Tuesday 13 November 2007

a problem not identified, pass unnoticed

read that on wikibooks and it rang a bell

"It is a gross mistake to assume that any kind of malignant or harmful social condition or arrangement in a society becomes automatically a social problem for that society. The pages of history are replete with instances of dire social conditions unnoticed and unattended in the societies in which they occurred."

these conditions did not become problems until a group of individuals perceived them to be a problem. This collective definition of the problematic nature of a condition, or definition of perceived reality, was what social problems had in common. There was no objective definition of what constituted a problem. This realization shifted the focus of research away from social conditions themselves and onto the process of collective definition and perception of reality developed by those experiencing the conditions. Thus, the social process of collectively defining a condition as problematic, that is defining the reality of the observers and participants, became the focus of study rather than the particular condition itself. Pursuing this line of reasoning, social scientists began to focus less on some theoretical, objective reality and more on the reality that was defined by a collective perception of the situation and how it was experienced by the observers.

when it comes to hands on change, preception is primal, a united perception for a social condition makes it real,, hence a problem not identified, pass unnoticed,,, this acknowledgement come from the individual observing whole. link the two together you create a changing force.

.end

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