Lecture 6

1. Lecture 6 Social Problems in America

2. Major Social Problems • Poverty • Drug abuse • Crime • Health care • Government & corporations: the abuse of power • The color problem(the racial problem)（略）

3. Poverty • By many standards, America is the most wealthy society in the world. Yet over 24 million people---more than 1 American out of 10---are living at or below the official poverty line, on incomes that the federal government considers insufficient to meet basic requirement of food, clothing & shelter. • There are millions more, living slightly above the poverty line.

4. Poverty in the U.S.A.(1) • Poverty in the U.S.A.does not simply mean that the poor do not live quite as well as other citizens. • It means many old people eating dog & cat food to supplement their diets. • It means malnutrition & deprivation for hundreds of thousands of children.

5. Poverty in the U.S.A.(2) • It means greater susceptibility to disease, alcoholism, victimization by criminals & mental disorders. • It often means unstable marriages, slum housing, illiteracy, ignorance, inadequate medical facilities, & shortened life expectancy. • It can also mean low self-esteem, despair, & stunting of human potential (being prevented from developing).

6. The Emergence of Poverty as a Social Problem • Even though there was an impoverished “underclass” in the United States, poverty has not always been regarded as a significant social problem. • Unemployment & the poverty it caused were certainly seen as a major social problem during the depression years of the 1930s, but World War II diverted （转移） public attention to other issues.

7. New Issues • In the relatively prosperous postwar years new issues aroused public concern---anxieties about the cold war, communism, & America’s new global involvement.

8. Reemergence of the Problem(1) • It was only in the 1960s that poverty reemerged as a major social problem, perceived once more as a condition that represented a glaring gap between American ideals & American reality. • In 1960, presidential candidate John Kennedy was appalled to discover firsthand the extent of poverty in West Virginia & other states during his primary campaigns. He made poverty an issue in the presidential election, & the problem began to reemerge once more.

9. Reemergence of the Problem(2) • Then, in 1962, Michael Harrington declared in The Other America that as many as a quarter of the American people lived in poverty, & provided startling evidence of severe deprivation & malnutrition in America. • His book stimulated a large number of studies of poverty, the media took up the issue, & public interest in the problem increased rapidly.

10. Fight against Poverty(1) • The book & its reception reinforced President Kennedy’s determination to confront the problem. • In 1964, the late president’s resolve was perpetuated （延续）by President Johnson in a special message to Congress in which he announced the War on Poverty---a major, wide-ranging campaign that made the elimination of poverty one of the highest priorities of the nation.

11. Programs against Poverty • VISTA(Volunteers in Service to America): 扶贫服务志愿人员：美国国内的“和平队” • Neighborhood Youth Corps:“邻里青年队” • Job Corps: “工作队” • Community Action Program:“ 社区行动计划”

12. Fight against Poverty(2) • The problem of poverty was publicly recognized & government intervention was accepted as an appropriate way to solve it. • President Johnson was determined to make the eradication （根除）of poverty the great achievement of his administration---comparable to Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1930s.

13. Fight against Poverty(3) • However, the United States became embroiled （卷入）in a long, costly, unwinnable war in Southeast Asia (the Vietnam War), which distracted public & congressional attention, diverted national resources from the poverty programs, & finally drove Johnson from office. • Public awareness of the problem had increased, the poor had benefited from some of the new programs, but the basic problem of widespread poverty remained.

14. Drug abuse • Drug abuse has come to be regarded as one of the most challenging social problems facing the nation. • Opinion polls since the late 1960s have shown that the “drug problem” is perceived by most Americans as a major threat to American society, particularly to its younger numbers.

15. The Social Cost of Drug Abuse • Drug abuse is a social problem because it has a wide range of social costs, or dysfunctions （机能性障碍）---some obvious & measurable, some hidden & difficult to quantify.（测算） Crime Automobile accidents Economic losses Effects on individuals

16. Crime • There is a strong association between some forms of drug use & crime. Heroin addiction is related to crime, although not so directly to violence. *Heroin addicts may need as much as $100 a day to support their habit, & most find that they must steal in order to raise these sums. *Users of illegal drugs have to rely on criminal networks that manufacture, smuggle & distribute these drugs (heroin & cocaine). E.g.. Mafia and other criminal syndicates.

