7 Flashcards
What does social policy refer to?
Social policy refers to the plans and actions of state agencies, such as health and social services, the welfare benefits system, schools and other public bodies.
What are social policies usually based on?
Policies are usually based on laws introduced by government that provide the framework within which these agencies operate. For example, laws lay down who is entitled to each specific welfare benefit.
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Nazi family policy
The state compulsorily sterilised 375,000 disabled people that it deemed unfit to breed on grounds of ‘physical malformation, mental retardation, epilepsy, imbecility, deafness or blindness’.
Democratic societies
Some people argue that in democratic societies such as Britain, the family is a private sphere of life in which the government does not intervene, except perhaps when things ‘go wrong’, for example in cases of child abuse.
How do functionalists see society?
Functionalists see society as built on harmony and consensus (shared values), and free from major conflicts. They see the state as acting in the interests of society as a whole and its social policies as being for the good of all.
How do functionalists view the role of policies in relation to the family?
They see the state as acting in the interests of society as a whole and its social policies as being for the good of all. Functionalists see policies as helping families to perform their functions more effectively and make life better for their members.
What does Ronald Fletcher (1966) argue?
Ronald Fletcher (1966) argues that the introduction of health, education and housing policies in the years since the industrial revolution has gradually led to the development of a welfare state that supports the family in performing its functions more effectively.
How do functionalists view the role of policies in relation to the family?
They see the state as acting in the interests of society as a whole and its social policies as being for the good of all. Functionalists see policies as helping families to perform their functions more effectively and make life better for their members.
For example, Ronald Fletcher (1966) argues that the introduction of health, education and housing policies in the years since the industrial revolution has gradually led to the development of a welfare state that supports the family in performing its functions more effectively.
What does Ronald Fletcher (1966) argue?
Ronald Fletcher (1966) argues that the introduction of health, education and housing policies in the years since the industrial revolution has gradually led to the development of a welfare state that supports the family in performing its functions more effectively. For instance, the existence of the National Health Service means that with the help of doctors, nurses, hospitals and medicines, the family today is better able to take care of its members when they are sick.
What are the two main criticisms of the functionalist view of social policy in relation to the family?
It assumes that all members of the family benefit equally from social policies, whereas feminists for example argue that policies often benefit men at the expense of women.
It assumes that there is a ‘march of progress’, with social policies steadily making family life better and better. However, Marxists for example argue that policies can also turn the clock back and reverse progress previously made, for example by cutting welfare benefits to poor families.
Why does Jacques Donzelot (1977) offer a very different perspective on the relationship between the family and state policies from that of the functionalists?
Jacques Donzelot (1977) offers a very different perspective on the relationship between the family and state policies from that of the functionalists. Rather than a consensus view of policy as benefiting the family, Donzelot has a conflict view of society and he sees policy as a form of state power and control over families.
What is meant by surveillance (Foucault)?
Donzelot uses Michel Foucault’s (1976) concept of surveillance (observing and monitoring). Foucault sees power not just as something held by the government or state, but as diffused (spread) throughout society and found within all relationships.
What does Foucault see professionals such as doctors and social workers as exercising power over?
Foucault sees professionals such as doctors and social workers as exercising power over their clients by using their expert knowledge to turn them into ‘cases’ to be dealt with.
What is Donzelot interested in?
He is interested in how professionals carry out surveillance of families.
What is meant by ‘the policing of families’?
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What does Rachel Condry (2007) note?
As Rachel Condry (2007) notes, the state may seek to control and regulate family life by imposing compulsory Parenting Orders through the courts. Parents of young offenders, truants or badly behaved children may be forced to attend parenting classes to learn the ‘correct’ way to bring up their children.
In what way does Donzelot’s view of the effect of policy on family life differ from the functionalists’ view?
Donzelot rejects the functionalists’ march of progress view that social policy and the professionals who carry it out have created a better, freer or more humane society. Instead, he sees social policy as a form of state control of the family.
What does Donzelot see social policy as a form of?
A form of state control of the family.
By focusing on the micro level of how the ‘caring professions’ act as agents of social control through their surveillance of families, what does Donzelot show the importance of?
By focusing on the micro level of how the ‘caring professions’ act as agents of social control through their surveillance of families, Donzelot shows the importance of professional knowledge as a form of power and control.
What do Marxists and feminists criticise Donzelot for?
Marxists and feminists criticise Donzelot for failing to identify clearly who benefits from such policies of surveillance. Marxists argue that social policies generally operate in the interests of the capitalist class, while feminists argue that men are the main beneficiaries.
Describe the roles of adults in the New Right view of the ‘traditional’ nuclear family. How does their view compare to the functionalists?
The New Right are strongly in favour of the conventional or ‘traditional’ nuclear family based on a married, heterosexual couple, with a division of labour between a male provider and a female homemaker. They see this family type as naturally self-reliant and capable of caring and providing for its members, especially the successful socialisation of children.
Give three examples of policies that the New Right see as threatening the conventional family and producing social problems.
Laws making divorce easier undermine the idea of marriage as a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman.
The introduction of civil partnerships (and since 2014 marriage) for gay and lesbian couples sends out the message that the state no longer sees heterosexual marriage as superior to other domestic setups.
Tax laws discriminate against conventional families with a sole (usually male) breadwinner. They cannot transfer the non-working partner’s (usually the wife’s) tax allowances to the working partner, so they tend to pay more tax than dual-earner couples, each of whom has a tax allowance.
