Socal Policy Family Flashcards
Fletcher view on policies
Health education and housing policies led to welfare state which supports family in completing its functions
New right views on social policy
Negative influence on society promoting family diversity and disintegration of society
feminism view on policies
assuming normal families are patriarchal nuclear families with a female breadwinner and female homemaker.
social policies ensure this family type is maintained
what do feminists and marxists argue state families are formed around?
dominant family ideology
what is dominant family ideology?
a set of ideas, beliefs and images about family life and how
it should be lived.
what does dominant family ideology reflect?
- functionalist view of the family
- policies of the New Right
Barret and Mclntosh
stereotype of dominant family ideology is harmful and anti-social
how is the dominant family ideology patriarchal?
exploits women through triple shift which increases women’s dependence on men
how is the dominant family ideology harmful?
- suggests that those in other relationships or living alone are somehow deviant and a threat to ‘normal family lives’ - Lone parents especially have been attacked by New Right and media- seen as ‘inadequate’ for bringing up children and the source of social problems.
- ignores the dark side of family life and prevents these issues being taken seriously -
how is dominant family ideology anti-social?
devalues life outside the family, alternative households and relationships
functionalists on social policy
the state as acting in the interests of society as a whole and its social policies as being for the good of all.
see policies as helping families to perform their functions more effectively and make life better for their members.
Fletcher - functionalist
introduction of health, education and housing policies has gradually led to the development of the welfare state that supports the family in performing its functions more effectively.
criticisms of functionalist view
- assumes all members of family benefit equally from social policies. Whereas feminists argue policies often benefit men at the expense of women.
- assumes there is a ‘march of progress’ with social policies steadily making family life
better and better. However, Marxists argue polices can turn the clock back, reversing progress previously made e.g. cutting welfare benefits to poor families.
Donzelot
sees policy as a form of state power and control over family. . rejects the functionalists ‘march on progress’ view that social policy and those that carry it out have created a better freer or more humane society.
how does Donzelot use Foucault’s concept of surveillance and apply it to how it is used on the family by doctors, health visitors and social workers ‘policing the family’?
focusing on how the ‘caring professions’ act as agents of social control - shows the
importance of professional knowledge as a form of power and control.
Surveillance does not target all
social classes equally.
Poor families more likely to be seen as ‘problems.’