The Relationship Between Sociology And Social Policy Flashcards
What is social policy?
The packages of plans and actions adopted by national and local government and various voluntary agencies to solve social problems or achieve other goals they see as important.
What is a social problem?
Something seen as harmful in some way to society.
What do social problems cause according to Worsley?
Public friction and/ or private misery that needs a collective conscience to solve.
This involves a raft of social policies brought through the government services.
What’s a sociological problem?
Any social/ theoretical issue that needs explaining whether it’s a social problem or not.
What are all social problems?
Sociological problems.
What as research by sociologists shown social problems have?
Social explanations that are created by wider social factors rather than behaviour of individuals as they need social policy solutions to tackle them.
How are governments able to produce social policies that are effective and work as intended?
If they base them in proper evidence gained through research e.g. education, health, poverty and crime.
How do governments gain assistance with policy making?
Governments commission research from academics in unis to assist policy making.
Examples of bodies specifically concerned with social policy research within sociologists work
- Public policy research.
- Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Sociology contributing to social policy
providing an awareness of cultural differences
Seeing society from different perspectives, developing an informal awareness and sensitivity to the ways of life, needs and problems of others helps policy makers tailor policies effectively e.g. research on ethnicity/ disability.
Sociology contributing to social policy
Providing self awareness and understanding
Sociology develops a knowledge and understanding of ourselves.
Research enables people and groups to develop self awareness and understanding of their position in society by reflecting on it. Reflecting on experiences such as racism, domestic violence, sex discrimination and prejudice arising from disability can have the effect of empowering people to change their lives and support others.
Groups can criticise social policies and form new ones to address their needs with evidence to support them and exerting pressure on governments to implement them.
Late modernity has seen a range of new social policies movements and self he,l groups being developed which demanded new policies to meet their needs e.g. gay rights.
Sociology contributing to social policy
Changing assumptions
McNeil - social research can indirectly influence social policy by being absorbed into the taken for granted common sense assumptions involved in society’s dominant culture which can make government social policies seem reasonable and acceptable or subjects of ridicule.
Sociology contributing to social policy
Providing a theoretical framework
Between 1979-1992 Conservative government strongly influenced by New Right ideas of Murray whose views on poverty and welfare were dependant on the underclass providing a basis for cuts in welfare state and attacks on the poor.
Combined with Thatchers contempt for sociology and sociological research.
New Right inspired policy framework resurfacing in the Conservative led coalition govt in 2010.
New Labour govt 1997-2010 led by Blair who was a fan of Giddens - provided theoretical basis for new social policies based on building cohesion and social solidarity and reducing social problems posing threats to social order.
Labour govt implemented these ideas through welfare, health, educations policies - supportive of disadvantaged.
Townsend work in poverty helped establish the concept of relative poverty.
Left and right realism had important influence on crime policy.
Sociology contributing to social policy
Providing practical, professional knowledge
- Sociologists work in town planning, social work, journalism, Human Resources management and civil service which inputs as social policy is formed in many areas.
Sociology contributing to social policy
Identifying social problems
- Sociologists can identify social problems that arise from more open sociological thinking.
- Sociological ideas can shape policy’s by showing social problems have wider structural causes beyond the behaviour of individuals.
- Feminists carries out theoretical and practical research revealing the nature and extent of inequalities and discrimination against women in areas such as lay and employment suggesting solutions such as the Sex Discrimination Pay and Equalities Act.
- Townsend conducted poverty research and exposed the extent of poverty in the Black Report 1980 revealing huge inequalities in health.
Sociology contributing to social policy
Providing the evidence
- Sociologists do surveys, collect statistics, analyse problems, suggest explanations etc which policy makers can draw on to form evidence based policies.
- Using research can guide practice and decision making often providing some assurance that policies will work as intended.
Sociology contributing to social policy
Identifying the unintended consequences of policies
- Sociological research can evaluate current policies to see if they have any unintended consequences e.g. latent functions/ dysfunctions.
Sociology contributing to social policy
Assessing the results
Sociological research can help establish whether policies have worked, whether they achieved what they set out to do and whether they need changing or scrapping
What may happen because policy making is complex?
Governments may not be able to afford to implement social policies or may have to make financial saving e.g. cutting welfare benefits.
What should government policy making take into account?
Wider global issues e.g. membership of the Eu which meant it couldn’t introduce laws which breached EU laws.
How are governments often selective in research?
Policies driven by political ideologies rather than heard research evidence - policy advice often provided by research institutes which are broadly politically aligned.
