Anthropogenic nature of environmental problems.

Environmental problems are caused by human activities and they pose as a threat towards physical environment. There are many problems such as :

Ozone depletion- firstly ozone is a protective layer that surrounds the earth and protect people from the suns damaging ultraviolet rays. Due to harmful products used by humans a hole has been created in the ozone leading to global warming, which leads to climate change.

Destruction of natural habitats- As a results of population growth natural habitats such as wetlands, forests, the ocean bottom are being destroyed. 

Adverse effects on marine life- as a result of population growth, fish farms are also increasing, this may results in some ocean animals becoming extinct.

Decline in freshwater- water is becoming a global crisis and this is a result of pollution, floods etc. 

Participatory development

Participatory development is another possible theory for development and it is used in a way that provide information between community members and stakeholders that are involved. 

It can be divided into two forms named:

Participatory organisation- this is seen when community groups initiate and participate in development. For example communities create community forums so that they can fight crime taking place around the communities.

Participation as empowerment- As an empowering technique participation takes the shape of structural changes and resource access.

The comparison between modernisation and dependency is:

Modernisation.

Can be define as a process that takes place when a less developed country transforms into a developed country. The modernisation theorists believed that less developed countries are still poor because they are yet to develop and that sometimes internal factors (such as resistance in terms of market principles) can contribute to a slow down in economic growth.

Dependency 

Takes place when the growth and development of one economy ( dominant countries) comes at the cost of the development and growth of another country (less dominant countries).

The four factors that constitute development are:

1. Growth and structural change.

It focuses on how different economic classes( such as less developed, developing and developed countries) get their main income. The main income for less developed countries they generate their main income from primary sector(e.g farming), while the developing countries generate their main income from secondary sectors ( e.g manufacturing) and lastly the developed countries generate their main income from tertiary sector( e.g businesses like banks). For instance South Africa is a developing country, whereby its main source of income comes from extracting the raw materials( primary sector) and from manufacturing food (secondary sector ).

2. Modernisation.

When new and advanced technologies are embraced by a nation, then it is considered that a country is modernised. For example South Africa has to embrace the fourth industrial revolution, so that the country will be able to stabilise the economy.

3. Demographic Transitions.

Improvements in hygiene and sanitation lead to lower death rates and this can result in growth. For instance even though they is a shortage in resources provided by the government for sanitation but the government provides those resources to try and reduce the sanitation problem.

4. Improvements in education and health.

Education is important for growth and development. Education and health have the ability to play an important role in a country's growth, as they are critical to the accumulation of human resources and the development process. For example if the educational system in South Africa improves then people will gain more skills, so that the country can get whatever goods and services they need and not import goods from other countries. 

Poverty can be defined as a condition were a person or community lack the necessities ( such as having low or no income) of life, in terms of not being able to meet basic needs such as food, shelter etc. Poverty can be divided into two types of poverty the relative poverty and the absolute poverty. 

According to Townsend people can be seen as being in poverty when they do not have resources to access certain diet, participate in activities and they are living in conditions approved by their societies. 

Due to high rate of poverty taking place in this country, the government has introduced ways that can help poor people.

The benefits of poverty for poor individuals or community is:

>The government provide social grants( such as child support, disability, old age pension, foster child and dependency grants) to help individuals with getting their basic needs.

> The government provide free education from primary school to high school and even to tertiary( through NSFAS).

> The government also provide free access to healthcare services, free clean water, the government also provide free houses (RDPs) to poor people.

> The government also provide free transportation and meals in schools to help disadvantage children.

> The government also tries to provide skills and knowledge to individuals, which helps them to get jobs, this initiative is usually done through the skills development programmes. This also helps the community because people will be able to find jobs, this results to the unemployment rate decreasing and a decrease in employment can lead to a decrease in poverty. 

> The government also tries to help individuals by providing jobs through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). This programme includes jobs such as fixing and building infrastructure and also cleaning our environment. This in turn helps to elevate the community as people will be able to provide for their families. 

The two theoretical perspectives to be discussed are the Functionalist perspective and the Conflict perspective.

Functionalist perspective

This theoretical approach argues that every part of the society ( such as the community, the government etc.) plays a particular role in shaping the society. This parts rely on one another and if it happens that they stop relying on one another then they will see an increase on many social problems. Such as an increase in unemployment, poverty and crime etc.. This perspective also tries to look at social problems in a positive aspect. For instance it tries to argue that having some social problems might help to solve another social problem.  For instance even though crime is a negative situation but it some how cause employment in the safety department ( for instance more police and security will be employed).Meaning they are solving a social problem using another social problem.

Conflict theory 

This theoretical approach argues that social problems develop as a result of  inequality faced by people. Such as race inequality, gender inequality and inequality in terms of an individual's background etc. Basically  this approach tries to understand the root of the problem, the causes that lead to such social problems from arising. For instance crime, this approach might argue that people commit crimes because they have to provide for their families( it tries to justify that crime happens because of poverty, unemployment etc.).

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Depression

Depression can be viewed as a social problem because it can prevent a person from achieving something for instance depression can prevent a person from participating at work, which can lead to an individual losing his or her job. Depression does not only cause harm to an individual but it can also cause harm to other people in a community. Depression can be caused by poverty, it can also be a genetical situation, It is difficult to say that the depression problem can be solved, however certain procedures can be made to try and prevent depression from occurring. Procedures such as counselling or medication. 

Smash and grab

Smash and grab is a social problem because it is a crime, it causes harm and a feeling of not safe to the society. It is caused by poverty, unemployment and personal reasons etc. It cannot be solved however there are ways that they can use to try and reduce this social problem from happening. The government and other organisations can try and create job opportunities, the government can implement skills development programs so that people can gain knowledge and skills. Them having knowledge and skills can increase their chances of getting jobs. The community can also try to help by donating food parcels, clothes or money to local NGOs so that people may have some where to go if they are in need of something, instead of doing crime to feed their families. 

Rape 

Rape is a social problem because it causes harm to people. People who are victims of rape often feel threatened and unsafe when they are surrounded by people. It can be caused by a traumatic past or it can also be ones own reasons. The government needs to implement harsher punishments.

Fast Food

Fast food is not a social problem, people have a choice of either fast food or not.

HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS is a social problem. It can be caused by having unprotected sexual intercourse with someone who is HIV/AIDS positive and touching someone's blood who is HIV/AIDS positive without gloves can also result to someone being infected.