families and social policy Flashcards
chinas one child policy
- policy discourages couples from having more than one child
-women must seek permission for pregnancy through waiting lists/qouta for each factory ( supervised by workplaces)
what happens if you break the policy?
must repay the allowances and fines- because of this women face pressure to undergo sterilisation after their first child
what are the benefits for those who comply?
-couples who comply get benefits like free child healthcare and higher tax allowances
- only childs get priority on education and housing in the future
Communist Romania-1980s
the communist government of Romania in the 80s introduced policies to increase birth rates, which fell due to falling living standards
what did it restrict
contraception and abortion, instead it set up fertility treatment centres, made divorce difficult and lowered legal marriage age to 15
how much did unmarried adults and childless couples pay
an extra 5 percent income tax
Nazi Family policy- 1930s
-nazi germany. The state pursued twofold policies which on one hand encouraged the healthy and ‘racially pure’ to breed the ‘master race’
- kept women out of work and confined them to ‘children,kitchen and church’9 (biological role)
on the other hand.. ( negative)
‘sterilised 375000 disabled people who were claimed to have ‘ imbecility,deafness or blindness’
These people were later murdered in the concentration camps
Democratic societies
democratic societies like Britain the family is a private sphere of life which the government does not intervene except in the case of abuse
impact on families
sociologists argue that policies shape family life and play an important role
Functionalism view on policy
they see the state as acting in the interests of society as a whole and therefore social policies are beneficial for all. It helps families perform their functions effectively and making life better for its members
Fletcher
introduction of health, education and housing policies since the industrial revolution has led to the development of a welfare state that supports the family in performing their functions
National Health service
with the help of doctors/nurses the family are better able to take care of its members when they are sick
Criticims of functionalism
- it assumes that all members of the family benefit equally from social policies whereas feminists claim men benefit more than women
-it assumes theres a ‘march of progress’ by making family life better however marxists argue policies like cutting welfare benefits only reverses progress
Donzelet
has a conflict view of society and believed policies are a form of state control over families
foucault
-Donzelot uses Foucaults concept of surveillance
-Foucault sees power as not just held by the state but diffused throughout society and in relationships
- proffessionals like doctors and social workers use power by using expert knowledge to turn them into ‘cases’ to be dealt with. They bascially control and change families- ‘hte policing of families’
Surveillance on class
poor families are seen as ‘problem’ families and as the cause of crime and anti social behaviour .They try to improve these families by targeting them
Condry
state uses compulsory parenting orders through the court - parents of offenders are forced to attend parenting classes to learn the ‘correct’ way to bring up their children
This rejects the ‘march of progress’
instead it controls the family and shows the importance of professional knowledge as a form of power and control - focuses on micro level inequality
criticism
Marxists and Feminists say he doesnt specify who benefits from surveillance. Marxists argue its capitalism whereas feminists argue its men
The new Right
they prefer the traditional nuclear family so policies like divorce, cohabitation and same sex partnership undermine and threaten the decrease of the nuclear family and are instead causing problems like crime and welfare dependancy.
Almond- New Right
- divorce undermines the commitment of marriage between a man and women
-civil partnership for gay couples suggests that the state no longer sees heterosexual marriage as superior than other types of marriages - Tax laws discriminate against conventional families with the breadwinner role( male) and instead dual earner couples pay less tax than them
increased rights for unmarried cohabitation
adoption rights, council houses, pensions rights from a deceased partner make cohabitation and marriage more similar.
Suggesting the state do not see marriage as better/important
Murray
polices that involve welfare dependancy are ‘perverse incentives’, they reward irresponsibility or anti social behaviour
examples:
- fathers absense after seeing the state can take care of their children
-council housing for umarried teenage mothers —- encouraging teen pregnancy - growth of lone parent families, means boys grow up without role moels and authority figure– increasing crime rate among young males