Can and should Influence Social Policy Flashcards
Functionalism and positivism
Early positivist took the view that sociology was a science, which could discover both the cause of social problems and find scientifically based solutions for them
Functionalist view, the state has beneficial for society and serves the interest of society as a whole producing and implementing in policies for the good of all
These policies help society run more smoothly, indicating that the relationship between sociology and the state should be positive
Social Democrats
The social democratic perspective favours a major redistribution of wealth and income from the rich to the poor
Townsend argues that sociologist should be involved in researching social problems and make policies recommendations to eradicate them
He conducted research on poverty and based on his findings he made recommendations of policies, such as higher benefits and more public spending on health, education and welfare
Liberal feminism
Feminist see society based on conflict, but the conflict is between genders, not classes
They believe that society is patriarchal, which benefits men
Liberal feminists adopt a mature, progress view and argue that women’s right have improved all the time, and the legislation is a main reason for this
They have campaigned and conducted research which has had an impact on a number of policy areas
For example in education, it has influenced policies such as learning material which promotes more positive images of females to avoid gender bias
New right
They believe that state intervention in areas such as family life , support and education, undermine self reliance
This leads to great social problems, such as crime and delinquency
Murray argues that generous welfare benefits act as a perverse incentive
This encourages the growth of dependency culture, undisciplined children, and irresponsible fathers who abandoned families
They adopted zero tolerance approach where the smallest sign of disorder must be tackled to prevent escalation