17. Automobile Accidents • The drug is blamed for half of the annual total of road traffic fatalities （死亡事故）. • Most psychoactive （对心理起作用）substances (drug), taken in sufficient doses, will impair （损害）driving ability. • In driving tests, marijuana has been found to affect performance by slowing down reaction time, reducing the driver’s attention, & impairing judgment.

18. Economic Losses • Treatment & control of drug abuse constitute a major drain on law-enforcement & other public resources. • Chronic drug abusers, for example, may become unemployable & end up on the welfare rolls. • By the mid-1970s, federal & state governments were spending over $ 1 billion per year on the treatment of various drug abusers. Another half billion dollars annually goes into processing drug users through the criminal justice system（司法机关处理吸毒者的刑事犯罪上）.

19. Effects on Individuals • Use of heroin increases one’s chances of premature death through overdose, infectious diseases such as hepatitis （肝炎）& endocarditis （心内膜炎）, or suicide. Barbiturates （巴比土酸盐）also cause several thousand deaths in the United States every year. • Many drugs have severe & sometimes irreversible effects on mental as well as physical health. • Drug dependency may also affect other areas of the individual’s life, ranging from the home to the work place to personal relationships with friends.

20. Crime • Crime is one of the most serious problems facing America. President Nixon once remarked that crime is the “No. 1 enemy” & that “we must declare war against it”. • Annual publication of the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) by the FBI(Federal Bureau of Investigation). • Serious Crime Index: 4 types of property crimes (burglary, larceny偷窃over $50, motor-vehicle theft, & arson纵火) & 4 types of crimes against persons (willful homicide故意杀人罪, forcible rape, aggravated assault 暴力袭击& robbery).

21. Crime Number Number of Reported Serious Crimes 1985 Arson Murder Forcible rape Robbery Aggravated assault Burglary Larceny-theft motor-vehicle theft Total (not provided) 18,976 87,340 497,874 723,246 3,073,348 6,926,380 1,102,862 12,430,026

22. the occurrence of reported crimes according to time in the United States Crime Clock: • 1. Murder---1 every 28 minutes • 2. Forcible rape---1 every 6 minutes • 3. Robbery---1 every 63 seconds • 4. Aggravated assault---1 every 44 seconds • 5. Motor-vehicle theft---1 every 29 seconds • 6. Violent crime---1 every 24 seconds • 7. Burglary---1 every 10 seconds • 8. Property crime---1 every 3 seconds

23. Seriousness of the Problem of Crime • Serious, violent crime has reached alarming proportions in the United States. • A survey by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) found that 61% of all women feel unsafe in their own neighborhoods at night; 45% of the population is afraid to walk alone at night near their own homes & 47% own guns, largely for self-protection.

24. Criminals (1) • Those arrested for crimes are likely to be males, young, a member of a racial minority & a city resident. • Males are arrested about 4 times as often as females. Reasons: !) the sex role stereotyping which encourages males to be aggressive. 2) the tendency of police officers & the courts to deal more leniently （宽松）with female offenders.

25. Criminals (2) • In 1985, 31% of all arrests were of persons under the age of 21, & 50% of all arrests were persons under the age of 25. (high arrest rate among juveniles and young adults) Reasons: 1)less skillful 2) the crimes they committed are highly visible to the police. • The arrest rate for the black population is 3 times higher than for whites. Reasons: 1) poverty & unemployment 2) racial prejudice.

26. Street Crime in the US • Street crime has been a constant threat to American society. Street crime & the fear of it are changing the fabric of the society & forcing its citizens to change their traditional living patterns. No one dares to stay away from home at night; no one feels secure even in his or her own neighborhood.

27. As early as 1970, Richard Nixon, the then President of the US, said in his State of Union Message, “I doubt if there are many members of the Congress who live more than a few blocks from here who dare to leave their cars in the Capitol garage & walk home at night.” • Since then things have changed for the worse. According to the statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the crime rate more than doubled in the US during the 1970s. Violent crime skyrocketed: the number of muggings or robberies increased more than 250%, the number of murders more than 100%, & the number of assaults more than 150%.

