social policy Flashcards
functionalism
fletcher
- introduction of health, education and housing policies in the years show the industrial revolution has gradually led to the development of a welfare state that supports the family in performing its functions more effectively. e.g the creation of the NHS.
eval;
-assumes that all members of the family benefit equally
- assumes there is a ‘march of progress’
feminism
all social institutions, including the state and its policies, help to maintain womens subordinate position and the unequal gender division of labour.
land, leonard, and drew (feminism)
- land - social policies asume the ideal familly is the patriarchal NF. policies = a self fulfilling prophecy to reinforce particular famtypes at expense of others
- leonard - even where policies appear to support women they still act as a form of social control e.g maternity leave has higher pay than paternity leave
- drew - concept of gender regimes to describe how policies in diff countries either discourage or encourage gender equality
famistic gender regime
based of traditional gender roles
individualistic gender regime
based of equality
social policies supported by feminists and
eval
- marital rape made illegal
- divorce reform act (1969)
- changes to divorce law (2022)
eval: not all policies are directed at maintaining patriarchy e.g equal pay and sex discrimination laws
marxism
social policies work in the interests of capitalism - they dont support families/ individuals
- changes to state pension age
- WW2: nurserys set up for women to work in factories. when it ended they were closed and women were forced to go back into the home
marxism
social policies work in the interests of capitalism - they dont support families/ individuals
- changes to state pension age
- WW2: nurserys set up for women to work in factories. when it ended they were closed and women were forced to go back into the home
eval of marxism
- may be ignoring the positive sides of social policies for the wc
- ignores patriarchy
- new right: marxists ignore the the dependency that has been created onto the welfare state
new right: murray
- state policies has led to greater family diversity, e.g increases in divorce
- these changes have been encouraged and undermine the NF
- buy your council house scheme- margaret thatcher
- child support agency-conservative govt - used to help track down absent fathers/mothers
eval of new right
- feminists: attempt to justify a return to NF that oppresses women
- abbott and wallace (1992) cutting benefits would driver many poor families into greater poverty and make them even more reliant
- new right ignores many policies that support and maintain conventional NF
post structuralism
donzelot
- power is held through surveillance which has the power to change behaviour, making people conform to social norms
- norms become internalised
-professionals from these areas use their knowledge to control families:
- social services, doctors, courts
- parents change how they discipline their children, food, lifestyle etc
e.g parenting orders
eval of donzelot
+ can prevent bad things e.g terrorist attacks
+ helps crime investigations
- invasion
-keeps capitalism going - contemporary
-might push crime
marxists and feminists criticise donzelot for failing to identify clearly who benefits from such policies of surveillance
new labour govt
- took the view of the new right that the family is the bedrock of society, married heterosexual couple is best environment for bringing up children
policies include: - civil partnership act
- cohabiting couples can adopt, gay and lesbian couple can adopt
- surestart
-child tax credits - new deal for lone parents (2001)
coalition policies
(2010-2015)
dayton - conservatives divided into
–modernisers: recognise family more diverse reflected in their policies
–traditionalists: favour NR view, diversity is morally wrong. conservatives found it difficult to maintain a consistent policy line on the family.
