One of the most crucial components to this course concerns addressing social problems in society from a sociological viewpoint as opposed to a strictly policy-oriented, psychological, or criminal justice viewpoint. Although many different viewpoints in social science are valid and have a lot of importance, it is equally important for us to understand how sociology looks at the nature of social problems in society today. This presentation will enable us to explore why certain social problems seem to be regarded as more significant than others. Our job will be in defining the sociological viewpoint, and choosing one social problem that we think is of high importance. We will build upon the topic we choose in this presentation for our second and third assignments.

1) Explain how the sociological approach toward social problems differs from other approaches. You must integrate the course text in your answer.

2) Next, using one social problem that exists in society, explain how the sociological imagination allows us to connect a personal trouble with a societal problem.

3) What might be one strategy that could help to reduce or eliminate this social problem?

4) Define two concepts from our text that relate to your chosen social problem and analyze how these concepts help us better understand the social problem you are discussing.

5) Define two sociological theories/perspectives from our text that relate to your chosen social problem and analyze how these theories help us better understand the social problem you are discussing.