Free Custom «Social Problems in the Society» Essay Paper

Racism is one of the most controversial social stories that affect society not only at the local level but in the international level. One causal story on racism is viewing a person from the other race as inferior or undeserving. The fire incident reported in New York is an example of causal effect of racism. According to Smithsimon, (2010), cold-hearted house owners who wanted insurance payoffs instigated the fire. City housing commissioner, Roger Starr said plainly that the poor people living in South Bronx and Brooklyn be were to be removed from their houses. In addition, senior spokesperson complained that New York was in problem because Black and Puerto Ricans flood the city (Smithsimon, 2010).

Another story on racist abuse can be witnessed in the professional soccer games. It is quite common to find players with African decent being abused on racial grounds, that they are too inferior to be compared with other players. Soccer fans have been in the forefront in encouraging racial abuse during games by intimidating African players. They throw bananas to the ground meaning that the Africans are closer to monkeys. Finally, another causal story on racism is the way the White American voters in the Blue states reacted to the second win of President Obama. Some called the win ‘sic’ because they perceive the person to be politically inferior.

Racism among the out-groups in American requires the changing the psychological mindset of the people. The racist fans should be made to understand that personal judgments only curtail the development in the global community. Wrong personal judgments also affect the minority when they interpret genuine statements as racist abuses. “Indeed, in some cases eliminating racism requires eliminating envy and jealousy,” (Levine, 2003).

In addition, racist abuses give superiority to the majority groups after the emergence of racial discrimination in the United States. Hence, changing the psychological mindset of the people is a remedy to solving racism. A number of organizations have been formed to champion this cause. For instance, European Network Against Racism (2012) resolved to “looking at the bigger picture and driving change towards a strong inclusive society that takes care of everybody, generates equal opportunities for all.”

Policy Stream Model

Policy stream model is a traditional policymaking framework that has temporary and functionally different stages. The recognizable stages in the model include:

• Problem identification stage; in this stage any discontented person, group or an organization let others understand the problem or social issues as discussed above.
• Agenda setting stage; this stage involves focusing the government’s attention the issues identified in the first stage.
• Development of policy proposals; at this stage, various stakeholders hold forums to discuss the issues and possible ways of resolving the issues. At this stage there is likely to be scramble for attention and the need to be heard.
• Adoption of policies; the policies developed in stage three are adopted via an identified framework.
• Implementation of policies; the government normally takes charge during implementation of the polices by providing resources and finance.
• Evaluation of policies; after successful implementation of the policies, all stakeholders including the government reassess the effectiveness of the policies and make possible changes if necessary

Effects of Poll Results on Racist Chants

The first effect of poll results on the social issue is that is leads to reconsideration for further funding in the implementation stage. The implementation of suggested policies to curb racist chants should be sustainable if the campaigns are to bear fruit. One way of knowing that implementation of the policies have been successful is by conducting polls to assess the mood of the people on that particular issue. If the policies are popular then they should be held. However, if the policies do not yield results, they should be changed.    

If the poll results are inaccurate, there is likely to be misguided policy creation and amendment. Non-reflective polls can lead to amendment of good policies because they may be viewed an ineffective. Elimination of good policies would be detrimental as that may mean that the social problem identified above will persist in the society. Inaccurate poll results may come from biased reporting to give wrong information on problems that affect the out-groups.

Use of Focus Group in Favor of Survey

The need to make loans more accessible to students is an issue that elicits different opinions among students. While others think that it should be made easier, others are opposed to making the process simple. In a bid to find out the popular take, I can use my little resources to pay for a focus group instead of survey. A focus group in research refers to a sampled audience with special and common problem that affects the group. In this case, the focus group will be comprised of students who either take loan or do not take loan to fund their education. Since the loan issue affects this group most, they are better placed to make strong argument in a special sitting where I will interview them. Unlike use of surveys, focus groups would give instant result. I will also be able to ask them all my research questions and still get their other opinions on issues that I may have overlooked. Through face-to-face interaction, there are little chances of misinterpretation of the questions.      

Appealing to the Media

One way of catching media attention is through publication of articles touching on the social problems that I advocate for. To get good publication, I will liaise with top publication firms to help and advice me on how to write a good article. Media respect certain publishers and they are less likely to ignore articles approved by them. Another strategy would be to do a controversial story as media like controversy. Thirdly, I can resort to sending numerous emails to the media houses seeking an audience with them. The forth option would be persist in seeking attention even when I am ignored. Finally, I can seek attention through a third party; who is influence in the society or maybe a celebrity.   

Medicalization

It refers to the process through which an individual’s human condition or a social problem is considered and treated as a medical condition. As a medical condition, a victim of social is treated just like one would be treated when suffering from a medical condition. Medicalization can resolve the people perception of the social problems in the society in three different ways. Through medication, victims of psychological torture can be treated and counseled. The other way through which medicalization influences the way people think is by helping those affected to change their social attitudes. It can also use economic empowerment to settle the affected psychologically.  

Four Types of Frame Alignments

• Frame bridging; bringing different groups opposing a social issue together as long as their ideological frameworks are compatible. The frame may be structurally insignificant but share same public opinion
• Frame amplification; this frame clarifies a given social problem using based on exploration of the values and tenets in the society.
• Frame extension; at this stage the representation of the frame are extended to other participants in order to incorporate the ideals set in the first frame.

Frame transformation; this is where the individualistic frames do not link up with the group frames or other individuals’ frames. Tolerance is called for when the frames are difficult to harmonize (Opp, 2009).