QUESTION ONE

Social problems are the issues that directly or indirectly affect the majority or all the members of a society. Social problems affect the fabric of the community and they lie beyond the control of one individual no matter how much the power he or she holds. Some of the social issues that are considered as problems are violence, pollution, injustice and many others.

For a social issue to be classified as a problem, it must be getting attention from the public. There must be some public outcry about the issue. The issue must also have a gap between social ideals and social reality. It must run counter to the values of society at large. It must also get the concern of the majority in society. The condition that is to be called a problem should have the capability to get a solution through the collective action of the general public.

It is hard to find solutions or to implement recommendations for many social problems. This is because; social problems affect a vast majority of the population of the society. These people are all being affected by the problem in different ways hence each has a different suggestion of the solution to the problem. Implementation of recommendations is equally as hard since everyone being affected is supposed to take part and this does not necessarily happen.

QUESTION TWO

Poverty is one of the main social problems in the world. Poverty in the society is the main cause of many other social problems. It leads to poor education, environmental degradation and a whole lot of other social problems. According to the structural perspective, society is viewed as a complex system of structures that interact in order to perform various necessary functions. Change is generally viewed as gradual and disruptive. In this respect, we can say that poverty occurs due to many different factors that are unlikely to change easily.

On the other hand, according to the conflict theory, change is inevitable and often beneficial. This theory views society as a struggle for resources and power and inequality is universal. In this respect, poverty can be justified as a form of inequality in society. But it can be repaired by changing some factor of the society.

According to the symbolic iteractionism, humans are social animals and require interaction with one another. It studies social interactions between individuals and small groups and how humans interpret these interactions. In this respect, poverty can be eliminated by interaction with the right people in society. Poverty leads to most social problems in society but can be evaded or corrected with the correct perspective.

QUESTION FOUR

All social problems affecting the world today are all interrelated in some way or another. Problems with the environment are almost directly related to poverty and problems with education. The environment is very sensitive and even the slightest imbalance will cause a great negative impact.

The environment has degraded overtime due to factor such as overpopulation and overuse of the resources in the environment. An example is the current global warming crisis. It started simply as a deforestation problem in one area. The trees were being cut down mainly to create room for building industries and for paper making. As the world progressed into further technology, more trees were cut for publishing of more books and building of more industries. This shows the interrelationship between education and environmental problems.

Another angle is the fact that without education, the measures to be taken in the conservation of the environment cannot be passed on to the general public sufficiently. Poverty also affects the environment. Take for example a poor family living near a forest and the only fuel they can get is firewood. As much as they may know of the negative effects of cutting trees, they have no choice but to keep on cutting. This shows that the three social problems poverty, poor education and environmental problems are interconnected.