families and social policy

Question 1

what does social policy refer to

Answer 1

plans + actions of the state agencies e.g health + social services, the welfare benefits system, schools and other public areas

Question 2

Chinas one child policy

Answer 2

government population control by having only 1 child per family
women must seek permission to become pregnant
couples with only 1 child have benefits, ;ole free healthcare

if law is broken they pay a fine

Question 3

communist policy on childbearing

Answer 3

communist gov in 1980’s made legal age of marriage 14, unmarried + childless couples had a 5% income tax

Question 4

Nazi policy on childbearing

Answer 4

1930’s two fold policy encouraged racially pure to breed a master race by restricting access to abortion + contraception

policy sought to confine women to childrearing to better perform biological role

state sterilised 375,000 disabled as unfit to breed a master race

Question 5

democratic society in legislation on childbearing

Answer 5

the family is a private sphere of life, gov does not intervene except if things go ‘wrong’ e.g child abuse

Question 6

what is the functionalist view on how the welfare state developed according to this functionalist

Answer 6

Fletcher - introduction of health, education + housing policies in the industrial revolution has allowed for a welfare state e.g NHS

Question 7

what two main counts has the functionalist perspective been criticised on

Answer 7

• assumes that family all benefits equally from social policies, feminists argue policies only benefit men at the expense of women
• assumes that there’s a march of progress in society . Marxists argue policies deliver a reverse progress previously made e.g cutting welfare benefits

Question 8

the policing of the family

Answer 8

Donzelott ( conflict view on policy)
POLICY IS A FORM OF STATE POWER + CONTROL

surveillance is not equally distributed throughout society
poorer groups are targeted - seen as the porblem + source of criminal behaviour. they are the target of improvement

Question 9

what is the concept of surveilling according to this sociologist

Answer 9

Foucault - power not something just held by gov + state but it is spread throughout society
professionals e.g doctors + social workers exercise their power over individuals by turning them into cases

Question 10

how does Donzelott apply Foucault’s studies of surveilling

Question 11

how does the state seek to control family life according to this sociologist

Answer 11

by imposing Compulsory Parenting Orders through the courts
parents of offenders, truants may be forced to attend parenting classes to learn the correct way of childrearing

Question 12

what sociological perspective does Donzelott reject

Answer 12

Functionalist - march of progress view that those in power make laws to support family

no. they do not the laws are to control + surveil the family - by focusing on the micro - level of how the caring professions exercise their control

Question 13

why do feminists and Marxists criticise Donzelott

Answer 13

Donzelott fails to identify policies that we clearly benefit from policies of surveillance

feminists argue that men are the main beneficiaries

Question 14

The New Rights criticism of social policy
examples of laws that cause social chaos according to this New Right sociologist

Answer 14

the nuclear family is naturally self- reliant + capable of caring for members, especially the successful socialisation of children

Almond, laws ;
divorce laws undermine ideas that marriage is a life long promise of commitment

introduction of Civil Partnerships send message that state no longer sees heterosexual marriage as superior

Tax laws discriminate against conventional families with a sole breadwinner. tend to pat more tax than dual earners

Question 15

who comments on the Welfare policy in the New Right perspective

Answer 15

Murray - welfare is generous welfare benefits e.g payments to support lone parents e.g council housing encourages deviant + dysfunctional family types

• if fathers see the state will support, they will abandon their responsibilities
• providing council housing for unmarried teenage mothers encourage teenage preggos
• growth of lone parent parents encouraged by generous welfare benefits. Bous will grow up without a father an fail

Question 16

welfare benefits threaten what two essential functions of the family

Answer 16

-socialisation of the young

• maintenance of the work ethic among men

Question 17

What is the New Rights solution of the problems that is caused by welfare benefits

Answer 17

decrease in govs generosity + tighter restrictions on who is eligible for welfare benefits

Question 18

what would cutting welfare benefits mean for society - benefits?

