Professor Greg Lukasik
SYG 2010-001 Section 002
October 8, 2017
What’s to Blame? [Social Problems Paper 1] There are numerous social issues that can occur in a society. Some of these issues are so common that they occur on a global scale. From hunger, to poverty, or even domestic terrorism; all issues have a negative impact on our lives, regardless of how affective. The problem of attempting to find a solution to issues such as hunger, is finding the origin in which it derives from. As a result, we attempt to find out the source of the issue using two different approaches: “person blame”, and “system blame”. Person blame is when we believe the source of an issues derives from one person or a group of people. System blame …show more content…
Maciones’ presentation, the pro of using the person blame approach is that we acknowledge that people are not entirely defined by their environment (Macionis, 56). In some cases, such as racial discrimination, we use the person blame approach to hold those who discriminate accountable for their actions. The con of using person blame approach is neglecting the idea of a flawed system that could be the actual source of a social issue (Macionis, 56). While we can hold someone accountable for their actions, we cannot forget that the environment they have been living in can have a major influence on their opinions; therefore resulting in their actions taking place. A pro of the system blame approach is that we can recognize the significant inequality among the different social classes (Macionis, 57). While some people blame a student for not “taking advantage” of the educational system; in the perspective of the student, they can be learning in a low budgeted school, being taught by teachers with little hope or care for their succession. A con of system blame approach is that we can mistakenly disregard the actions of an individual, and allow them to continue to negatively impact society (Macionis, 57). In the case of a poor school system, we can only encourage students to attempt to work harder. If students continue to disregard this chance, then they can partially be held accountable for their …show more content…
Blaming their place of work for their unemployment, and how they needed to pay more taxes due to living on government money from the IRA (Quick, 1). In Dennis Lynn’s Living responsibly, the person blame approach is being used. Referring to what would be considered “unnecessary spending” people go through; it is suggested that all this spending leads up to a person becoming homeless (Lynn, 1). In USA Today’s “Put U.S. needs first”, there is a combination of person and system blame. The initial blame goes towards former President Bush’s actions in Middle East politics, while further blame goes to the American government as a whole for following Bush’s action, thereby neglecting its own citizens who are homeless (USA Today,