Sociology and Social Policy Flashcards
What are social policies?
Social policies are plans and actions of governments in order to tackle social problems, especially those relating to the welfare of a country.
Social vs. sociological problems
social problem is ‘some piece of social behaviour that causes public friction or private misery’, such as poverty or divorce.
sociological problems are ‘any pattern of relationships that calls for an explanation’
Functionalist view - enlightenment
believes in the use of reason and objective research in order to be able to make recommendations about what is best for society. They believe that the role of social policy is to help society run more smoothly through such things as educational policy promoting equality of opportunity.
Social democrat view
Social democrats such as Townsend believe that sociologists should aim to eradicate social problems through policy recommendations
Liberal feminist view
sociology should be involved in attempting to influence social policy and address social problems.
Marxist view
Marxists see social policy as serving the interests of capitalism since social policies are seen to provide ideological legitimation in that they mask capitalist exploitation.
New Right view
To new right theorists, the state would have minimal involvement in society. The perspective is opposed to using state provision to deal with social problems. The New right view state intervention in areas such as family life as robbing people of freedom to make their own choices and it undermines their sense of responsibility.
Factors affecting policy
• Electoral popularity, ideological preferences, pressure groups, cost
Radical feminsit view
Feminists see society as based on gender conflict and as fundamentally patriarchal. They view social policy perpetuates women’s subordination
