Exploring the Problem of Violence in the United States
There is this idea of “The American Dream” that encompasses people’s hopes and visions when imagining life here in the United States. However, if you look deeper into U.S. society you will find that life here in America is not such an idealistic dream. This is a country plagued by violence. This paper will discuss the social structural factors that contribute to the problem of violence here in the United States. It will attempt to identify the causes of and the conditions that facilitate violence. It will also discuss the role of the media and its contribution to this massive problem. In this paper, the model for the analysis of social problems created by Lauer & Lauer (2008) is used in its exploration of violence in the U.S. Finally, this paper will attempt to offer some solutions to this problem, and how these solutions can be used in the United States to reduce the amount of violence and create a more safe and peaceful nation.
Lauer and Lauer (2008) have devised a model for analyzing social problems that utilizes all three of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology: structural functionalism, conflict theory and symbolic interactionism. Lauer and Lauer (2008) contend that the use of all three approaches is necessary to attempt to analyze any social problem. The first theory, structural functionalism, is based on a view of society as a system of many different parts, including all structural factors, that work together to generate relative stability (Lauer & Lauer, 2008). When using this theory to explain the problem of violence, one might suggest that violence is a result of a weakening in society’s structural factors, causing instability within the societal system. In other words, the focus is on how the relationships between social institutions affect the society and the individuals living within it. The weakening of social institutions, such as family and government, negatively affects individuals and creates feelings of frustration,
Lauer and Lauer (2008) have devised a model for analyzing social problems that utilizes all three of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology: structural functionalism, conflict theory and symbolic interactionism. Lauer and Lauer (2008) contend that the use of all three approaches is necessary to attempt to analyze any social problem. The first theory, structural functionalism, is based on a view of society as a system of many different parts, including all structural factors, that work together to generate relative stability (Lauer & Lauer, 2008). When using this theory to explain the problem of violence, one might suggest that violence is a result of a weakening in society’s structural factors, causing instability within the societal system. In other words, the focus is on how the relationships between social institutions affect the society and the individuals living within it. The weakening of social institutions, such as family and government, negatively affects individuals and creates feelings of frustration,
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