A sociological approach towards addressing social problems is a more effective and different approach into evaluating social problems compared to other approaches. This is attributed to the aspect used in examining the social problems. A sociological approach looks into an individual’s personal view regarding issues that may be affecting them directly or indirectly. In essence, this will help in establishing which social problems are more significant compared to others in reference to the effects they have on the affected persons. This will help in evaluating issues that need to be addressed to meet social needs and rehabilitation of areas that may need to be corrected to fix the arising issues.
A major problem that affects different social class is inequity which has been affecting the society for ages. This is references to different laws and issues that have been put that affect persons who live below the minimum wage. The gap between the rich and the poor has been on the rise due to the high taxes affect the poor since they are already below the minimum wage. Statistics put it that there is an increase in the poverty level as the middle incomers are finding it hard to maintain an ever growing living standards. This is because the taxes being imposed are too harsh on the middle incomers and the poor who are finding it hard to cope with taxes being charged (Leon-Guerrero, 2013).
This has resulted to tension between middle-class earners and the rich since it has been established that the rich are not affected by the heavy taxation since they are continuing becoming richer in every financial year. The growing gap has left a lot of individual under the poor people’s category. The poor are affected with a lot of problems due to their lack of financial ability. These problems include no shelter since they are not in a position to secure proper housing or any housing at all. Hunger is also a challenge that affects the poor people since they are not in a position to acquire basic needs such as food. This is because heavy taxations are also implemented on food products, therefore, neglecting the poor of food. The poor in the society are also not able to gain access to basic and quality health services in case they are in needs of medical care. There are among the problems the poor encounter within the society.
Despite this difficulties that the poor are encountering within the society, functionalist have their own opinion regarding the matter. This is made clear when they state that all individuals in the society cannot be equal regardless of the complaints that have been brought forwards regarding the high taxation that has been established. Functionalists state this to be normal and therefore there should be no differences made on the current taxes since they would not help in bringing equity in into the social system (Leon-Guerrero, 2013).It is argued that it is through the gap between the poor and the rich among other members of the society that there are important people in the society. It is argued that if all members of the society were equal, there would be no social class among other social standards.
In order to address these social problems, the government has set up a department to help in establishing the families that need to be helped. This is through providing medical funding to families who may be living below the minimal wage and are not able to afford medical cover insurance. School programs have also been established where poor children are fed, and other assistance offered to the needy children. These programs are established to ensure that the poor are given access to basic needs.
An interactionist perspective is an established concept which tries to address the widening gap through facilitating talks aimed at holding debates to talk about the existing social problems and how they should be addressed. Sociologists have tried state that poverty is attributed to cultural practices, believes and norms. It is clear that an interactionist perspective would be an effective method in addressing social problems.
Provide health care is among one of the concepts that has been developed to address social problems issues. The state children health insurance has been established to ensure that children who living in poverty are provided with access to essential medical care. This is an effective method in ensuring that all persons have access to basic medical care. Providing micro finance has also been a major concept developed to provide funding to families how live in poverty. This help in providing funding to help families in setting up business that will help in improving their current living conditions (Leon-Guerrero, 2013).This is through establishing business that is likely to give them enough income. There have also been concepts aimed at providing education on how to improve on the social welfare programs that need to be funded in order to cover activities that will be conducted. Through this the poverty level is likely to be improved since there will be better living conditions.
Reference
Leon-Guerrero, A. (2013). Social Problems: Community, Policy, and Social Action [VitalSouce bookshelf version]. Retrieved from http://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781483321110/epubcfi/6/30
