ABSTRACT
Social problems are objective conditions, elements in human social environment that should be examined to determine their magnitude, causes, consequences, and resolutions. This is the perspective of daily life and, until recently, the most popular perspective among academics studying social problems. Spanking in United States was constructed as a form of "parental discipline". It was evaluated by most Americans as something that was necessary—even good—for children. In "The Changing Meanings of Spanking", Philip W. Davis examines how some people now construct spanking as a form of "child abuse", as a condition that must be eliminated. "Bullying" is an all-purpose term encompassing negative, uncivil behaviors in workplace. Frank Furedi examines "Bullying as a Social Problem in Great Britain", and considers how Great Britain and United States differ and how those differences lead to different evaluations of same condition. What is—and what is not—evaluated as social problem depends on the characteristics of social, political, and cultural environments in which the condition exists.
