sociology and social policy

Question 1

social policy is

Answer 1

• political proposal
• designed to make change/reform/improve society
• may be law
• produced by ruling party, opposition, think tanks, pressure groups, lobbyists, charities

Question 2

what does social policy association say about social policy?

Answer 2

it decides how research should be distributed amongst different groups where they are designed to have an effect

Question 3

sociology is an academic subject:

Answer 3

• Weber- the job of sociologists is to work out how the world works but not to intervene within it because this is what politicians do, they can ask for sociologists to help w/ evidence and that is all

Question 4

Worsley- sociological vs social problems

Answer 4

social problems= cause harm to society and need collective action to resolve
sociological problems= a social or theoretical issue that needs explaining, often trivial

all social problems are sociological problems, but not all sociological problems are social problems.

Question 5

why WOULDN’T sociology influence social policy?

Answer 5

• ideology
• popularity
• restricted, expensive
• opportunity
• governments need votes
• restricted by globalisation
• economists may not agree w sociologists
• government more influenced by think tanks than sociology
• gov can be selective in what they listen to

Question 6

who says sociology CAN influence social policy?

Answer 6

Anthony Giddens influenced labour policy and created the Third Way, he argued for social reform and left a unit that reported directly to the cabinet.

he influenced labour by:
- changing assumptions based on research
- providing practical and professional knowledge
- asssessing the results of a policy
- providing the evidence

Question 7

theoretical viewpoints on sociology and social policy: functionalism

Answer 7

• the state acts in the best interests of society and see social policy as being good for all
• social policies help to make society run smoothly and efficiently
• they promote social opportunity and cohesion
• functionlists prefer social policies which are referred to as piecemeal social engineering
• they favour a cautious approach and tackle one issue at a time
• sociologists should investigate social problems scientifically and provide explanations as well as solutions to social problems

Question 8

theoretical viewpoints on sociology and social policy: marxism

Answer 8

• believe that the state represents the interests of the ruling class and therefore social policies will reflect the interests of the ruling class as well

social policies:
-provide ideological legitimation to mask capitalist exploitation- for example the welfare state gives the illusion that capitalism cares for the sick and poor
-maintain the labour force- like NHS keeping workers fit for labour
-preventing revolution- makes it seem as if the state is looking after the w/c, such as maximum working hours

• sociologists should therefore reveal the unpleasant truth about capitalist policieis rather than solve the problem- this will mean that class consciousness occurs and revolution can start

Question 9

theoretical viewpoints on sociology and social policy: feminism

Answer 9

• the state and society is partiarchal and therefore social policies are designed to maintain this
• family policies benefit married couples and maternity policies are aimed at keeping women at home

Question 10

theoretical viewpoints on sociology and social policy: postmodernism

Answer 10

• not really interested, but support policies that = diversity and choices
• late modernists believe that social policies need to adapt constantly to globalisation

Question 11

theoretical viewpoints on sociology and social policy: new right view

Answer 11

• people should be self reliant
  -the state shouldnot interfere too mmuch in the private lives of the citizen
• very against the welfare state which they see as undermining people’s sense of responsibility
• social policy should aim to restore this sense of responsibility

Question 12

what are some factors affecting the influence of sociology on social policy and how?

Answer 12

-electoral popularity- research findingd may be unpopular wth voters so governments may decide not to follow those reccommendations
-ideological and policy preferences- if a researcher’s values or perspective is in line with the government’s then it is more likely to have an impact on policy
-cost.funding- governments may not have the budget to implement a sociologist’s reccomendations, whoever is funding the research may influence the recommendations and findings published

Question 13

Brewer

Answer 13

sociology should address social problems and interventions by sociologists should inform the construction of social policy
- sociological research can be micro in nature, so it is not as useful (interpretivist and interactionist approaches)
- theoretical approaches, why sociology doesn’t inform

Question 14

exam question structure+ reasons why it doesn’t inform social policy

Answer 14

• sociological research can be micro in nature, so it is not as useful (interpretivist and interactionist approaches)

theoretical approaches, why sociology doesn’t inform social policy (these 2 reasons w/ some examples)
1. clash of ideology
2. methodology- too small so not useful but large scale is costly

Question 15

why didn’t the government implement the Black Report?

Answer 15

• great detail the extent to which ill health and death are unequally divided across the population
• these inequalities have been widening rather than diminishing since the etablishment of NHS in 1948
• it was not attributed to failure of the NHS itself but rather social problems
• this was buried by the government because everything was the problem
• too wide-ranging and impossible to solve
• no amount of money would fix it
• measurable targets gave a lot of money
• would make them very unpopular since they failed us