Defining COVID-19 as a Social Problem (GRADED) Soc130 AI

Post ID: 3558578

Assignment Overview

COVID-19 was a very real biological and public health condition. A constructionist approach does not question that reality. Instead, it asks us to examine how people came to understand COVID-19 as a social problem: how the threat was defined, who made claims about it, what evidence and values were used, how different audiences responded, and what actions were proposed.

This distinction is important. Joel Best argues that a troubling condition does not automatically become a social problem simply because it exists. People must draw attention to the condition, make claims about why it is troubling, persuade audiences that it deserves attention, and argue that something should be done.

Best organizes this process into six stages:

Claimsmaking: People or groups identify a troubling condition and make arguments about why it deserves attention.
Media Coverage: News media and other forms of communication select, present, and circulate claims.
Public Reaction: Audiences respond to those claims through support, concern, disagreement, resistance, or other reactions.
Policymaking: Officials and institutions develop policies intended to address the problem.
Social Problems Work: People and organizations put those policies into practice.
Policy Outcomes: We examine what happened as a result, including intended and unintended consequences.

These stages give us a useful way to organize the social problems process, but they are not a rigid sequence. The stages influence one another, and claims can change as different groups, audiences, institutions, and policymakers respond.

For example, stages might connect in ways such as:

Claimsmaking → Media Coverage Media Coverage → Public Reaction Public Reaction → Policymaking Policymaking → Social Problems Work

These are only examples. In the real world, the process can move in different directions, and feedback from one stage may influence what happens at another.

Looking More Closely at Claims

Chapter 2 gives us another way to analyze what happens within this process. Best shows that social problems claims often contain three basic elements:

Grounds: What is happening? What evidence, examples, facts, or information are being used to show that there is a troubling condition?

Warrants: Why should we care? What values or reasoning explain why the condition is troubling or deserves attention?

Conclusions: What should be done? What actions, policies, or responses are being proposed?

Claims are also directed toward audiences. Different audiences may interpret the same claim differently because they bring different experiences, beliefs, interests, and values to the issue. During COVID-19, claims about risk, masks, vaccines, school closures, business restrictions, and other responses did not persuade everyone in the same way. A constructionist approach asks us to examine why different audiences responded differently, rather than simply deciding which audience was right or wrong.

In this assignment, you will choose one stage of the social problems process and use a specific example from the COVID-19 pandemic to analyze how that stage worked. You will examine a claim connected to your example, consider how an audience responded, connect your stage to another part of the process, and then reflect on how the issue affected you or people in your community.

Resources

The Social Problems Process Download The Social Problems Process

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How the COVID-19 Pandemic Became a Social Problem Download How the COVID-19 Pandemic Became a Social Problem

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Instructions

Step 1: Review the Framework

Read How the COVID-19 Pandemic Became a Social Problem by Joel Best and review the six stages of the social problems process. Use The Social Problems Process figure above as a visual reference.

As you read, think about the difference between the condition itself and the process through which people defined, explained, debated, and responded to COVID-19 as a social problem.

Step 2: Choose a Stage and a Specific Example

Choose one stage of the social problems process and identify a specific example from the COVID-19 pandemic that illustrates that stage.

Claimsmaking: Who identified COVID-19 or some aspect of the pandemic as a problem? What claims were being made?
Media Coverage: How did traditional or social media present and circulate claims about COVID-19?
Public Reaction: How did individuals, communities, or groups respond to claims or policies?
Policymaking: What policies or decisions were developed in response to the pandemic?
Social Problems Work: How were those policies actually implemented by schools, workplaces, healthcare systems, government agencies, or other organizations?
Policy Outcomes: What happened as a result of a particular policy or response? Were there intended or unintended consequences?

Step 3: Analyze Your Example

Use your example to answer the following questions:

What happened at this stage, and who was involved?
- (Briefly describe your example and identify the people, groups, or institutions involved.)
What claim was being made?
- (What were people being asked to recognize as troubling?)
Grounds: What evidence or information was used?
- (What facts, statistics, examples, experiences, or other evidence were used to show that there was a problem?)
Warrants: Why were audiences told they should care?
- (What values or reasoning were used? Consider ideas such as health, safety, freedom, responsibility, fairness, economic security, or protecting vulnerable people.)
Conclusions: What were people being asked to do?
- (What action, policy, behavior, or solution was proposed?)
Who was the audience, and how did the audience respond?
- (Why might another audience have responded differently to the same claim?)
How did this stage connect to at least one other stage of the social problems process?
- For example:
  Claimsmaking → Media Coverage
  Media Coverage → Public Reaction
  Public Reaction → Policymaking
  Policymaking → Social Problems Work
  (These are only examples. Your case may show a different connection or feedback between stages.)

Step 4: Connect the Framework to Your Experience

Briefly describe how your example affected you, your family, your school, your workplace, or your community. How does Best's framework help you understand that experience differently than you might have at the time?

Write at least 3 well organized paragraphs. Your response should use a specific COVID-19 example and clearly apply Best's concepts rather than simply describing what happened during the pandemic.

Outcomes and Objectives

Assignment Learning Objectives

Relevant Course Level Student Learning Outcomes

Grading & Feedback

I will score this assignment within one week (usually much sooner!).
Feedback will be noted individually through Speedgrader, in the Comments section. Please note that with rare exception, I will not be posting directly to the discussion board, as I want this to be a student centered place for you to explore your views without my interference.

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