DEFINING URBAN PROBLEMS

ARE URBAN SOCIETIES “PROBLEM-PRONE?”

{SOCIOLOGICAL PROLOGUE: CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGIST WERE ORGINALLY ANALYTIC INTEREST WAS – HOW PEOPLE ADAPT OR MAL-ADAPT TO THE PROCESSES OF INDUSTRIALIZATION AND URBANIZATION ===> THIS IS WHERE “SOCIAL PROBLEMS” COME IN. THEY ARE CONSIDERED UNDESIRABLE ADAPTIONS, OR MAL-ADAPTIONS, TO URBAN LIVING, REQUIRING CONSTRUCTIVE REFORM}.

THE CONTEMPORARY ECOLOGICAL CONTEXT:

1) MOST CANADIANS ARE URBAN, LIVING IN OR NEAR LARGE METROPOLITIAN AREAS ====> NEARLY 9.5 MILLION LIVE IN THE FOUR LARGEST METROPOLITAN AREAS ALONG (THOSE WITH MORE THAN A MILLION PEOPLE) =====> {A}AS A CONSEQUENCE, THE EVERYDAY LIVES OF MOST CANADIANS ARE URBAN LIVES. INDEED, CITIES ARE SUCH IMPORTANT SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND ECONOMIC FORCES THAT EVEN THOSE POPLE WHO LIVE IN SMALL TOWNS AND RURAL AREAS ARE STRONGLY AFFECTED BY THEM ====> {B} CANADA, LIKE OTHER URBAN SOCIETIES ARE INEVITABLY HETEROGENEOUS IN IMPORTANT WAYS WITH SIGNIFICANT ETHNIC, CLASS AND OTHER DIFFERENCES WITHIN THE POPULATIONS OF CITIES.

2) WE TEND TO HAVE MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT CITIES. MANY PEOPLE SEE {A}SEE CITIES AS PLACES OF OPPORTUNITY. WE SEE THIS IN THE FACT THAT PEOPLE CONTINUE TO MOVE FROM SMALLER CENTRES TO LARGER ONES TO FIND WORK, TO GET EDUCATIONS, AND TO HAVE OPPORTUNITIES FOR ARTISTIC EXPRESSION AND OTHER FORMS OF INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM. {2} AT THE SAME TIME CITIES AS SOURCES OF SERIOUS SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS SUCH AS CRIME, RACIAL CONFLICT, ETHNIC HETEROGENITY AND POLLUTION.

 

THE ANALYTIC FOCUS FOR EARLY SOCIOLOGISTS WAS ON} HOW PEOPLE ADAPT OR MAL-ADAPT TO THE PROCESSES OF INDUSTRIALIZATION AND URBANIZATION.

THIS IS WHERE THE CENTRALITY OF “SOCIAL PROBLEMS” ANALYSIS COME IN {INFERS THAT SOMETHING IS 'WRONG', THAT IT NEEDS CORRECTION}. CLASSIC SOCIOLOGY WAS CONCERNED WITH UNDERSTANDING THE ADAPTIONS, OR MAL-ADAPTIONS, TO URBAN LIVING.

SOCIAL PROBLEM {IN THIS SENSE} REFERS TO ANY UNDESIRABLE CONDITION OR SITUATION THAT IS JUDGED BY AN INFLUENTIAL NUMBER OF PERSONS WITHIN A COMMUNITY TO BE INTOLERABLE AND TO REQUIRE GROUP ACTION TOWARD CONSTRUCTIVE REFORM =è EXAMPLES ARE URBAN HOMELESSNESS, POVERTY, CRIME, PROSTITUTION, DIVORCE, CHRONIC UNEMPLOYMENT, RACIAL AND CULTURAL CONFLICT, AND SO ON.

CLASSIC SOCIOLOGY CONSIDERED SOCIAL PROBLEMS TO BE THE RESULT OF THE DISINTEGRATING INFLUENCES OF THE CITY ======> THAT IS, THEY ARE TYPICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE DENSE, MIXED, HETEROGENEOUS, DISORDERLY POPULATIONS OF LARGE URBAN CENTRES.

