Title: 1.1 What Is a Social Problem? – Social Problems
Headings: 1.1 What Is a Social Problem?
1.1 What Is a Social Problem?
Learning Objectives
The Natural History of a Social Problem
Stage 1: Emergence and Claims Making
Stage 2: Legitimacy
Stage 3: Renewed Claims Making
Stage 4: Development of Alternative Strategies
Key Takeaways
References

Content: Although men were sometimes arrested and prosecuted for rape and sexual assault, sexual violence was otherwise ignored by legal policymakers and received little attention in college textbooks and the news media, and many people thought that rape and sexual assault were just something that happened (Allison & Wrightsman, 1993). Thus although sexual violence existed, it was not considered a social problem. When the contemporary women’s movement began in the late 1970s, it soon focused on rape and sexual assault as serious crimes and as manifestations of women’s inequality. Thanks to this focus, rape and sexual assault eventually entered the public consciousness, views of these crimes began to change, and legal policymakers began to give them more attention. In short, sexual violence against women became a social problem. Before the 1970s, rape and sexual assault certainly existed and were very common, but they were generally ignored and not considered a social problem. When the contemporary women’s movement arose during the 1970s, it focused on sexual violence against women and turned this behavior into a social problem. Women’s e News – Placards at the Rally To Take Rape Seriously – CC BY 2.0. The social constructionist view raises an interesting question: When is a social problem a social problem?