Revision summary
Attitude to a social problem is a standing evaluation of the harm and of who should pay. Family scripts, peers, school, media, personal shock, and leaders are the main builders. Poverty, caste, waste, riots, liquor, POSH, and sanitation show the same formation path. Attitudes form by modelling and consistency; they move when contact or cost breaks the old link. Campaigns should use proof and dignity, not only volume.
Model answer
Introduction
An attitude toward a social problem is a standing evaluation of that harm and of who should pay to fix it. It is formed, not born. Family, peers, media, school, interest, and a lived shock are the usual builders.
Body
Family and early socialisation
- The home names the problem as shame, joke, or duty. A child who hears “beggars are lazy” forms a punitive attitude to poverty; a child who sees a parent share grain forms a welfare attitude.
- Example: open defecation can be treated as a private habit or as a public-health wrong, depending on what the courtyard practised.
Peers, caste, and neighbourhood
- Reference groups reward conformity. A hostel that mocks a Dalit roommate hardens a caste-blindness that later denies atrocity as a “social problem.”
- Example: a mixed sports team can soften the same youth’s attitude to reservation as theft.
Education and institutions
- School civics, a teacher’s fairness, and a university field visit supply facts that can revise a rumour.
- Example: a visit to a landfill can turn “plastic is convenience” into an attitude that waste is a justice issue for pickers.
Media and social media
- Agenda-setting and framing decide whether a riot is “order” or “massacre,” and whether a farmer protest is “traffic” or “livelihood.”
- Example: repeated crime headlines about one community can form a security attitude that ignores unemployment data.
Personal experience and interest
- Direct injury or benefit is a strong conditioner. A family that lost a member to drunken driving supports strict liquor rules; a bar owner resists them.
- Example: a woman who survived workplace harassment is likelier to treat POSH as a real social problem, not as “sensitivity.”
Culture, leaders, and the State
- Religious discourse, political entrepreneurs, and a scheme’s last-mile treatment all cue the attitude.
- Example: Swachh Bharat messaging plus a working toilet can shift sanitation from “someone else’s dirty job” to a civic pride; a photo-only campaign can breed cynicism.
Combined process
- Attitudes form by association, modelling, and cognitive consistency; they change when new contact, a trusted messenger, or a costly experience breaks the old link.
- The officer’s job is to know these sources so that a campaign uses proof and dignity, not only a louder slogan.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD F[Family peers] --> A[Attitude to problem] E[Education media] --> A X[Lived shock interest] --> A A --> B[Blame or reform]
Conclusion
Attitudes to social problems are built at home, in the peer group, in school, on the screen, and in the purse. Examples from poverty, caste, waste, riots, liquor, harassment, and sanitation show the same machinery. Change the evidence and the company, and the attitude can still move.
Quick related
Students also ask
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‘Today objectivity and dedication is the need of the hour in civil services.’ Justify the statement.
Next question in the 2021 paper (Q19). View answer →
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Is a social-media clip enough to form a lasting attitude?
It can spark affect. Lasting attitude usually needs repetition, peer reward, or a personal stake.
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Can the State ethically shape attitudes?
Yes, toward rights and public health, with truth. No, toward a communal enemy image.
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