{ALTHOUGH SUCH PROBLEMS ALSO EXIST IN RURAL AREAS, WE STILL TEND TO PERCEIVE THEM TO BE WORSE IN CITIES.}

 

BUT IF WE WANT TO EXPLAIN ALL THE PROBLEMS OF CITIES TODAY, WE MUST ADD TO THESE DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS AN UNDERSTANDING OF CITIES' SOCIAL ORGANIZATION, WHICH INVARIABLY REFLECTS THAT OF THE WHOLE SOCIETY ====> IN THIS REGARD:

A)     MANY CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL THEORISTS ARGUE THAT URBAN SOCIETIES ARE INHERENTLY UNEQUAL {THEREFORE - “PROBLEM-PRONE”} SINCE THE SOCIAL PROCESSES THAT ALLOW THE GEOGRAPHIC CONCENTRATION OF PEOPLE ALSO INVOLVE THE SOCIAL CONCENTRATION OF WEALTH AND POWER.

B)     MANY MORE SOCIAL THEORISTS ARGUE THAT “EVEN SOCIAL PROBLEMS” ARE DEFINED BY POWER DYNAMICS IN THE CITY ====> SOCIAL PROBLEM – A SOCIAL CONDITION OR FORM OF CONDUCT LABELLED AS A PROBLEMATIC BY A POWERFUL GROUP ======>

1.      PROBLEMATIZED => SOCIAL PROBLEMS ARE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS; THEY ARE MADE NOT DISCOVERED => LIKE ANY OTHER SOCIAL PROCESS SOCIAL PROBLEMS ARE GENERATED OUT OF THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN – CULTURE, POWER AND IDEOLOGY =====> THIS MEANS THAT SOCIAL CONDITIONS {SAY, THE BLACK “SLUM”} DOES NOT BECOME SOCIAL PROBLEMS UNTIL SOME {POWERFUL} GROUP MAKES THEM AN ISSUE – THAT IS, TARGETS THEM, LABELS THEM DEVIANT, AND ATTEMPTS TO PUT THEM ON THE SOCIAL AGENDA => BY CONCEPTUALIZING IT AS A PROCESS, WE RECOGNIZE THAT A SOCIAL PROBLEM IS AN INTERACTION – OFTEN A STRUGGLE – BETWEEN SOCIETY’S POWERFUL AND POWERLESS GROUPS OVER WHOSE WAYS ARE THE “RIGHT” WAYS =>{WHEN DOES BLACK YOUTH BECOME A SOCIAL PROBLEM} ONLY WHEN WE ASK “FOR WHOM THEY ARE A PROBLEM” CAN WE SEE THE INCREASING ATTENTION ON BLACK YOUTH IS NOT RELATED TO THE GROWING “PATHOLOGY” OF BLACK-ON-BLACK VIOLENCE – BUT RATHER – IT IS RELATED TO HOW FAR THE BLACK VIOLENCE IS ENCROACHING ON THE WHITE MIDDLE-CLASS REALITY {EX: JANE CREBA?}.

 

CONTEMPORARY THEORISTS TEND TO SEE ALL SOCIAL PROBLEMS AS SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS TIED TO ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL INEQUALITIES =====> EVEN WHAT IS DEFINED AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM IS DETERMINED BY POWER RELATIONS =====> SOCIAL PROBLEMS ARE CREATED AND FASHIONED BY POLITICAL DOMINATION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONTROL

{WHERE CLASSICAL URBAN SOCIOLOGY EXAMINED “SOCIAL PROBLEMS AS SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS” ====> CONTEMPORARY URBAN SOCIOLOGY EXAMINES “THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS”

