The Issue with Scapegoating Social Problems Essays

The Issue with Scapegoating Social Problems Essays The Issue with Scapegoating Social Problems Paper The Issue with Scapegoating Social Problems Paper Essay Topic: Social Issues Social inequalities and the so-called War on Drugs have put drug abuse under a lens by where victims of larger social problems, such as unemployment, poverty, lack of mobility due to race and place are not only viewed as the cause of the problems they face, but an enemy in this War on Drugs. As well, the concern by policy makers at large on the erosion of traditional family values is blamed on drug abuse and not vice versa. The inability to accept shifting family paradigms and coupling the changing myriad of family structures with an erosion of values is troubling. Equally troubling is the problem of power with those in power refusing to yield and instead fighting to keep their own power and status by scapegoating those that have none. Instead of looking at institutional problems that promote anomie and a sense of alienation from others due to the status quo, these concerned policy-makers make this a personal issue and thus drug abuse is only a personal problem from their standpoint. In such a Capitalist society as the United States, all problems are made into individual problems. If a person is in poverty, it is viewed as a lack of initiative on their part, if their are abusing drugs it is because they are deviant, and so on. This leads to institutionalized alienation of those in need and contempt by those who can help. By a society taking a collective approach to all its citizens and understanding that stunting the growth of individuals when they need it, may only lead that person to a state where drug abuse, crime, and poverty seem the only place that they play any role in their world. Changing attitudes and providing systemic solutions to many social problems, such as drug use, is the only way to provide respite and resolution from this scenario that continues to play out in our society. References Heiner, Robert. Social Problems: An Introduction to Critical Constructionism. (2006). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp 105-146.