AC4.2 Explain how social changes affect policy development. Flashcards
What is a social value?
General principles, beliefs or guidelines about how we should live our lives.
Tell us what is right and wrong, good and bad.
Different societies may have different values.
What is an example of a social value?
Mutual Respect.
We respect each other and expect respect back.
What is a norm?
Norms are specific rules or socially accepted standards about how we are expected to behave in specific situations.
These norms can be informal, unwritten rules, e.g., queue jumping, or formal and written, e.g., driving under the influence.
Specific norms are often based on general values.
What is an example of a norm?
Modern society values the principle that all individuals are of equal worth.
From this value come specific norms making it illegal to discriminate against someone based on their race, sex or sexual orientation.
What is a more?
Very basic, essential norms that society sees as vital for maintaining standards of decency and civilised behaviour.
Mores are society’s most important moral rules.
Going against a society’s mores is likely to be severely punished.
What is an example of a more?
Murder.
Prohibition against taking human life other than in very exceptional circumstances.
Public perceptions: What is a social change?
Laws often change because of changes in a society’s culture (values, norms and mores).
Changes in values can affect the public’s perception of crime: an act that used to be acceptable may now be seen as wrong by today’s values.
Public perceptions: How has social change affected laws on drink driving?
Over time, views about drink driving have changed and this has led to changes in laws and policies.
The public have come to see it as much more serious and the laws governing it have become much tighter.
Public perceptions: What were the laws on drink driving?
1925= First law passed making driving while drunk an offence.
No clear definition of ‘drunk’ and no legal limit on how much alcohol drivers could have in their blood, left to the police and courts to decide whether someone was fit to drive.
Public attitudes to drink driving were tolerant, not generally thought of as a serious offence.
Governments showed little interest, did not bother even to collect figures on the number of deaths caused by drink driving.
Public perceptions: How did perceptions on drink driving change?
Car ownership increasing, resulted in more deaths: about 5,000 in 1950 to 8,000 by the 1960s.
The public’s perception of drink driving began to change. Road safety was now more of a public concern, moving up the political agenda.
E.g., 1966 = all new cars must be fitted with seat belts.
Public concern about accidents caused by drink driving, the 1967 ROAD SAFETY ACT introduced a blood alcohol limit of 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.
An offence to oversee a motor vehicle with an alcohol level above this limit.
Public perceptions: What did the police introduce to identify if an individual was drinking?
Breathalysers.
1968 = first breathalyser was introduced for roadside use.
Together with a major advertising campaign by the government, helped to reduce road deaths by over 1,100 and serious injuries by over 11,000.
The proportion of accidents where alcohol was involved also fell, from 25 % to 15%.
Public perceptions: What was the first campaign against drink driving?
First TV advertising campaign against drink driving mounted by the government was aired over 50 years ago and the fall in deaths is partly due to these campaigns.
Targeted specific groups who are most at risk of drink driving, such as young men.
Public perceptions: What were the demographic changes?
1950s and 1960s = non-white immigrants came from former British colonies in the Caribbean, the Indian subcontinent and Africa.
Recently, people have come from Eastern Europe.
These groups came in search of economic opportunities, often filling jobs that the British refused to take.
The UK’s demographic (population)
structure has changed to a multi-ethnic.
Public perceptions: What was the Windrush generation?
The Windrush generation became known as this after the Empire Windrush, the first ship to bring Caribbean migrants to Britain.
Public perceptions: What racism did the Windrush generation face?
They faced hostility, with many white people holding racist stereotypes of black people as dirty, diseased or criminal.
Discrimination in 1950s and 60s = immigrants met with discrimination in housing, employment and services.
1956 = survey in Birmingham found 1.5% of whites would be willing to rent a room to a black tenant.
BBC documentary = found churches turned away black families to avoid upsetting white worshippers.
