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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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Background
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Background
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“Yet as Blumer (1971) and Spector and Kitsuse (1973) subsequently argued, it is the assertion that a problem exists that is key.”
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“…the sociological literature on social problems provides grounds for skepticism about the extent to which objective levels of criminal violence will adequately account for variation in public opinion on crime, including support for the death penalty (Blumer 1971; Spector and Kitsuse 1977).”
Background
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“…of war babies themselves ~Displacement-WB!, or displacement of the mothers who had given birth to the babies ~Displacement-MTHR!+ 31+ See Best 1995; Blumer 1971; and Spector and Kitsuse 1977+ 32+ Keck and Sikkink 1998, 27+ was scored using the F-Measure metric, which rates the overlap between…”
Method
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“In this constructionist perspective, how to deal with a social problem at a societal level is a product of collective definitions of social groups who have conflicting interests in what will be done about the problem (Blumer, 1971; Spector & Kitsuse, 1977).”
Background
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Background
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“362 The two other possible explanations are based on models that describe and explain the rise and fall of social problems (Blumer, 1971; Downs, 1972; Henry & Gordon, 2001; Hilgartner & Bosk, 1988; Kingdon, 1995).”
Background
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Background
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Framing the Fat Body: Contested Meanings between Government, Activists, and Industry*
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Compulsive Gambling and the Medicalization of Deviance
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Rape as a Social Problem: A Byproduct of the Feminist Movement
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“The process of collective definition is responsible for the emergence of social problems, for the way in which they are seen, for the way in which they are approached and considered, for the kind of remedial plan that is l aid out, and for the transformation of the remedial plan in its application’ ( Blumer: 1971 : 30…”
BackgroundInfluential
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The Razor Blade in the Apple: The Social Construction of Urban Legends
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Background
Direitos dos mais e menos humanos
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Shocking Numbers and Graphic Accounts: Quantified Images of Drug Problems in the Print Media
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Framing Social Problems in Social Entrepreneurship
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Rethinking gender and mental health: A critical analysis of three propositions
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The Dynamics of Framing: Image, Emotion, and the European Migration Crisis
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Accounting for Intimate Partner Violence
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Background
Leveraging collective action and environmental literacy to address complex sustainability challenges
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“…of effective collective efforts Role of shared resources, including social capital and knowledge Issues of power dynamics Collective behavior Blumer (1971), Gordon (2019), Granovetter (1978), Park (1927), Smelser (2011/1962), Turner and Killian (1987) Collective efficacy Bandura (2000),…”
Background
Generic Social Processes
Prus, R. (1987) · Journal of Contemporary Ethnography · doi:10.1177/0891241687163002 · Cited by 102
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Background
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Background
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“As Blumer (1971) claims, ‘‘.”
Background
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“The NIMBY effect entails a social movement dimension, essential for any thorough analysis, that has a long standing and solid tradition (Blumer, 1971; Javaloy, 2001; Spector and Kitsuse, 1973; Wandersman and Hallman, 1994) and has recently been enriched by conflict resolution mediation literature…”
BackgroundInfluential
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“The first, following Blumer (1971) and Hilgartner and Bosk (1988), involves gaining access to public arenas.”
Background
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Dorfman, D. (2019) · Law & Society Review · doi:10.1111/lasr.12437 · Cited by 90
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“His point was recognized earlier by sociologists studying the nature of social problems (Blumer, 1971; Hilgartner and Bosk, 1988; Gusfield, 1989).”
Background
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“…used to justify their research: to try to capture what other approaches have missed and to add a dose of self-consciousness to efforts to understand and reduce problematic states of affairs (Blumer 1971; Holstein and Gubrium 2005; Holstein and Miller 2003; Loseke 1999; Spector and Kitsuse 1977).”
Background
Comment se construisent les problèmes de santé publique
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“All societies must select social problems for attention, establish agendas, and determine priorities for action because the list of problems is endless and varied (Blumer, 1971).”
Background
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“Those ho seek changes in the area of the problem clash with those ho endeavour to protect vested interests” (Blumer, 1971: p. 303). ub-system policymakers tend to address the problem in terms of xisting policy beliefs, advancing incremental policy proposals that h Policy 44 (2014) 67–82 71”
Background
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“Just as ``a social problem exists primarily in terms of how it is de®ned and conceived in a society'' (Blumer, 1971: p. 300), a diagnosis exists in terms of how it is de®ned and conceived in the society of medicine.”
Background
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“approach builds on symbolic interactionism (Blumer, 1971) to portray frame development as resulting from repeated interaction among collective actors (Collins, 2004).”
Background
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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
“For example, many researchers claim that empirical indicators of severity are unrelated to the attention a problem receives (Blumer 1971).”
Background
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“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
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“The problem is just not there’ (Blumer, 1971, p. 301–302).”
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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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