Sociology And Social Policy Flashcards
What is a 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 ‘ (worsley 1977)
What is a sociological problem?
‘ any pattern of relationships that calls for explanation ‘ (worsely 1977)
What are social policies?
Plans, actions and laws put it place by the government, which are created to try and improve society to tackle social issues
Social policy’s on the family
Functionalists - provide functions that the family can’t
Marxists - it benefits the rich
New right - welfare dependency
Feminist - force for positive change, but also oppressive
Specific uk policies - maternity/paternity leave, divorce laws, income support, child tax credits
Educational policies
- marketisation
- free school meals
- types of schools
- vocational education
- academisation
- tripartite system
- gist/wise
- sure start
Social policies on crime
Right realism on tackling crime - e.g zero tolerance policing
Punishment - Reintegrative and disintegrative shaming
Marxism on crime - policies focus on and criminalise the working class
Left realism on tackling crime - e.g social community crime prevention
Functionalism on crime - policies can change criminal behaviour to progress society
The influence of social policy on sociology
- new interventions in the social world can lead to new sociological research
-type of sociological research that gets done is often shaped by government priorities - economic and social research council are particular likely to provide funding for research directly concerned with impact of the government policies
- sociologists are therefore likely to take into account the uses that might be made of their work and focus research on issues of government concern
Factors that limit the influence of sociology on social policy
- If governments are sympathetic to the policies advocated by particular sociologists, they are not always able to implement them
- effects of globalisation can mean that the power of a state can be limited
- governments are limited by finically constraints
- sociologists are not the only social science with influence
- ‘think tanks’ may have more importance than academic sociologists
- governments are likely to be influenced by their own broad ideological beliefs.
- Politicians are more likely to pat attention to arguments and research that may give them an electoral advantage
9 ways sociology may contribute to social policy - giddens
Giddens suggest a number of ways that ‘sociology can help us in our lives’:
1. Providing an awareness of cultural differences
2. Providing self awareness and understanding
3. Changing assumptions
4. Providing a theoretical framework
5. Providing practical professional knowledge
6. Identifying social problems
7. Providing the evidence
8. Identifying the unintended consequences of policies
9. Assessing the results
Functionalist view on sociological perspectives on social policy
- functionalists such as Comte and Durkheim advocate a a largely Positivist method of studying society, in which the job of sociology was to produce objective descriptions and analysis of the social word
- however, both early and later functionalist have argued, in different ways, that some things are functional for society and others are not, and therefore have implied what sort of policies should be promoted - Comte went further and claimed that the application of scientific knowledge is preferable to the application of religious beliefs in making decision about society
- Durkheim believed that the maintenance of some solidarity in contemporary societies and thereby reduce the rates of suicide and crime - later functionalist like parsons, supported policies to promote nuclear families and to encourage competition and the desire for individual achievement in education
- functionally views have has some impact on social policy, although the quite general theorising that is typical of functionalist society has been hard to apply to particular social problems
- functionalism is often accused of having a conservative bias, in that it tends to support the status quo, science the institutions are generally seen as being vital for the efficient function of society
Positivists sociological perspectives on social policy
- positivist statistical analysis, which is advocated by some functionalists, is however extremely important in the development of social police, as statistical analysis is widely sued by government departments and other organisations when deciding between different policies
- most government funded research produces a range of statistical information, e.g on the effectiveness of different policing strategies and community penalties, and the cost effectiveness of different policies in the health service
- however, positivist research does not in itself suggest what kind of aim should be pursued by those making social policies.
Neoliberalism and the new right perspectives on social policy
- neoliberalism and the new right have been far more influential in directing social policies, over recent decades
- the terms ‘neoliberalism’ and the ‘new right’ are both used to refer to right of central politician viewpoints, which to refer to right of central political viewpoints
- the new right were associated with traditional, conservative social values as well as free martlet economies
- in more recent times those advocating a right of centre political approach are more likely to be referred to as neoliberals
- arguably these perspectives have had far more effect on the policies of the uk governments than any other perspectives since the q980s
- Murray (1984), theorising that an underclass had developed because welfare benefits created a dependency culture
Social democratic perspectives on sociological perspectives and social policy
- these views are primarily associated with left of centre political parties in Europe.
- the view of social democrats is that capitalist economies, left to their own devices, will tend to produce excessive inequality. Equality of opportunity is undermined because children if the rich gain unfair advantages over other children. This tends to lead to conflict between social classes.
- their perspectives have had a string influence when left of centre governments have been in poverty.
- radical sociologists have argued that social democrats are unrealistic in claiming that gradual reform of capitalist can lead to fairer society.
Marxist sociological perspectives on social policy
- like other critical scientists, have no hesitation in believing that sociological ideas should be used to transform society by producing radically different social policies. Marxists argue that societies are generally run in the interest of a ruling class, who get their power from ownership of production.
- simple Marxists views argue that the state is part of the superstructure of society and its acts in the interests of the ruling class and therefore social policies are designed to favour this group
- even policies that appear to benefit the mass of the population may be little more than an ideological smokescreen to disguise that continuing exploitation of the proletariat or working class
Feminist perspectives on sociological perspectives on social policy
- some strands of feminism can be seen as a branch of critical social science. Thus, radical feminism advocates the overthrow of patriarchal societies and their replacement with radially different societies in which women are no longer subservient to men
- a few radical feminist advocate female supremacy, that is, women taking control.
- liberal feminist perspective, on the other hand, advocate more gradual change in society in order to create more equal opportunies. Thus liberal feminist have tended to advocate the same socialisation for girls and buoys, the introduction of new legalisation to create more equal opportunites.
