Social problems are conditions that a majority of people in a society view as being undesirable. In an increasingly globalized world, many of the social problems seen as national are becoming global problems. Global social problems are social menaces within many societies. These problems are not faced by one society and, therefore, to be ameliorated, they need both national and international attention. Eight examples of global social problems are pollution of the atmosphere, poverty, domestic violence, migration, race and ethnic conflicts, crime, substance abuse and addictions and AIDS (George & Page, 2004). This essay will focus on discussing the following global social problems: substance abuse and addictions, poverty, crime and AIDS.
Global Social Problems.
Around the world, poverty is a social problem. The gap between the poor and the rich is quite high and increasing. Majority of the world's nations and people are in the state of poverty. Over 3 billion people live on not more than a dollar a day; this translates to half the world's population. Approximately 640 million people live without proper shelter, 270 million lack access to health services, 400 million lack access to safe drinking water, and in 2003, 10.6 million children died before they reached age 5 (Shah, 2011). Causes of poverty include a lack of personal responsibility, exploitation by businesses and people with influence and power and bad government policies. Global practices, decisions, and policies formulated to reduce poverty have no great results. This is because decisions, practices, and policies formulated to reduce poverty are driven, influenced, and formulated by the powerful and rich. The governments of poor societies and their citizens are often powerless and poor. As a result, few societies get wealth while the majority struggle (Shah, 2011). .
Substance abuse and addictions are serious global social problems.