Systemic and Individual Explanations to the Study of Social Problems

The main objective of the assignment is to introduce students to the way sociologists study social
problems that is distinguishable from other methods of studying/explaining social problems (i.e.,
explanations typically found in peoples’ everyday conversations, explanations provided by other
disciplines, or explanations provided by the media). Specifically, this assignment is designed to
introduce students to the way of explaining social problems by looking at the larger factors in
society (“system-blame” explanations) versus explanations that look at the attributes and actions
of individuals (“person-blame” explanations). In addition, this assignment is designed to test
student’s critical thinking and communication skills.
The full set of the objectives of this assignment is listed below:
1. Defining two main theoretical approaches to study social problems
2. Comparing different theoretical approaches to social problems in terms of their strengths and
weaknesses
3. Demonstrating ability to identify and explain different approaches to social problems used in
newspapers’ editorial pages
3. Demonstrating ability to apply theoretical concepts to real life examples
4. Communicating the ideas effectively and in the format appropriate to the discipline
Directions:
A. Define (in your own words) “system-blame” and “person-blame” approaches to the study of
social problems. 20 pts.
B. Analyze three short “letters to the editor” published in the U.S. Today (at the bottom of the
guidelines) that provide examples of different ways of explaining homelessness in the U.S. 30
pts.
– identify the approach (“person-blame” or “system-blame”?) used by the author of each
letter.
– for each approach, list different causes of homelessness provided by the authors.
– using your sociological insight, explain which of these specific explanations contribute
and which do not contribute to our understanding of homelessness (provide two examples
of useful explanations and two examples of explanations that are week. Remember, as
we discussed in class, “weak” explanations are ones that do not provide any factors that

are located outside of the individuals. “Strong” explanations look at the characteristics of
society that contribute to social problems).
C. Apply your understanding of the system blame approach to study of social problems by
trying to explain causes of one social problem in our society today (you need to find at least one
newspaper article about this problem). No credit will be given for a discussion of the problem
that was already discussed in class and/or comes from the letters below). 30 pts.
D. Provide properly formatted (MLA, APA, or ASA formats are acceptable) bibliography of all
sources that you have consulted for this assignment. You do not have to include the three letters
to the editor in your bibliography. 10 pts.
E. Communication of ideas, organization of the paper, grammar, spelling, punctuation. 10 pts.
Important: Remember this is a short paper so please keep quoting other authors/sources to the
bare minimum. If you use outside sources, you must acknowledge the origin of the
information/quotes in the body of your paper and in the bibliography section. Any form of
plagiarism will be punished with a score of zero.
10 Points will be deducted for each day your submission is past due

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