ABSTRACT
Claims-makers try to convince audience members both that a social problem is at hand and that something must be done to resolve it. This chapter discusses the claims-making task of constructing solutions to social problems. In many respects, a social problems formula story, which is the package of claims typifying a condition and the victims and villains in it, almost automatically constructs a prognostic frame. Social problems claims-makers at times achieve social change through changing social policy. Some claims-makers will find their particular interests are "outside" these concerns so there is little chance of being successful in the public policy arena. In addition, some claims-makers believe that it is not a good use of time and energy to focus on changing policy. These claims-makers seek social change through transforming the cultural climate: the ways behaviors or people are socially evaluated. Social problems claims-makers therefore construct prognostic frames that answer audience members' questions about what should be done.
