social issue Essay Examples

Social Issue Essay Example with Topics

Social issues and problems are a major part of society today. It's possible that these problems can be solved; however, it will take a lot of effort in the most cases. As issues are often controversial, this can be a great topic to write an essay about. Get inspired by an example essay as shown below:

Example essay: Social Problems in Society

A social problem is one that is unwanted by society and the community at large. Such issues are caused by a multitude of different factors that society can't control, hence a problem is formed. Everything is not so clear-cut in the cases of social problems; often a lot of them are controversial and up for debate by members of society. It is not easy to solve such problems, however, government and communities must do their best to ensure that these dilemmas don't exist. It is always problematic when people have different opinions about how the dilemma can be defined, for instance, transgender rights in the military? Maybe these aren't really difficulties after all. There are many various factors that create social problems, which have been studied by sociologists all over the world. Scientists often believe that human problems are formed through the structure and culture of an environment within a society causing social and other changes in people's values, customs, traditions, ways of life and laws. The output of social problems can include discrimination, hate crimes, child abuse, murder, and a long list of heinous crimes that shouldn't be committed in this day and age. The complication of observing social problems being solved is that societies always favor certain groups over others, for instance, the employed and educated sector may look down upon those that are unemployed and uneducated. Perhaps, societies may not welcome a proposal to empower drug addicts or the homeless because they will just go, and spend the money unwisely on addictions or things they don’t need. There is always an opportunity cost for any funding or efforts to stop a social problem that leads to the neglect of a particular group of people, for instance, if the government set up schemes to provide homeless people with houses, new graduates from university looking to rent a house will lose out. It is often difficult for governments and society to think about which cultures they should help out in order to solve social challenges and issues. In working with different cultures to abolish social problems, it is hard to allocate funding effectively, if some groups of people are less co-operative than others, or are a lot more difficult to help, for instance, people that have addictions. A lot of the time funds can be allocated or used inappropriately or ineffectively. In less economically developed countries, corruption may lead to very ineffective social problem-solving. Common problems in society are most easily solved when the root of the problem is tackled. In the case of drug addicts, there is a big problem that people often become addicted to drugs because of underlying traumas, family issues, and societal push back and not having the opportunities that they need to get their lives moving on the right track. One can, therefore, approach the problem of drug addiction not by penalizing an incarcerating those poor drug addicts that are just trying to relieve themselves of their harrowing addiction, but by empowering communities so that all members of society receive a chance to get themselves on the right track. By examining this social problem, it is easy to see that the root cause of the drug problem may not be the chance themselves but rather the factors that cause people to take drugs in the first place. When examining social issues and social problems, it is important for people to communicate with all cultures and all groups in society in order to fully understand root causes. People need to take a holistic view and think outside the box, because of them the root causes of a social problem are much deeper than what they may seem to be on the face. In conclusion, the social problems are highly prevalent in society and in order for people to tackle these problems they need to keep an open mind and engaged with their community. Issues need to be put to the forefront of the government's attention so that they can receive the appropriate funding to be tackled. People also need to put their prejudices aside in terms of the social class and specific cultures, because it is society as a whole that can make an impact together on social problems.

Topic Choices

If you're struggling to think of a good social issue topic for your essay, there are many that you can write about. Have a look at some of the following topics to get you guessing in the right direction.

• Religion - there are a lot of different ways that people worship this theme and a lot of various religions that play certain roles in society.
• Social life - the government follows social media and police monitors to some extent in certain nations, controlling what people are and aren't allowed to say.
• Gender identity - the way that people identify with a gender in today's society provides a lot of differences of opinion between gender and advocates of transgender rights.
• Drug use - drugs are extremely expensive and addictive, creating a lot of social problems. The government often tries to conquer the war on drugs, and have numerous other plans but they don’t often work the way they’re intended to.
• Separation of the church and state - people have argued for many years that the state should have no purpose bringing religion into the law and Society.
• Bullying on social media - over the years, bullying on social media has become a large problem in schools. It is difficult for parents and teachers to police and is just as real as face to face physical bullying, so it deserves a lot of attention.
• Alcohol use - many people are dependent upon alcohol to help them through their emotional pain and baggage. Alcoholics and alcoholism can cause a lot of issues for society and, on a personal basis, for alcoholics.
• Materialistic society - fashion trends are highly superficial fluctuate on a monthly or seasonal basis. Fashion fans are fickle and often can spend a lot of money instead of interacting socially with their community. A more materialistic society can cause problems.
• Social media ethics - in this day and age, even Silicon Valley executives don't let their children use social media because they know of the dangers that it can pose. Social media can have a strong negative impact on society from an ethical point of view.
• War - there have been many wars in many countries all over the world, all creating events social problems and difficulties. War creates enormous social issues for everybody involved, both directly and indirectly.
• Single parenthood - single parents have it tough, and society needs to help them out with financially and in the community. The burdens that single parents face can be transferred to their children.
• Racist attitudes - racism is still a problem even in this day and age. Discrimination against race is usually not tolerated in society but can still pose a problem for those that advocate it.
• Education disparity - there are a lot of disparities between education and received by rich people and poor people in society. Is it right that just because a person is born into a rich family that this entitles them to have the better education?
• The Social lives in the economy - how do people’s social lives impact upon the economy? There are a lot of issues that can be raised about socializing and how this is affecting economic growth.
• Poverty and class systems - in a lot of less economically developed nations, the poorer you are the lower class you belong to. This is most likely unfair if one thinks about it.
• Transgender discrimination - many people are realizing that they prefer to be a different gender or a combination of certain genders. This is set to shape society more and can have many consequences in the future.
• Fat shaming - unfortunately, a lot of bullying comes in the form of fat shaming whereby people are slated for their weight. Is a person's weight their choice completely or does it drain a lot of public funding for national services?
• Nationalism - the sense of belonging to your country is like the sense of belonging to a particular society. The ways that people talk about each other's countries and the rise of xenophobia can impact on many people’s lives.
• Advertising - in a lot of cases people buy things that they don't really need thanks to the power of advertising. This can have an extreme effect on society.
• Social life vs. computer time - a lot of young children are spending most of their lives on the Internet or at a computer. This can impact greatly on their social lives.
• Suicide and social media - unfortunately, a lot of people are committing suicide due to things that they have seen on social media or responses to things that they have posted about themselves. Are there ways that suicide due to social media can be reduced?