1. Chapter 2
Norton Media Library
Chapter 2
Claims
Joel Best

2. Rhetoric of claims
Many claims tend to use a standard format with three components
Grounds
Warrants
Conclusions
Social Problems
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3. Rhetoric of claims Grounds: Descriptions of the troubling condition
Basic rhetorical recipe
Typifying examples/atrocity stories which shapes public’s perception of what the condition is like; notice however that these stories do not reflect “typical” cases
The problem is named and given an orientation (e.g., medical condition, scientific trouble, etc.)
Statistic(s) offered that implies how severe the troubling condition actually is
Big numbers preferred because they suggest that condition is widespread and thus serious enough for others to pay attention
Typifying example, “Columbine” “School shootings”; school shootings have increased in recent years;
Social Problems
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4. Rhetoric of claims Other types of grounds
Claims that problem is getting progressively worse
Construct profiles of both victims and villains
Range claim: many different kinds of people are hurt by the troubling condition
Challenges to other ways of constructing the social problem
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company

5. Rhetoric of claims
Warrants: why we should be concerned about the troubling condition; focuses on why “ought to care”
Utilize values (standards of good and bad, right and wrong that a majority of people share)
Since different people hold to different values, best to use multiple warrants in order to cover as many possible reasons why people should care as possible
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company

6. Rhetoric of claims
Conclusions: what should be done about the social problem; the solution
Proposed solution must be in line with the grounds and warrants put forth by the claimsmaker
Might offer both short-term and long-term goals (policy changes)
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company

7. Claims and Audiences
Claimsmakers must try to create claims that others will find persuasive
Valence issues:
topics that nearly everyone will agree are significant social problems; easier for claimsmakers to make certain kinds of claims about these social problems
Position issues:
topics over which it is unlikely that most people will ever come to consensus; more difficult for claimsmakers to persuade most individuals, so often target those who think like themselves
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company

8. Claims and Audiences Audiences are differentiated or segmented
Different social demographics often creates smaller audiences which worry about only certain kinds of social problems the most
These segmented audiences may have different interests and ideologies
Tactics for claimsmaking to various kinds of segmented audiences
“Preach to the choir: make claims only to those who think as your group does
Seek out the widest possible audience, for claim, often using multiple grounds and warrants to accomplish this claimsmaking goal
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company

9. Claims and Audiences
Audiences are not passive but active; they might seek out some claims; reject others; and pick and choose what makes most sense to them. Successful claimsmakers are aware of this and pay attention to how the audience is responding to their claims
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company

10. Claims and Audiences Social problems marketplace
At any given time, there are numerous claims about a variety of social problems being made and which are bombarding the audience
Claimsmakers struggle to get the audience’s attention and keep refining their claimsmaking in an effort to be more successful
Even if their issue has been come well-established as a social problem, claimsmakers need to keep refining their claims so that the problem does not become stale and cause it to lose attention by policymakers and the general public
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company

11. Claims and Audiences
How do claimsmakers refine claims to keep audience attention?
Domain expansion: redefine/broaden the definition of the problem, thereby adding in more possible victims to help and villains to control
Piggyback: when a newer claim builds upon an older, more established social problem’s claimsmaking, saying that “it is just like X” where “X” is the more established problem
Frame extension or piggybacking;
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company

12. Claims and Audiences
Most claimsmaking campaigns that are not about valence issues will inspire counterclaims
Often involve disputes over grounds or warrants
“Stat wars” over which statistics are more reflective of the “true” situation
Debates over ideologies (usually linked to warrants)
Usually both sides nuance and modify claims as a response to counterclaims by the other side(s)
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company

13. Cultural resources
While it is possible to create claims however claimsmakers want to, in practical reality, claims need to make sense to the intended audiences and to the claimsmakers themselves
Thus claimsmaking requires that claimsmakers be attuned to the cultural context where the claims are being made
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company

14. Cultural resources
So claimsmakers must tap into cultural resources – the well of words, ideas, and images that most people (of that culture) see as reasonable
Any one culture contains a large number of words, ideas, and images to choose from
It is also not necessarily internally consistent and cohesive, which allows claimsmakers about the same social problems to construct it in a variety of ways
Culture is constantly changing, so claimsmakers need to be aware of any shifts in meaning, etc.
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company

15. Cultural resources
Cultural resources both limit and enrich claimsmaking process
Constrains claimsmakers by making them ground their claims in what others are likely to see as practical and reasonable
But within the realm of the reasonable, claimsmakers will have a broad range of words, images, and ideas from which to select
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company

16. Case study: Claims about gay marriage
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company

17. Independent and Employee-Owned
End Chapter 2
W. W. Norton & Company
Independent and Employee-Owned
This concludes the Norton Media Library Slide Set for Chapter 2
Social Problems By
Joel Best