Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of the book. The book provides a definition for social problems and establishes the ground for the empirical study of social problems. It examines in detail the leading contemporary expression of the traditional functionalist formulation of social problems. The book describes the efforts to conceptualize the definitional process as the subject matter of a sociology of social problems. It explores why definitional processes should have escaped the systematic attention of social problems theorists—even those who intentionally set out to make them the focus of their investigations. The book presents the definition of social problems, relying heavily on the notion of claims-making and responding activities. It also provides a hypothetical model to guide subsequent social problems research. The book focuses on the efforts that are used for the formulation developed to organize assignments and projects for an undergraduate course in social problems.