Social Problems Work: The Cases of Children and Youth

Abstract

This article reviews the literature on social problems work concerned with children and young people. Social problems work involves assessing particular people, events and circumstances as instances of social problems. We focus on how social problems work is organized within discourses of childhood and youth, how it is a site for holding children and young people accountable, and how normalization is an aspect of social problems work. Our review brings together analytic themes in the literature on social problems and that on children and young people. We also point to topics that might be elaborated upon in future research on social problems work concerned with children and young people.

“The Muslims are coming”: The enactment of morality in activist Muslim comedy

“…In social problems theory, social conflicts are approached as constructed through claims made by politicians, activists, journalistsanyone who is involved in defining such conflict. Who among the public adopts their claims depends on the morality that is represented in the claims (Miller and Vitus 2009;Tamura 2007).…”