Malcolm Spector

Toward a Sociology of Social Problems: Social Conditions, Value-Judgments, And Social Problems

Two major approaches to the study of social problems are examined: the functionalist statement by Merton, and the value-conflict view of Waller, and Fuller and Myers. The ambiguities of the relationship between the concepts “objective conditions” and “social problem” contained in the statements of these writers are identified and analyzed. Some preliminary suggestions are made to define the subject matter of the sociology of social problems as a specialized area of study.

Social Problems: A Re-Formulation

A definition of social problems is proposed as a generic phenomenon: the process by which members of groups or societies, through assertions of grievances and claims, define a putative condition as a social problem. Then a four-stage natural history model of social problems is described. In Stage One, groups assert the existence and offensiveness of some condtion. In Stage Two some official agency responds to the claims; in Stage Three claims and demands re-emerge, expressing dissatisfaction with the official response. In Stage Four alternative, parallel, or counter-institutions are established.

Social Problems and Deviance: Some Parallel Issues

This paper explores parallel developments in labeling theory and in the value-conflict approach to social problems. Similarities in their critiques of functionalism and etiological theory as well as their emphasis on the definitional process are noted. In addition, the failure of both formulations to develop the distinctiveness of their common insight is examined. An analysis of this failure is presented.

Secrecy in Job Seeking Among Government Attorneys:: Two Contingencies in the Theory of Subcultures

UTILIZING A REFORMULATION of the theory of subcultural development, this paper analyzes the absence among a group of attorneys of a collective solution to a shared problem: finding a job with a prestigious private law firm. The elite legal division of the federal regulatory agency where they worked dealt with an area of law which, in private practice, is a lucrative legal specialty. As a consequence, the division was a recruiting ground for large law firms and being recruited, a major concern to the young, ambitious, mobile &dquo;minority&dquo; group attorneys who worked there. Since it is difficult to gain access to the elite divisions of federal regulatory agencies, a short research diary may help to

The Rise and Fall of a Mobility Route

For occupational mobility to occur, there must be a demand for skills in the labor market and a mechanism for supplying candidates with these skills. The process of acquiring such skills and capitalizing on them may be called a mobility route. This paper analyzes one such route: how attorneys use government employment to acquire expertise that will improve their position in the legal job market. The analysis suggests that such routes may appear and disappear. This depends not only on fluctuations in demand but on the internal dynamics of the training institution. Further, regulatory agencies may both create demands in the labor market, train minority group members with the skills for these positions, and, through their enforcement litigation, provide and arena for this labor market.