Social Policy Flashcards
Peter Worsley (1977) social problem
‘a social problem is some piece of social behaviour that causes public friction and/or private misery and calls for collective action to solve it.
For example, poverty, educational underachievement, crime and divorce may all be seen as social problems by members of society, and governments may be called upon to produce policies to tackle them.
Sociological problems
According to Worley, a sociological problem is ‘any pattern of relationships that calls for explanation. In other words, it is any piece of behaviour that we wish to make sense of.
This might be something that society regards as a social problem, for example why some people are poor or commit crime. But it can also include behaviour that society doesn’t normally regard as a problem - for example, why people are prosperous or law-abiding.
In other words, ‘normal’ behaviour is just as interesting to sociologists as behaviour that people see as a social problem. In fact, some sociologists show little or no interest in solving social problems. They see their goal as being to discover knowledge for its own sake.
On the other hand, many sociologists are interested in solving social problems through their research. For example, sociologists who feel strongly about poverty have conducted research aimed at discovering solutions. Similarly, many sociologists are employed directly by government departments such as the Home Office. These sociologists often have a direct input into making policies and evaluating their effectiveness, for example in reducing crime.
Many factors may affect whether or not sociological research succeeds in influencing policy:
- Electoral popularity
- Ideological and policy preferences of governments
- Interest groups
- Cost
- Funding sources
Many factors may affect whether or not sociological research succeeds in influencing policy: Electoral popularity
Research findings and recommendations might point to a policy that would be unpopular with voters.
Many factors may affect whether or not sociological research succeeds in influencing policy:
Ideological and policy preferences of governments
If the researcher’s value-stance or perspective is similar to the political ideology of the government, they may stand more chance of influencing its policies.
Many factors may affect whether or not sociological research succeeds in influencing policy:Interest groups
These are pressure groups that seek to influence government policies in their own interests. For example, business groups may succeed in persuading government not to raise the minimum wage, even though this might reduce poverty.
Many factors may affect whether or not sociological research succeeds in influencing policy:Globalisation
Social policy isn’t just made by nation states in isolation. International organisations such as the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may influence the social policies of individual governments. For example, the IMF’s ‘structural adjustment programmes’ have required less developed countries to introduce fees for education and health care as a condition for aid, despite evidence from social scientists that this makes development less likely.
Critical sociology Sociologists such as Marxists, who are critical of the state and powerful groups, may be regarded as too extreme, hostile or impractical and therefore unlikely to influence policy.
Many factors may affect whether or not sociological research succeeds in influencing policy:
Cost
Even if the government is sympathetic to the sociologist’s findings, it may not have sufficient funds to implement an appropriate policy based on them, or it may have other spending priorities and commitments.
Many factors may affect whether or not sociological research succeeds in influencing policy:Funding sources
In some cases, sociologists may tone down their findings and policy recommendations so as to fit in with their paymasters’ wishes - a case of ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune’.
. Similarly, policymakers
may recruit sociologists who share their assumptions and political values. The research findings may then be used to justify what the policymakers intended to do in the first place. Similarly, ‘think tanks’ or research institutes often have particular political sympathies - for example, some are seen as left leaning, while others have right-wing sympathies. Politicians seeking a particular result to justify their favoured policies can be selective in which think tanks they turn to for research.
The power to define the problem
Sociological research is thus only one possible element in shaping social policy. Ultimately, any policy is the result of a political decision by those in power. As Tom Burden (1998) says, social policies:
‘cannot be very well understood if they are simply treated as “neutral” attempts to deal with “problems”.
Indeed, what is to count as a problem is itself generally a matter of political debate.’
Often, those with power are the ones who are able to define what is and what is not a problem, and what if anything should be done about it.
Comte and Durkheim
Early positivists such as Comte and Durkheim took the view that sociology was a science and would discover both the cause of social problems and scientifically based solutions to them. As such, their approach was part of the Enlightenment project to use science and reason to improve society. For example, Durkheim’s analysis led him to propose a meritocratic education system and the abolition of inherited wealth as ways to foster a sense that society was fair, which would promote social cohesion.
Functionalism and social policy
Functionalists see society as based on value consensus and free from fundamental conflicts. Like the positivists, they see the state as serving the interests of society as a whole, producing and implementing rational social policies for the good of all. These policies help society run more smoothly and efficiently. For example, educational policies are seen as promoting equal opportunity and social integration, while health and housing policies assist the family in performing its functions more effectively.For both functionalists and positivists, the sociologist’s role is to provide the state with objective, scientific information.
peicemeal approach
Functionalists favour social policies that are sometimes referred to as ‘piecemeal social engineering’. In other words, they favour a cautious approach, tackling one specific issue at a time.
However, the piecemeal approach has been criticised. For example, Marxists argue that educational policies aimed at equalising opportunity for children of different classes are often defeated by the influence of poverty in wider society.
In other words, social problems such as underachievement are simply aspects of a wider structure of class inequality, and so we need to change the basic structure of society in order to solve these specific problems.
The social democratic perspective
The social democratic perspective on social policy shares this view. It favours a major redistribution of wealth and income from the rich to the poor. Sociologists adopting this perspective, such as Peter Townsend (1979), argue that they should be involved in researching social problems and making policy recommendations to eradicate them. For example, Townsend conducted research on poverty. On the basis of his findings, he made recommendations for policies such as higher benefit levels, and more public spending on health, education and welfare.
Similarly, the Black Report (1980) on class inequalities in health made 37 far-reaching policy recommendations for reducing these deep-rooted inequalities. These included free school meals for all children, improved working conditions and more spending to improve housing. The Labour government had originally commissioned the report in 1977 but it was only completed in 1980, the year after Mrs Thatcher’s Conservative government came to power. Her government refused to implement the report’s recommendations on grounds of cost, and tried to restrict its publication.
marxists critiscm of social democratic perspective
While they agree that social problems such as class inequalities in health are deep-rooted, they reject the idea that even policies as far-reaching as those proposed by the Black Report are enough to solve the problem. In their view, it is capitalism that is ultimately responsible for these inequalities and so the problem cannot be solved without abolishing capitalism. They also argue that in any event, as the government response to the Black Report showed, the capitalist state is unlikely to introduce costly public spending policies to benefit the working class. Thus, rational social policies proposed by sociologists such as Townsend will fall on deaf ears as far as policymakers are concerned.
