The sociological approach toward social problems differs from other approaches in that the sociological approach includes a focus on self-consciousness and building awareness that an individual’s interaction with society can oftentimes be influenced by forces outside of the single individual’s control or area of power. The author of one of our texts, Anna Leon-Guerrero, who is a Professor of Sociology at Pacific Lutheran University, writes that “Unlike any other discipline, sociology provides us with a form of self-consciousness, an awareness that our personal experiences are often caused by structural or social forces (Leon-Guerrero, 2010). Certain problems are considered significant, or more significant, than other problems due to a …show more content…

In the functional approach society is viewed as a collection of separate, but interdependent systems that constantly affect each other. Viewing the social problem of teen pregnancy through the interactionist approach looks at society as a result of individual interactions. This view takes on a micro perspective, as opposed to the macro perspectives used by both the conflict and functional approaches. In this approach one could account the problem of teen pregnancy as resulting from micro, or personal and individual, interactions by one person or a small group of persons with society. If 10,000 people were to have similar interactions with society, could those 10,000 people all make the same choices than once grouped together then become a much larger issue? Addressing the issue of teen pregnancy through the social constructionist perspective can help us to understand how and why teen pregnancy has become considered a social problem and can also help us to understand how and what steps have been taken by individuals, governments and other organizations to combat the problem. One could argue that because society has declared that teen pregnancy is, in fact a social problem, changes have been implemented that have