Deck 8: Social Problems Work

Question 1

To understand social problems work,one must be aware of the

A)wider societal context in which the work occurs.
B)relationship between social problems workers and subjects.
C)power structure in institutions that attempt to solve social problems.
D)all of the above

Answer 1

D

Question 2

It is suggested in your text that most social problems workers face the two challenges of

A)getting policymakers to take their issue seriously and raising public awareness.
B)finding funding sources and keeping those funding sources.
C)categorizing an instance as a particular type of case and helping the subject understand what this construction means.
D)identifying enough cases to justify their own job and finding enough time to deal with all their cases.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The negotiation of guilty pleas is an example of

A)using a routine to deal with a heavy caseload.
B)efforts to counteract unpopular legislation by finding ways around it.
C)social problems workers who react to low wages by seeking shortcuts.
D)efforts by social problems workers to reclaim power in the face of greater institutional regulation.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

__________ are social problems workers.

A)Police officers
B)Judges
C)Teachers
D)all of the above

Question 5

It is argued in your text that fictionalized accounts of social problems work tend to make

A)it seem more difficult than it is.
B)it seem more straightforward and effective than it is.
C)the public more aware of the realities of such work.
D)it seem more complicated than it is.

Question 6

It is suggested in your text that efforts to control the flow of information about what social problems workers do are __________ in social problems work.

A)considered unethical
B)limited to governmental agencies
C)common
D)disorganized and ineffective

Question 7

It is argued in your text that __________ might influence whether a given instance is identified as a case by a social problems worker.

A)whether or not the interaction is being observed
B)the seriousness of the instance
C)the behavior or demeanor of the subject
D)all of the above

Question 8

The relationship between social problems workers and subjects is typically characterized by

A)a great deal of give-and-take,as they cooperatively define the situation.
B)struggle,as the social problems workers try to get the subjects to adopt the same interpretation as the workers.
C)dependence,as the subjects look to the workers to tell them how to interpret their lives.
D)confusion,as workers try to understand how subjects see reality.

Question 9

When a social problems worker tries to identify a case,he or she is

A)identifying which person or persons are involved in a particular incident.
B)looking to see if this situation matches the characteristics of a defined troubling condition.
C)seeking employment within a particular policy domain.
D)attempting to define a particular situation as troubling enough to be called a problem.

Question 10

When subjects have more resources,social problems workers are typically

A)under more scrutiny.
B)less carefully supervised.
C)less assertive.
D)better paid.

Question 11

The trend toward professionalization of social problems work tends to __________ grassroots organizations.

A)support the development of
B)create conflict among
C)make it difficult to obtain government funding for
D)match the basic philosophy of

Question 12

__________ is an example of macrosociology.

A)A study of how low-income mothers feel about new educational problems
B)A study of the relationship between poverty and self-esteem
C)A study of how the U.S.poverty rate has changed over the last fifty years
D)A case study of a group of delinquent teens living in a rural area

Question 13

The standardization of training for police officers and medical personnel is an example of efforts to

A)reduce the independence of individual social problems workers.
B)increase profit at the cost of quality of service.
C)alter public perception of these professions.
D)shift power away from institutions and toward social problems workers.

Question 14

Social problems work is

A)the application of a particular social construction of a troubling issue to the development or implementation of a solution.
B)the effort to gain attention for a particular social construction of an issue.
C)paid labor that can be shown to cause or contribute to a problem in some way.
D)research devoted to developing solutions to social problems.

Question 15

Coercive social problems workers

A)work with subjects who are not subjects by choice.
B)engage in unethical behavior.
C)try to convince subjects to see themselves as cases.
D)both a and c

Question 16

Social problems workers have to contend with being watched and evaluated by

A)claimsmakers.
B)professional associations.
C)funding agencies.
D)all of the above

Question 17

The focus of social problems work differs from that of social problems claimsmaking or policymaking in that it tends to be

A)more objective because it involves real people.
B)slower because it requires more activity.
C)narrower because it focuses on practical problems.
D)more difficult because it involves more people.

Question 18

In comparison to the way problems are typically constructed by primary claimsmakers,the reality faced by social problems workers tends to be

A)more melodramatic.
B)less melodramatic.
C)more complex.
D)both b and c

Question 19

Social problems workers typically prefer to be evaluated by

A)subjects because they are most familiar with the real effects of social problems work.
B)other social problems workers because they understand the realities of the work.
C)government agencies because they are known for using unbiased measures.
D)funding agencies because positive reviews typically result in wage increases.

Question 20

The rules and regulations associated with social problems work typically

A)provide social problems workers with few choices in doing their jobs.
B)are stable and relatively unchanging.
C)can change,depending on organizational values.
D)never leave anything up for the social problems worker's interpretation

Question 21

Constructing behaviors that we witness in our personal lives as part of a larger troubling condition is

A)easy because we have such familiarity with people in our immediate environment.
B)dangerous because we tend to stereotype and label people.
C)difficult because we think of people we know as unique individuals rather than part of a larger system.
D)difficult because we are often reluctant to admit that people we know have problems.

Question 22

It is suggested in your text that many __________ encourage people to act as amateur social problems workers and diagnose the problems they,their family,or friends face as instances of larger social problems.

A)social problems workers
B)activists
C)television talk shows
D)educators

Question 23

__________ are discussed in your text as an example of regular citizens acting as social problems workers.

A)People who volunteer their time to try and solve a social problem
B)Activists
C)People who apply changing constructions of social problems in their everyday lives
D)Church group activities

Question 24

Describe the trend toward professionalization in social problems work and discuss the costs and benefits associated with it.

Question 25

Describe what it means to say that social problems workers must often help subjects define their personal experiences in terms of a larger social pattern.

Question 26

Describe and discuss the factors that social problems workers typically use in identifying a case.

Question 27

Describe and discuss the relationship between the social class of the subjects and social problems work.Be sure to discuss both how and why the work differs depending on the resources held by clients.

Question 28

Discussed in your text are three forces that can be said to press on social problems workers.Name and describe each of these forces.