28. Crime Prevention • In USA today, more attention is given to ways of preventing crime. • There are special police programs & training programs in self-defense are aimed at helping citizens guard themselves. • Police departments have even offered to citizens “tips” (helpful pieces of advice) on how to take precautions while walking at night.

29. For example, people are told “not to walk near dark buildings or high shrubbery or parked cars,” & “never to take shortcuts through alleys or parks at night.” • They are advised to “look up to a light in the window if someone nearby is making you feel uncomfortable & pretend someone is waiting for you & is watching out for you.” • In some neighborhoods large “eye” signs are posted very conspicuously to indicate that the place is closely watched by police.

30. There is only luck • No matter what precautions you take, an assault or mugging could happen to you anywhere, anytime. “Security is an illusion” & what you can do is to trust yourself only to “luck”.

31. The Possession of Guns by American Individuals • In some cities & states of the US, it is illegal to possess hand guns; • In others one may possess them but they must be registered with the police; • In still other places there are no restrictions whatsoever on possession of hand guns. • In all parts of the US it is permissible to own rifles.

32. Because the laws vary so greatly from place to place, it is not difficult to buy a gun. • The possession of guns by individuals is becoming a controversial issue. Some people think crime will be going up with more & more people having guns, while others just hold the opposite view. They are respectively known as anti-gun lobby & pro-gun lobby ( a group of people who unite for or against an act of legislation).

33. The Death Penalty • In July, 1972 the US Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment, or the death penalty, was “cruel & unusual punishment”. Some states have since done away with it. Others greatly limit its use. • But in July 1976 the Court ruled that it was constitutional under certain circumstances. States were then free to impose it according to the Court’s guidelines. Many states therefore have brought it back. The state of California, for example, abolished it for a while, but then brought it back some time in the mid-80s.

34. Other social problems • Old people • High divorce rate • The generation gap

35. Old people in the west • In the west, most people retire from work between the ages of 60 to 65. This has 2 main consequences, one economic and the other psychological. • Economically: although retired people receive a pension from the government and from their past employers, it is often significantly less than they earned when they were working. Unless people have managed to save money during their years at work, their standard of living may decline dramatically when they retire.

36. Psychologically: old people in the west are generally considered useless, a burden on their families and on the public purse. They are hardly held in respect. On the other hand, mot of them, so used to focusing on work, simply do not know how to relax or pursue another interest now that they have time to do so. They feel they “should” be working and contributing, because work was where they were respected and their skills recognized. As retired people, their self-confidence is diminished. The longer they are away from the work place, the keener grows a sense of being superfluous.

37. High divorce rate in the US • Divorce is a major problem in the US. At present, it is estimated that about one quarter to one third of all American marriages end in divorce. There is a great difference of opinion as to the causes of this high rate of divorce. But studies indicate that there are more cases of divorce among persons with low incomes and inadequate education and among those who marry at a very young age.

38. Apart from legally divorced cases there are many separated couples. • The immediate result that arises from the high divorce rate is an increasing number of single parent homes, homes where children are being raised by only one parent. The breakup of a family affects the children most. • They fear being deserted or left alone. Many children suffer from a feeling of guilt when their parents divorce. They think that perhaps some of their actions have caused the parents’separation. Sometimes they become angry at both parents for changing their lives. Sometimes they may direct their anger at the parent who has left or the one who stays, who they think has forced the other away.

39. The generation gap • The term is used to mean differences in ideas, lifestyles, & attitudes between older and younger people, differences which result in a lack of understanding between them and frequently lead to confrontations.

40. The generation gap is one of the most widely discussed and controversial problems of recent years. Some doubt whether such a gap exists. They don’t believe the younger generation is set apart from the older one by a wide gap. Many others, on the other hand, insist that a gap between parents and children is unavoidable and the generation gap today, if anything, is worse than it has ever been before. The reason they give is that the tremendous explosion of knowledge in the 20th century has made life for young people today so very different from life as it was when their parents were young that the young and the old don’t understand each other and that different generations have different and even conflicting values.