Families and social policy Flashcards
1
Q
What is social policy?
A
- refers to the plans and actions of state agencies, such as health and social services
- policies are usually based on laws introduced by government that provide a framework within which these agencies operate
2
Q
What is China one child policy and how was it supervised?
A
- 1970s to 2015, the Chinese governments population control policy aimed at discouraging couples from having more than one child
- supervised by workplace family planning committees > women seek their permission to get pregnant
3
Q
How did Chinas one child policy impact families?
A
- couples who compiled got extra benefits such as free child healthcare & higher tax allowances
- those who didn’t had to pay a fine & repay allowances
4
Q
What policies were introduced in Romania in the 1980s?
A
- policies to drive up birth rate e.g. restricting abortion, contraception, legal age of marriage lowered to 15 etc
5
Q
What is the generic functionalist view on society and thus social policies & the family?
A
- see society as built on harmony & consensus
- see the state as acting in the interests of society as a whole and policies being good for all
- see policies as helping families to perform their functions more effectively
6
Q
What does Fletcher argue about social policies?
A
- the introduction of health, education and housing policies has gradually led to to the development of a welfare state that supports the family in performing its function effectively
- e.g. NHS help of doctors, nurses medicines means the family is able to take care of it members when sick
7
Q
What are the criticisms of the functionalist perspective on family policy?
A
- assumes all members of the family benefit from social policies equally e.g. feminist viewpoint
8
Q
What is Donzelot generic view on society & policy?
A
- conflict view on society
- sees policy as a form of state power & control over families
9
Q
Whose concept does Donzelot use to apply to families?
A
- uses Foucault’s concept of surveillance who sees power as diffused throughout society to explain the policing of families
10
Q
What does Donzelot argue?
A
- Donzelot argues that social workers, health visitors & doctors use their knowledge to control & change families > (‘policing of families’) by turning them into cases to be dealt with
- surveillance not targeted equally on all social classes
- professionals target poor families for ‘improvement’ as they are likely to be seen as ‘problem’ families
11
Q
What does Condry note similar to Donzelot?
A
- the state may seek to control & regulate family life by imposing compulsory parenting orders through the courts> parents learn correct ways to bring up children
12
Q
How may Donzelot be criticised?
A
- fails to identify clearly who benefits from such policies > - Marxists argue that these policies operate in the interest of the capitalist class
- feminist = interests of men
13
Q
What is the New rights view on the family and thus policy?
A
- strongly in favour of the conventional traditional nuclear family based on a married heterosexual couple> see this family type as self reliant & capable of caring & providing for its members
- especially the successful socialisation of children
- the less the state interferes the better family life will be > greater self reliance
14
Q
What laws undermine the nuclear family according to the New right?
A
- laws making divorce easier > undermine marriage as a lifelong commitment between men and women
- civil partnerships > sends message that the state no longer sees heterosexual marriage as superior
- Tax laws > discriminate against conventional families with a sole breadwinner
15
Q
Give examples of welfare benefit policies
A
- council housing for unmarried teenage mothers
- cash payments to lone parent families
16
Q
How does Murray argue that welfare benefits undermine the conventional nuclear family?
A
- encourages dysfunctional family types & offer a ‘perverse incentive’ & encourages a dependency culture
- e.g. fathers will abandon responsibilities if they see the state will maintain their children
- council housing encourages young girls to become pregnant
- more boys grow up without a male role model > inadequate socialisation > increase crime
17
Q
What two essential functions does welfare benefits threaten?
A
- successful socialisation of the young
- maintenance of the work ethic among men
18
Q
How is the New right view criticised?
A
- wrongly assumes that the patriarchal NF is natural rather than socially constructed > feminist see as an attempt to justify a return to traditional patriarchal NF that subordinated women to men & confined them to a domestic role
- ignore policies that promote the NF e.g. maternity leave
19
Q
What was the New Rights influence on conservative governments?
A
- 1979-97 Thatcher banned the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities
- also defined divorce as a social problem > set up child support agency to enforce maintenance payments from absent parents
20
Q
What was the New Rights influence on New labour governments?
A
- introduced parenting orders for parents of truants & young offenders > emphasised that parents should take responsibility for their children
21
Q
What is the general view of feminist on society and thus policy?
A
- take a conflict view
- see society as patriarchal benefiting men at women’s expense
- state and its policies help to maintain women’s subordinate position & the unequal DOL in the family
22
Q
What does Feminists Land argue?
A
- that social policies assume that the ideal family is the patriarchal NF with a male provider & female homemaker plus their dependent children
- effects of policies is to reinforce this particular type of family, creating a self fulfilling prophecy e.g. tax incentives to married couples > discourages other family types
23
Q
What policies support the patriarchal nuclear family?
A
- Tax & benefit policies > assumes that husbands are the main wage earners & wives are financial dependents
- childcare> women restricted from working
- care for sick & the elderly> assume family will provide the care ‘sandwich generation’
- maternity leave > encourages assumption that the care of infants is the responsibility of mothers
also low > increases economic dependence - child benefit paid to mother> assumes child’s welfare is primarily her responsibility
24
Q
How is the feminist view criticised?
A
- not all policies maintain the patriarchy e.g. equal pay act and sex discrimination act, refuges for women escaping DV
