SOCIAL PROBLEMS

L. K. FRANK

New York City

ABSTRACT

Social problems arise from social institutions and differ from scientific and political problems, proposed solutions look to sundry devices to make institutions "work" despite difficulties; problems indicate changes in habits and customs of group, accompanying technical advances; data of social problems invite study of social change and suggest solution of problems to be found in expediting these changes.

The study of social problems has reached such an advanced stage today that, in venturing to set forth the following discussion, I feel that I must apologize for my temerity. These remarks, which are offered, not as conclusions, but merely to indicate a line of inquiry, may perhaps suggest to more competent hands an enterprise of some moment.

I

When we speak of our social problems we refer usually to those subjects of earnest concern which are known severally as the housing problem, the infant-mortality problem, the child-welfare problem, the labor problem, the problem of crime and delinquency, and so on. And when we inquire into the occasion for housing as a problem, or any of the other numerous social problems, we find that each of these problems is associated with a situation involving a fairly large number of persons who are in distress. Further inquiry into the character of their difficulties shows that, as in the housing problem, people are embarrassed, to say the least, by an insufficient supply of houses in which to live. Or we find that the number of babies dying prematurely is too large to be viewed with complacency. Or, again, we see a large social class which we call labor unable to obtain a satisfactory basis of employment from another large class, called employers. Then, too, we find large numbers of adults and children breaking the laws of property and person so that, as individuals and as members of society, we see our rights and liberties menaced.

Being aroused by these evidences of social difficulties, we are concerned with discovering a solution of these problems which will reduce or eliminate the housing shortage, infant mortality, industrial friction, and law breaking. A social problem, then, appears to be any difficulty or misbehavior of a fairly large number of persons which we wish to remove or correct, and the solution of a social problem is evidently the discovery of a method for this removal or correction.

To all this, it is safe to say, will be given assent, as the familiar statement of a familiar theme. It is repeated here merely to assure agreement upon the topic to be discussed. And one of the first questions raised by the subject of social problems is, What are the conditions which generate these difficulties? For no one, it may be assumed, would be inclined to look for a housing problem among, let us say, the Eskimos, who construct their igloos personally from an inexhaustible supply of building materials; nor a labor problem among those African pygmies who have a hunting culture. This is merely to suggest that a social problem is related to the particular social conditions from which it arises, which is more or less a commonplace. Examining social problems and their generating conditions more closely, it appears that each social problem is specifically related to particular social conditions or social factors, namely, one or more social institutions. That is to say, a housing problem is related to the institution of private property, undoubtedly, for it may be presumed that people would not continue to suffer the housing shortage if they did not face, in the institution of private property and absentee ownership, inter alia, something which forced them to contemplate their uncomfortable position as a difficult problem. For, were the land upon which to build and the materials and tools needed in building available to those in need of shelter, it is not unwarranted to expect that the housing shortage would be alleviated, in rather primitive fashion, to be sure, if done individually. While, if the state were to take these requisites from their owners and construct homes in proper fashion, the housing shortage would be eliminated in appropriate form.

It may be further pointed out that each of the social problems is concerned with, or arises from, a social institution, which, like pri

vate property, acts as a deterrent or obstacle to the direct solution of the problem, or, like marriage, permits and encourages the bearing of offspring in such surroundings and by such mothers as, jointly or severally, to lead to high infant mortality. It is sufficient here merely to mention the connection between private property and crime, between private property, the "price system," and the high cost of living, the wages aspect of the labor problem, and so on.

Now the purport of these remarks upon the apparently obvious fact that social problems arise in a society with institutions, and these problems and institutions are intimately related, is merely to call attention to what seems to be the unique character of social problems. In any other variety of practical or scientific problems, the task set by the problem is to find a method or technique for doing something, whether it be to launch a boat or bombard helium atoms with X-rays. In doing this something, we endeavor to find the sequence of operations which will lead to the accomplishment of the task involved and to remove or abolish the factors or elements in the given situation which block our efforts in that direction.