Answer 18

• there would be a cut on taxes, less money needed to provide for those people, gives more incentive for fathers to work + provide
• denying council housing to unmarried teens removes incentive to become pregnant young
• the less the state interferes, the better for families. encouraging self - reliance to meet families own needs efficiently

Question 19

why do feminists criticise the New Rights view on social policy

Answer 19

it is an attempt to justify the traditional family that subordinated women to men, confined by a domestic role

Question 20

what does the New Right wrongly assume

Answer 20

that the patriarchal nuclear family is natural rather than socially constructed

Question 21

why do Abott and Wallace not like the New Rights view

Answer 21

cutting benefits would drive poor families into greater poverty and make them even more self reliant

Question 22

what do the New Right ignore

Answer 22

they ignore laws that do help to conserve the traditional nuclear family

Question 23

the influence of the conservative government - years + influence on laws

Answer 23

1979 - 97
Thatcher banned the promotion of homosexuality in local authorities - ban on teaching homosexuality is acceptable

divorce defined as a problem emphasising the continued responsibility of taking care of children
Child Support Agency - enforce maintenance payments by absent parents

however it also made divorce easier + giving illegitimate children the same rights as those in married families

Question 24

the influence of New Labour governments 1997-2010

Answer 24

New Labour emphasised the need for parents to take responsibility for their children by introducing Parenting Orders for parents of truants

Silva + Smart New Labour rejects New Right that family should have traditional roles, it favours the neo - conventional family (chester)

• longer maternity leave
• working families Tax Credit, enables both parents to claim tax relief on childcare
• the New Deal, helping lone parents return to work

Question 25

similarities between New Right and New Labour

Answer 25

family is the bedrock of society, a family headed by women is the best for the growing up of a child

both emphasise the needs of taking care of children e.g new labour introduces Parenting Orders for teaching parents of truants

Question 26

differences between New Right and New Labour

Answer 26

New Labour increased their welfares so that children can be pulled away from poverty. Welfare + minimum wages redistributing income to poor - New Right = no welfares it is a burden

• civil partnership introduced
• giving unmarried couples same rights to adopt
• outlawing discrimination on sexuality

Question 27

the influence of conservative led governments from 2010

Answer 27

Hayton
modernists - recognise that families are now more diverse + willing to reflect this is in laws

traditionalists - reject diversity, it is morally wrong
the coalition meant difficult to maintain a consistent policy line

there are a lack of conservative laws that conserve the traditional heterosexual families

Question 28

Land - argument of social policies assumes the ideal family is the nuclear family

Answer 28

many social policies assumes the idea that family is patriarchal with male provider + dependent children
these laws reinforce a nuclear family in turn creating self - fulfilling prophecy

e.g sate assumes normal families based marriage + offers tax incentives for married couples, not cohabiting. so they discourage cohabiting

Question 29

how do Tax and benefits policies help to keep the conventional patriarchal family according to feminists

Answer 29

tax and benefits policies - assume that men are the wage - earners, wives are the dependants
impossible for women to gain social benefits in their own right, as its expected that men provide

Question 30

how does the government reinforce patriarchal families by childcare

Answer 30

while gov pays some childcare for when child is before pre- school but it is not enough.
mothers struggle to go back to work full time as timetables of school means that extra childcare needs to be afforded

Question 31

how does the government reinforce patriarchal families by laws caring for the sick and elderly

Answer 31

gov policies assume that the woman will provide for care
middle aged women expected to care, prevents them from working full time - economic dependency on husband

Leonard - while policies appear to be supporting women, they still reinforce the patriarchal families e.g maternity leave

child benefit is paid to mother, assuming child’s welfare is her responsibility - helps to maintain the patriarchal roles + relationships they assume to be the norm

Question 32

what are some laws that try to go against the patriarchal family type

Answer 32

• lesbian rights
• equal pay act 1975
  benefits for lone parents
• equal rights to divorce
• rape within marriage made a criminal offence

these all improve the position of females

Question 33

what are the two types of gender regimes that either discourage or encourage feminist gender equality according to this sociologist

Answer 33

Drew
- familistic gender regimes - policies are based on a traditional gender division between breadwinner + homemaker
in Greece there are little laws of state welfare funded childcare

• individualistic gender regimes - policies based on the belief that husbands + wives should be treated the same so each partner is entitled to state benefits
  in Sweden policies treat husbands as liable as wives for breadwinning + domestic tasks

Question 34

what are gender regimes

Answer 34

Drew describes gender regimes to describe how social policies in different countries discourage or encourage gender equality

Question 35

problem of welfare state benefits

Answer 35

publicly funded childcare do not come cheap, major conflicts of who should claim these benefits
global recession began in 2008 so cutbacks in government spending throughout Europe led to pressure on women to take responsibility by caring for elderly family members

Question 36

what caused a increase in the neo liberal welfare policies

Answer 36

global recession + increase in private pension provision + private care