EX: WHEREAS CRIME IS ONE ISSUE THAT HAS BEEN A CONSISTENT CONCERN OF URBAN DWELLERS AND URBAN MEDIA =====> HOMELESSNESS HAS NOT ALWAYS HAD SIMILAR IMPORT [IT DID NOT BECOME AN IMPORTANT SOCIAL ISSUE IN CANADA UNTIL THE 1980S – IT WASN'T EVEN INCLUDED IN THE 1970 SURVEY OF URBAN ISSUES (CMHC 1979). WHILE HOMELESSNESS STILL CONCERNS MANY PEOPLE, PARTICULARLY IN LARGE CITIES (TORONTO COALITION AGAINST HOMELESSNESS 1996), IN SOME WAYS IT HAS BECOME SO MUCH A PART OF URBAN LIFE THAT EVEN WHERE THE HOMELESS ARE BOTH NUMEROUS AND VISIBLE, HOMELESSNESS IS SOMETIMES SEEN AS MORE OF A NUISANCE THAT A TRAGEDY}

SOCIOLOGICAL UPSHOT: SOCIAL PROBLEMS ARE NOT ONLY PHENOMENON TO BE UNDERSTOOD AS SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS, BUT THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS ARE OFTEN ROOTED IN LARGERS SOCIAL ISSUES ====> TO UNDERSTAND WHAT GOES ON IN CITIES WE MUST LOOK AT THESE LARGER SOCIAL ISSUES AS WELL.

CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THESIS: THE CITY'S “SOCIAL ORDER” PROBLEM IS A REFLECTION OF A “SOCIAL INEQUALITY” PROBLEM.

 

CRIME:

IF ASKED TO MAKE A LIST OF URGAN PROBLEMS, MOST PEOPLE WOULD NAME “CRIME” AT THE TOP OF THEIR LIST

WHILE PEOPLE FEAR SUCH THINGS AS POLLUTION AND ISOLATION, WE TEND TO FEAR OUR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS EVEN MORE – ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE YOUNG, MALE, AND FROM RACIAL OR CULTURAL MINORITIES ====> THIS MAY BE ONE OF THE REASONS THAT MANY PEOPLE PERCEIVE THE CHANGING “ETHNIC COMPOSITION” OF THE LARGEST CITIES AS THREATENING.

{IN HER 1998 BOOK, THE COLOR OF CRIME, KATHRYN RUSSELL SPEAKS OF TH "CRIMINALBLACKMAN." ======> THE CRIMINALBLACKMAN IS A COMPOSITE OF WHITE FEARS OF BLACK MEN’S CRIMINALITY == IT MAY BECOME SO STRONG AND SO WIDESPREAD THAT IT ALLOWS FOR “RACIAL HOAXES,” IN WHICH A WHITE OFFENDER BLAMES AN AFRICAN AMERICAN, USUALLY MALE, FOR THE OFFENSE IN QUESTION AND IS READILY BELIEVED BY CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENTS AND/OR THE GENERAL PUBLIC.}

SURVEYS SHOW THAT WHEN URBANITES TALK ABOUT URBAN CRIME THEY DO NOT MEAN ALL KINDS OF CRIME, THEY USUALLY MEAN PHYSICAL ATTACKS ON OURSELVES OR OUR PROPERTY

FACTS TO NOTE:

1.      PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY TO FEAR “STREET CRIME” THAN THE POTENTIALLY GREATER DEVASTATION OF “WHITE COLLAR CRIME” {{{E.X., REFUSAL TO MAKE WORKPLACES SAFE, REFUSAL TO CURTAIL DEADLY POLLUTION, PROMOTION OF UNNECESSARY SURGERY, AND PRESCRIPTIONS FOR UNNECESSARY DRUGS, CAUSE OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS TO INNOCENT MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC AND PRODUCE AS MUCH DEATH, DESTRUCTION, AND FINANCIAL LOSS AS THE SO-CALLED “STREET CRIME” OF THE POOR. HOWEVER THESE CRIMES OF THE WELL -OFF, OR “ELITE CRIME,” IS RARELY TREATED AS SEVERE AS “STREET CRIME”}}.

2.      IN GENERAL, THE PEOPLE MOST LIKELY TO FEAR STREET CRIME – WOMEN AND THE ELDERLY – ARE THE LEAST LIKELY TO BE ITS VICTIMS.

