John Itsuro Kitsuse (1923, Imperial Valley, California, US - 27 November 2003, Santa Cruz, California, US) was an American professor of
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...
who contributed to the sociology of
social problem
A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's cont ...
s,
criminology and
deviance. Kitsuse is famous for his pioneer work in studying social problems as
social construction
Social constructionism is a theory in sociology, social ontology, and communication theory which proposes that certain ideas about physical reality arise from collaborative consensus, instead of pure observation of said reality. The theory ...
s. From 1977 until his death, Kitsuse and his colleague
Malcolm Spector
Malcolm, Malcom, Máel Coluim, or Maol Choluim may refer to:
People
* Malcolm (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters
* Clan Malcolm
* Maol Choluim de Innerpeffray, 14th-century bishop-elect of Dunkeld
Nobility
* Máel ...
published some of their research in this field in their book ''Constructing Social Problems''. As a second generation Japanese American, Kitsuse was imprisoned in an
American internment camp from 1942–1943, due to the ongoing war between the United States and Japan.
References
University of California
1923 births
2003 deaths
American sociologists
{{US-sociologist-stub