Social Problems in a Diverse Society, 3Ce
Kendall/Nygaard/Thompson
EPILOGUE
How Can Social Problems Be Solved?
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Attempting to reduce or solve a social problem is a complex undertaking, which typically
involves many obstacles, delays, and sometimes, high costs. If the functionalist approach is
applied to reducing social problems, then maintaining the status quo, preventing rapid social
changes, and restoring order are central factors. By contrast, the conflict perspective states that
the root causes of social problems-such as patriarchy, capitalism, and spending priorities that
place corporate tax breaks and military spending ahead of social services-would have to be
radically altered or eliminated altogether. Feminist approaches suggest that in order to eliminate
social problems, we need to look at the ways that oppressions are interconnected, simultaneously
dealing with our own prejudices while working with others to eliminate social injustice. Some
analysts believe we need to develop a “human agenda” that focuses on the needs of people over
profit. To create a human agenda, critical social analysis is a key foundation for effective social
action. A shared vision, shared values and free and full participation in social life are also
necessary components for creating critical mass.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading the Epilogue, students should be able to:
1. Explain how adherents of each of four theoretical perspectives would describe social
problems and suggest eliminating them.
2. Evaluate their personal tendency toward critical social analysis and understand what this
means.
3. Begin thinking about the kind of world they hope to take part in creating.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. A REVIEW OF MAJOR SOCIAL THEORIES ON SOCIAL PROBLEMS
A. Functionalist Perspectives
1) According to the functionalist perspective, society is a stable, orderly system
composed of interrelated parts, each of which performs a function that contributes
to the overall stability of society. From the functionalist perspective, social
problems arise when social institutions do not fulfill the functions they are
supposed to perform or when dysfunctions (undesirable consequences of an
activity or social process that inhibit a society’s ability to adapt or adjust) occur.
Dysfunctions create social disorganization, causing a breakdown in traditional
values and norms that serve as social control mechanisms.

Social Problems in a Diverse Society, 3Ce
Kendall/Nygaard/Thompson
2) If the functionalist approach is applied to reducing social problems, then
preventing rapid social changes, maintaining the status quo, and restoring order
are central factors.
B. Conflict Perspectives
1) The conflict perspective is based on the assumption that conflict is natural and
inevitable in society. From this approach, root causes of social problems would
have to be radically altered or eliminated altogether.
2) To reduce social problems, conflict theorists suggest proposals that are not always
viewed positively in societies where economic prosperity based on individual
attributes, rather than collective activities, is highly valued as a mark of personal
and social achievement. The interlocking nature of racialized, class, and gender as
systems of domination and subordination are also central concerns to some
conflict theorists. To reduce or eliminate social problems that are embedded in
racialized and ethnic relations, class relationships and gender inequalities would
also require dramatic changes in society.
C. Interactionist Perspectives
1) The interactionist perspective focuses on how people act toward one another and
make sense of their daily lives. From this approach, society is viewed as the sum
of the interactions of individuals and groups. Interactionists often study social
problems by analyzing the process whereby certain behaviour is defined as a
social problem and how individuals and groups come to engage in activities that a
significant number of people view as a major social concern.
2) Theories of deviance emphasize that inadequate socialization or interacting with
the “wrong” people may contribute to deviant behaviour and crime. Similarly,
interactionists who use the labeling framework for their analysis study how
people label behaviour, how they respond to people engaged in such behaviour,
and what the consequences are of their responses.
D. Feminist Perspectives
1) Feminist theorists concentrate on both macro and micro levels of interaction.
Society is seen as a matrix of oppression, organized according to specific relations
of domination and subordination.
2) Analysts study how forms of oppression work to reinforce a paradigm of
oppression, competition, and hierarchy. Radical changes in these relations,
structures, and ideologies of domination and subordination are sought through
paradigm shifts.
II. HOW CAN SOCIAL PROBLEMS BE SOLVED?
A. According to some analysts we need to develop a human agenda that puts people’s needs
and priorities before those of corporations, business and profits. In order to create a
human agenda and solve social problems, we need to develop good social analyses,
shared visions, shared values and ways for people to participate fully and freely in social
life.

CONTENTS
Preface
Chapter 1: Taking a New Look at Social Problems
Chapter 2: Poverty in the Canadian Context
Chapter 3: Racism and Ethnic Inequality
Chapter 4: Gender Inequality
Chapter 5: Inequality Based on Age
Chapter 6: Inequality Based on Sexual Orientation
Chapter 7: The Sex Trade in Canada
Chapter 8: Addictions
Chapter 9: Crime and Criminal Justice
Chapter 10: Health, Illness, and Health Care as Social Problems
Chapter 11: The Changing Family
Chapter 12: Problems in Education
Chapter 13: Problems in the Globalized Economy
Chapter 14: Problems Related to Media
Chapter 15: Population, Urbanization, and the Environmental Crisis
Chapter 16: Global Social Problems
Epilogue How Can Social Problems Be Solved?

Social Problems in a Diverse Society, 3Ce
Kendall/Nygaard/Thompso
PREFACE
This Instructor’s Manual has been designed to make teaching using Social Problems in a Diverse
Society, Third Canadian Edition, by Diana Kendall, Vicki L. Nygaard, and Edward G. Thompson
more interesting and enjoyable for you and your students. For your convenience, this Instructor’s
Manual provides you with tools for classroom discussion, assignments, and recommendations for
related films and reading. A test bank, consisting of multiple-choice, true/false, and essay
questions is also available.
The Instructor’s Manual contains the following sections for each chapter:
• The CHAPTER SUMMARY briefly explains the purpose of the chapter and identifies the
main themes.
• The LEARNING OBJECTIVES point out the key concepts and topics that students should
be able to master after learning the material in the chapter.
• The KEY TERMS section lists important concepts introduced in the chapter.
• ACCESSING THE REAL WORLD: ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT activities are provided to
assist you in preparing a variety of student learning activities that promote engagement with
(1) community action, (2) theoretical analysis, and (3) media.
• APPLYING CRITICAL THINKING THROUGH DISCUSSION questions are designed
mainly for classroom or homework use but could also be used for testing purposes. The
questions are designed to foster critical thinking and to assist in the development of new
insights pertaining to the causes, effects, and possible solutions for the range of social
problems discussed in the text.
• AUDIO-VISUAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION suggestions provide
information on some, mainly current, audio-visual media that may be helpful for furthering
exploration, discussion and/or understanding of issues.
• CRITICAL READINGS include just a few of the many outstanding and helpful references
on some of the issues covered in each chapter.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHORS
As the authors of the Third Canadian edition of Social Problems in a Diverse Society and the
accompanying Instructor’s Manual, Test Bank, PowerPoint Presentations, and MySocKit Site, it
is our hope that we have provided a text and ancillary materials that will make teaching social
problems a rewarding experience for you and a positive learning experience for your students.
Although we live in challenging times, the social problems course may appear irrelevant to
students if it focuses on issues that students believe are unrelated to their daily lives.
Consequently, we wrote the text for the students, focusing on topics that our own students have
found interesting and relevant and using the personal narratives of real people to illustrate how
these concerns impact individuals, how they affect entire societies, and the importance of
applying the sociological imagination when examining the causes, effects, and possible solutions
to the most pressing problems of the twenty-first century. Although many of the issues raised are
daunting, as people’s awareness grows, so too does our collective ability to address the issues in
a humane and sustainable way. Vive!

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