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Social problems: Who makes them?
Anti-social behaviour, homelessness, drugs, mental illness: all problems in today's society. But what makes a problem social? This free course, Social problems: Who makes them?, will help you to discover how these issues are identified, defined, given meaning and acted upon. You will also look at the conflicts within social science in this area.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- illustrate what is social about social science
- demonstrate how certain social constructions become dominant
- distinguish how labelling something can create expectations about behaviour and actions
- give examples of inequalities that result from particular social constructions.
First Published: 10/08/2012
Updated: 07/03/2016
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In re-entering learning I have always been inquisitive about why things are the way they are and how we can change them because I understood nothing was permanent.
This course has helped me understand further how we function as a person, as a group of people - community, society in addition to our inner personal development.
Open Learn is a great way for students and those thirsty for knowledge to be able to broach an interdisciplinary method of learning. This approach works for me because the questions raised in my current study has needed more meat to attach itself too and these short courses make this possible.