social policy's Flashcards
what is the functionalist
overall perspective on social policy
and who are the functionalist
see the state as acting in the interest of society and see social policies as helping families perform the functions more effectively and makes life better for their members
- fletcher
- donzelot
what dose fletcher state
States that the 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.
e.g. the introduction of the NHS means that families can take better care of sick members when they are ill.
what is the evaluation of the functionalist view
It’s assume that all members of the family benefit equally from social policies whereas feminist argue that policies often benefit men at the expense women
what dose donzelot state
Donzelot rejects the functionalist view and in turn, argues that social policy is a form of state control of the family.
Theorized ‘The policing of families’: social workers, doctors and health visitors use their knowledge to control and change families
As he recognises that Surveillance is not targeted equally on all social classes and ‘poor’ families are more likely to be seen as ‘problem’ families and the cause of all crime and anti-social behaviors and these are the families that professional target for ‘improvement’.
what is the evaluation on donzelot
However Marxist and feminist criticized donzelot for failing identify clearly who benefit from such policies of surveillance and control of the family
what is the feminist perspective on social policy’s
Argues that even where policies seem to support women (eg. childcare so the woman can go to work), they still reinforce the patriarchal family and act as a form of social control over women as the policies help reinforce the unequal gender division of labour in the family and maintain patriarchal roles
For example, although maternity leave policies benefit women, it reinforces patriarchy, because the terms of paternity leave are less generous, implying that women are the natural carers.
what is the evaluation of the feminists
The feminist ignore policies such as equal pay act and the rights for lesbian to marry and how rape within marriage was made a crime These policies can all be said to improve the position of women in family and in wider society
what dose the feminist drew state
Drew states that there are different types of gender regimes of polices that either encourage or discourage gender quality in the family and at work
Familistic Gender Regimes:
Individualistic Gender Regimes
what is the familistic gender regimens according to drew
Policies that are based on the traditional gender divisions between males and females (familiar)
for example, in Greece, there is minimal state funding for childcare making women reliant on support from their extend kin
what is the individualistic gender regimens
Policies are based on the belief that husbands and wives should be treated the same.
Wives are not dependent on the husband ; therefore, each partner has a separate entitlement to state benefits.
For example, in Sweden, policies treat husbands and wives as equally responsible for breadwinning and domestic tasks allowing women to be less dependent on them husbands and have more opportunities to work
what is the new rights perspective and who are the sociologist that support this
they see the traditional nuclear family as naturally self reliant and capable of caring and providing for its members especially the successful socialization of children so social policies are not needed as this encourages dependency culture and undermines The traditional nuclear family and supports different kinds of family types
- brenda almond
-murray
what dose brenda almond state that supports the new right perspective
-law is making divorce easier undermine the idea of marriage as a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman
-The introduction of civil partnership for gay and lesbian couples send out the message that the state no longer sees heterosexual marriage as superior
what dose murray state that supports the new right perspective
It argues that the state is providing overly generous welfare benefits such as Council housing for unmarried teenage mothers reinforces undermining of the conventional nuclear family and encourages deviant family types that harm society
This is because these policies offer ‘perverse incentives’, meaning that the state rewards people for irresponsible or antisocial behavior
Back to previous example council providing unmarried teenage mothers encourage young girls to become pregnant and let’s father loses their role of responsibility towards their families as they see the state is taking care of their children leaving boys without a male role model
what is the new rights overall evaluation
The new right ignore many policies that support a maintain the conventional nuclear family rather than undermining such as childcare polices
Sociologist such as Claire Wallace argue that cutting benefits would simply drive many poor families into even greater poverty and make them even less self reliant