3.      ITS IS YOUNG MALES WHO BOTH COMMIT CRIME AND FALL VICTIM TO IT

4.      BUT STATISTICS SHOW THAT FOR WOMEN THE FAMILY HOME CAN BE MORE DANGEROUS THAN PUBLIC PLACES.

5.      {SUCH DISTORTED PERCEPTIONS MIGHT ARISE IN PART FROM MEDIA COVERAGE OF CRIME NEWS, WHICH NOT ONLY ACTS AS A POWER TOOL FOR DEFINING CRIME, IT ALSO CAN ACT AS AN AGENT OF SOCIAL CONTROL BY SENSATIONALIZE AND EXAGGERATE THE DANGERS OF CRIME.

 

RACIAL CONFLICT:

IMAGES OF URBAN PROBLEMS ARE OFTEN LINKED WITH IMAGES OF RACIAL CONFLICT ====>

SOME OF THE RACIAL CONTINGENCIES AND TENSIONS:

1.      IMMIGRATION, IMMIGRANT GROUPS, ARE THE NOW CONCENTRATED IN CITIES – AND ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE POOR, TO HAVE CULTURAL VALUES THAT DIFFER FROM THE DOMINANT ONES – DEEMED THREATENING TO THE “SOCIAL ORDER”;

2.      IMMIGRANTS ALSO CAN HAVE RESISTANCE TO ASSIMILATION AND CREATE SOCIAL CONFLICTS WHICH ARE INCREASINGLY FOCUSSED IN CITIES{CHANGING POLITICAL BELIEFS MAKE IT LESS LIKELY THAN EARLIER ERAS THAT MINORITY GROUPS WITH ACCEPT ASSIMILATION AS THE PRIMARY SOLUTION TO SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DIFFICULTIES.}

3.      NATIVE POPULATIONS ARE ALSO UNDERGOING RURAL-TO-URBAN MIGRATION, WITH MORE THAN A THIRD OF STATUS INDIANS NOW LIVING IN CITIES {HYPER-MOBILITY}

4.      TODAY URBAN MINORITY POPULATIONS ARE RELATIVELY LARGE AND SOMETIMES IN THE CASE OF NATIVE PEOPLE, HIGHLY MOBILE ====> BOTH FACTORS MAKE IT LESS LIKELY THAT INFORMAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURES WILL BE ADEQUATE TO DEAL WITH COMMUNITY DIFFICULTIES.

5.      IN ADDITION, PROGRAMS FOR IMMIGRANTS THAT ARE INSTITUTED CAN BE PROBLEMATIC, SINCE THEY MAY CAUSE RESENTMENT AMONG GROUPS THAAT DOE NOT HAVE SUCH SPECIAL PROGRAMS.

6.      {FINALLY}DESPITE MULTICULTURALISM POLICIES (AIMED AT RECOGNITION OF MINORITIES), INEQUALITIES AND POWER DIFFERENCES STILL PERSIST ALONG ETHNORACIAL LINES ====> THE PRACTICAL REALITY OF POWER-SHARING IS STILL ELUSIVE =====> NOT EVERYBODY HAS A EQUAL VOICE IN MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT CITIES – ABOUT WHAT GETS BUILT OR TORN DOWN, ABOUT WHAT SERVICES ARE OFFERED, AND ABOUT THE MANY OTHER ASPECTS OF URBAN LIFE ======> THEREFORE, VISIBLE MINORITY GROUPS ARE INCREASINGLY AGITATED AND ASSERTIVE ABOUT HAVING A VOICE IN THE CITY/POLITY/NATIONAL DISCOURSE.

 

SOCIOLOGICAL MORAL OF STORY: IN THE MODERN WORLD OF GLOBALISM AND DIASPORA – INDUSTRIALIZATION AND URBANIZATION MANIFEST THEMSELVES IN THE STRUGGLE OVER “SPACE” - (A) THE STRUGGLE OF LIFE SPACE AGAINST ECONOMIC SPACE; AND (B) THE STRUGGLE OVER BELONGING}