Sydney
The Sociological Perspective and Approach to Social Problems Theory Exam
1. What is the Medical Model Theory?
The Medical Model Theory is the argument, which was used by early sociologists, that
those with mental deficiencies, mental disorders, a lack of education, or incomplete
socialization are aberrations of society and disruptions to the moral order and are thereby
the root of social problems.
2. What is the Absolutist Approach to Understanding Social Problems?
The Absolutists Approach to Understanding Social Problems is a method that
sociologists used to discover the origins of social problems in the 1920s and 1930s by
focusing on the process of migration, urbanization, and industrialization and searching
for “pockets of social disorganization”.
3. What are the two variations in the Modern Studies of Deviance?
The two variations in the Modern Studies of Deviance are the Social Strain Theory and
the Labeling Theory. The Social Strain Theory is the notion that deviance is a result of
individuals recognizing their goals that society provides but not having sufficient means
to achieve them. The Labeling Theory is an alternate notion that deviance is a result of
people labeling others as abnormal; the labeling individuals determine social problems
and deviant members of society through social reactions.
4. What is the Subjective Nature of Social Problems?
The Subjective Nature of Social Problems is the idea that time and audience cause the
definition of social problems to vary from person to person. If the problem endows
personal hardship to an individual, then they would consider it to be a social problem and
vice-versa.
