Social Problems as Collective Behavior

Blumer, Herbert

doi:10.2307/799797

Cited by 1,281Contemporary Sociological Theory and PracticeCrime, Deviance, and Social ControlSocial Science and Policy Research

Social Problems as Collective Behavior

Blumer, Herbert·1971·Social Problems

DOI 10.2307/799797

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Abstract

Sociologists have erred in locating social problems in objective conditions. Instead, social problems have their being in a process of collective definition. This process determines whether social problems will arise, whether they become legitimated, how they are shaped in discussion, how they come to be addressed in official policy, and how they, are reconstituted in putting planned action into effect. Sociological theory and study must respect this process.

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Lee, M. K. O., Ramus, T., & Vaccaro, A. (2018) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/amj.2016.0223 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
“approach builds on symbolic interactionism (Blumer, 1971) to portray frame development as resulting from repeated interaction among collective actors (Collins, 2004).”
Background
Battered Women: The Transformation of a Social Problem
Davis, L. V. (1987) · Social Work · doi:10.1093/sw/32.4.306 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Whose Deaths Matter? Mortality, Advocacy, and Attention to Disease in the Mass Media
Armstrong, E. M., Carpenter, D. P., & Hojnacki, M. (2006) · Journal of Health Politics Policy and Law · doi:10.1215/03616878-2006-002 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
“For example, many researchers claim that empirical indicators of severity are unrelated to the attention a problem receives (Blumer 1971).”
Background
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Leveraging Management Research on Grand Challenges
Dorado, S., Antadze, N., Purdy, J. M., & Branzei, O. (2022) · Business & Society · doi:10.1177/00076503221087701 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
“Second, although the seminal article associated with social problems (Blumer, 1971) yielded only 21 citations, we retained it because of its unique perspective, which focuses on the visibility and attention required for actors to engage in the diagnosis and resolution of Grand Challenges.”
BackgroundInfluential
The Mass Media and the Social Construction of the Missing Children Problem
Fritz, N. J., & Altheide, D. L. (1987) · Sociological Quarterly · doi:10.1111/j.1533-8525.1987.tb00307.x · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Crisis, Policy Discourse, and Major Policy Change: Exploring the Role of Subsystem Polarization in Nuclear Energy Policymaking
Rinscheid, A. (2015) · European Policy Analysis · doi:10.18278/epa.1.2.3 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Stressors associated with the COVID‐19 pandemic, disability, and mental health: Considerations from the Intermountain West
Ciciurkaite, G., Márquez-Velarde, G., & Brown, R. L. (2021) · Stress and Health · doi:10.1002/smi.3091 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
“The problem is just not there’ (Blumer, 1971, p. 301–302).”
Background
Environmental Risks in the News: Issues, Sources, Problems, and Values
Major, A. M., & Atwood, L. E. (2004) · Public Understanding of Science · doi:10.1177/0963662504044557 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
“As claims-makers, the news media play a critical role in legitimating and shaping the social definitions of risk over time (Blumer, 1971).”
Background
Anxiety and Social Explanation: Some Anxieties about Anxiety
Hunt, A. (1999) · Journal of Social History · doi:10.1353/jsh/32.3.509 · Cited by 69 · see citing works

Group Inequalities and the Nature and Power of Collective Action: Case Studies from Peru
Muñoz, I., Paredes, M., & Thorp, R. (2007) · World Development · doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2007.01.002 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Collective identity in collective action: evidence from the 2020 summer BLM protests
Kann, C. K., Hashash, S., STEINERT-THRELKELD, Z., & Alvarez, R. M. (2023) · Frontiers in Political Science · doi:10.3389/fpos.2023.1185633 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
From conflict to co‐operation: some design issues for local collective action institutions in cities
Anand, P. B. (2003) · Journal of International Development · doi:10.1002/jid.986 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Collective action by community groups: solutions for climate change or different players in the same game?
Matthews, L. J., Clark‐Ginsberg, A., Scobie, M., Peters, L. E. R., Gopinathan, U., Mosurska, A., Davis, K., Myhre, S. L., Hirsch, S., Meriläinen, E., et al. (2023) · Climate and Development · doi:10.1080/17565529.2022.2149254 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Different paths to protest: predictors of collective action in the Occupy Movement
Morgan, G. S., & Chan, W. Y. (2016) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/jasp.12386 · Cited by 19 · see citing works

Authors: Blumer, H.
Affiliations: University of California, Berkeley (US)
Corresponding author: Blumer, Herbert
Venue: Social Problems
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published: 1971-01
Volume: 18
Issue: 3
Pages: 298-306
ISSN: 0037-7791 (ISSN-L)
1533-8533
DOI: 10.2307/799797
OpenAlex: W2129695636
Cited by: 1,281
References: 0
Citations by year: 2026: 33 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 52 · 2023: 52 · 2022: 55 · 2021: 64 · 2020: 62 · 2019: 53 · 2018: 82 · 2017: 49 · 2016: 49 · 2015: 60 · 2014: 42 · 2013: 52 · 2012: 49
FWCI: 41.24
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Social Problems (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime, Deviance, and Social Control
Social Sciences › General Social Sciences › Social Science and Policy Research
Keywords: collective behavior, legitimation, social construction of problems, policy making, social action, sociology of social problems

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Social Problems as Collective Behavior

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