But when we inquire into one of these social problems and the efforts made to solve it, we meet with this interesting situation. Let us take the housing problem for an illustration. There develops a shortage of houses of such a magnitude that many people are distressed. Manifestly, the usual and accustomed operations of house construction have been reduced or interrupted. Now, in the discussion which ensues, we meet these proposals: that the income tax on the interest from real estate mortgages be reduced; that the property tax on newly constructed houses be remitted for a period of years; that insurance companies and savings banks be required to invest a fixed portion of their assets in real estate mortgages; that labor unions in the building trades be supervised by the state; that the producers of building materials be regulated by a state commission; that people be persuaded to move to other cities or towns; that landlords be prohibited from increasing rents above a fixed percentage of existing rents, and so on. It would require many pages to enumerate the various and sundry proposals recently made for solving the housing problem.

It would be taken as a sign of eccentricity or feeble-mindedness,

perhaps, to question the relevance of these proposals to the housing problem, so let us invoke that familiar figure of the man from Mars who views mundane affairs with an innocent eye. To this visitor, we may imagine the student of social problems, or the man in the street, patiently explaining that we had a serious housing problem. And our visitor would reply with numerous questions, we may assume, about the state of the building art: had we met with some new difficulty in constructing houses which our architects and builders could not overcome? The answer would have to be no, for there was no lack of skill there, nor in the ability of our building trades employees to erect houses. And the producers of building materials were possessed of tools and techniques for manufacturing building materials.

It is evident that our visitor would be somewhat perplexed to understand what was the nature of this housing problem, for surely there was no lack of ability and skill to build houses. What, then, was this housing problem and how were we trying to solve it? Again he would be told, with an exaggerated patience, that there was a shortage of houses for the population and that the legislators and economists, sociologists, social workers, and many other professional and lay-persons, were engaged in finding a way to overcome this shortage, as partially described above. The bewildered gentleman would knit his brows, cough apologetically, and say:

Please be patient with one who is anxious to understand and to sympathize with your difficulties, for I cannot see how, if you are concerned with a housing shortage, you talk about income taxes, mortgages, and all these other seemingly unrelated subjects. If you need houses, why, in the name of intelligence, don't you build them or address yourself to finding ways of building them instead of talking about money, capital, and so on? Your architects and builders know how to construct dwellings, your building-material factories know how to produce materials and the land awaits. Then, wherefore and why?

We should have to delegate an economist, a lawyer, a political scientist, a sociologist, and a historian to explain about the system of private property, the price system, popular government, congestion of population, transportation, and so on. And when they had severally and jointly expounded the complexities of the situation, pointing out that we cannot just build houses, but must rely upon

individual initiative and private enterprise to enter the field of building construction, that we must use the "price system" to obtain the needed land which is someone's private property, to buy the necessary materials and to hire the skilled labor, that we must borrow capital on mortgages to finance these expenditures, paying a bonus to induce someone to lend that capital and also pay interest on the loan, together with amortization quotas, and then we must contrive to rent these dwellings in accordance with a multiplicity of rules and regulations about leases and so on-after all these sundry explanations, showing that to get houses built we must not infringe anyone's rights of private property or freedom to make a profit, and that what we want is to find a way of getting houses without interfering with anyone's customary activities, our visitor would suddenly exclaim: "Yes, I begin to see; have you any other such difficult problems, for this is exceedingly interesting.

Then we should go on to explain about the problem of infant mortality, how anyone of adult age may beget children with the sanction and approval of the state, provided they undergo a ceremony called marriage. When they do beget children, despite their physical infirmities and the lack of an adequate income or any technique for taking care of their infants, large numbers of their babies die in the first year of life, but no one can say or do anything to prevent this mortality, because it is against the law and the constitution to interfere with an individual adult woman, especially in the care of her child. We have a difficult problem, therefore, of reducing these appalling losses of life, without restricting the liberty of individual mothers to beget more children than they should have, and to kill off their offspring through ignorance or the poverty which every person is by law entitled to enjoy, without let or hindrance (unless mitigated by charity). Of course, the application of modern medicine and hygiene can cut infant mortality to a very low rate, but about all we can do is to distribute enlightening pamphlets and establish infant-welfare stations, where, if they wish to do so, mothers can bring their infants for inspection and advice.

After telling about infant mortality, we would go into the intricacies of the problem of crime and delinquency, of drug addicts, the labor problem, the traffic problem (which would surely make our