Critical and Pragmatic Problem Solving

This chapter draws upon social epidemiology to define the concept “population” and offers a corrective to the insufficient “downstream approach” to injustice profiling in the form of an “upstream approach.” With the critical constructionists, I contend that the identification of at-risk, vulnerable populations involves a labeling contest between stakeholders with different levels of power. Advocates for vulnerable populations often lose this unfair contest. I review objective indicators important to profiling at-risk populations related to who, what, and where. I offer a critical pragmatist approach to public problem identification. Following a nod to Hull-House residents who pioneered the mapping of injustices experienced by immigrants, poor families, and young persons, I discuss public problems and communal inquiry. I review specific directives for identifying public problems: follow the process, engage in sympathetic understanding, consider unequal power dynamics, and learn about the framings of villains and victims. Profiling at-risk populations with problems in a place is related to the project of investigating grand challenges. I also review basic concepts: place, perils, precarity, and population vulnerability. I report on Audre Lorde, an exemplary injustice profiler. An illustrative at-risk population, African Americans wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death, is discussed.