our society's norms that will benefit them. Sometimes, these changes in our society's norms effected by special interest groups can engender social problems. In order to visualize the evolution of deviancy, Heiner provides us with a figure that shows how actors within society push social norms towards deviancy. In Figure 1 below, A represents the predominant social norm. B represents something that has the potent
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Approximate Word count = 1660
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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