The State/Social policy as influences on the family(week21) Flashcards
1
Q
What is a Social Policy?
A
- A social policy is a plan or action of government agencies which aims to improve or reform society.
2
Q
What is a Social problem?
A
Worsley defines a social problem as ‘some piece of social behaviour that causes public friction and/or private misery’ and so requires a solution.
eg. Poverty and divorce may be reguarded as social problems by members of society > governments produce policies to tackle these problems.
3
Q
What is a sociological problem?
A
- A sociological problem is any pattern of social relationships or behaviour that calls for an explanation.
- They can be negative or positive
- Sociological problems don’t require a solution
4
Q
Sociological researches influence on governement policy
A
- Sociologists can be employed by the governement to investigate social & sociological problems eg. The British Crime survey investigates crime.
- There is no guarantee that policy makers will use their findings or that any of their solutions will find their way into social policies.
5
Q
Factors which affect whether or not sociological research succeeds in influencing goverenment policy
A
- Electoral popularity: research findings might produce a policy that would be unpopular with voters.
- Ideological/policy preferences of governments : if researcher has a similar value stance to government they may have more of a chance of influencing it’s policies.
- Interest groups: pressure groups that seek to influence/persuade government policies in their own interests.
- **Globalisation: **social policy is increasingly influence by global interests.
- Critical sociology: sociologists such as Marxists, who are critical of the capitalist state, are often ignored by social policy makers.
- Cost: may have other spending priorities and commitments.
- Funding sources: sociologists may tone down their findings and policy recommendations because they want to continue to do research in the future and don’t want to risk alienating their paymasters.
6
Q
Family life & Family ideology
A
Family life is surrounded by:
1. Legal norms controlling things. (marriage/divorce)
2. Moral values that shape ideas about what a family is, should be, what is does and should do.
* Families are influenced and shaped by a family ideology
* This ideology defines the family as a public institution where family members should be left alone to work out their relationships.
7
Q
Functionalist view
A
- Traditional functionalist approaches stress the role that families play in maintaining order.
- The family group performs essential functions for individuals and wider society, which makes it crucial to any social system.
- The relationship between the family and political institutions is mixed.
- In much of the industrialised world, the state has progressively removed functions from the family (education, welfare).
8
Q
The New Right Perspective
A
- They see the nuclear family as the best kind of family that should be encouraged.
- They think governments should favour married parenthood over all other choices for raising children. (Saunders, 2000)
- Taxes + welfare benefits should be directed to this end.
- Married couples should have special legal rights and safeguards
- In the USA, Eichner (2010) argues for a ‘supportive state’ model where political institutions act to ‘support families in performing their caretaking and human development functions.’
- Role of the state involves encouraging family structures/relationships that are seen as good - not encouraging those that are not.
- Neale (2000) says this involves stable family relationships created within married, heterosexual, dual-parent nuclear families.
- These structures are seen as providing emotional and psychological benefits to family members.
- Family structures/relationships such as single parenthood can only keep going with government support and is seen as unproductive and produces poorly socialised children who become dependent on state benefits.
9
Q
Critics of the New Right
A
- Argue that governments should not attempt to impose one type of family
- They should recognise that familes are diverse and the trend is towards increasing diversity.
- Bernardes(1997) - Government policy should support all familes
- Not the job of the government to force couples to stay together by making divorce more difficult
- Rights and privlieges should not be denied to those who cohabit instead of marry
- Governments should not make judgments about which form of family is best.
- They should accept the decisions people have made about their form of family life and develop policies to support all families.
10
Q
Marxist view
A
- Focuses on relating what the family does (socialisation) to how it benefits powerful groups.
eg. how the ruling class benefits from ‘free family services’ (costs of raising children) - For Marxists, the relationship between the family & capitalist state is based on how the family helps to maintain & reproduce social inequalities by presenting them as ‘normal’ and ‘natural’.
- The state (political/ideological superstructure) seen as supporting the family group as a stabilising force.
- The financial + moral responsibilities people take on when they form family groups lock them into capitalist economic relationships.
eg. people have to work to provide for family members. Having this responsibility acts as an emotionally stabilising force.
Althusser states: The family is an ideological state apparatus.
11
Q
Critics of the Marxist view
A
- Pointed out that the development of a welfare state through free universal education and health care has produced widespread/long-lasting benefits for work-class families.
12
Q
Feminist views
A
- Liberal feminism has looked at the state and legal agencies as a way of redressing gender imbalances in family life through social policies.
- The legal system has been seen as a source of protection for women and a way of enforcing equal gender rights.
- Liberal feminists look at how the state recognises the dual roles of females.
- Policies include nursery schooling/childcare facilities to allow women to work
- Feminists see the state as a patriarchal institution
- Liberal feminists believe that social policy (anti-discrimination reforms) will bring gender equality.
- Feminist movement has also had an impact on policy. eg. Sex Discrimination Act, Equal Pay Act
13
Q
Analysis on Feminist views
A
- The relationship between the family and the state is complex in contemporary democratic societies
- There are ideological beliefs about the desirability of particular family forms
- Generally states try not to get involved in private family life (except; violence,child abuse)
- Where states do intervene, they may impose a particular family form (China’s one child policy)
14
Q
Conservative policy - 1990s in the UK
A
- John Major
- It showed a clear preference for the married 2 parent nuclear family.
- Lone parents were denounced in what one writer described as ‘an orgy of lone-parent bashing’ (Lister,1996)
- John Major did a ‘Back to Basic’ compaign to enforce ‘traditional family values’.
15
Q
The Family Law Act 1996
A
- The Family Law Act introduced a 1 year waiting period before a couple could divorce.
- Intention of the act was to support the institution of marriage.
- Couples were encouraged to take every possible step to save their marriage.
- The act ws never implemented as judges saw it as unworkable.
16
Q
Labour Policy
A
- They were in the middle of supporting both marriage, nuclear family and providing help for other forms of family.
- Labour has been careful not to condemn alternatives to the nuclear family Lewis,2001
17
Q
Labour Policy
Supporting Families (1998)
A
- Suggested ways of providing ‘better services and support for parents.’
- Emphasis is on *all families *
- Government didn’t want to interfere in family life, to ‘pressure people’ into a preffered family form or to ‘force’ married couples to stay together.
- Accepts that many lone parents and unmarried couples raise children successfully
- But, ‘Marriage is still the surest foundation for raising children.’
18
Q
Analysis of Labour’s policy
A
- Labour’s family policy performed part of it’s welfare policy.
- Tony Blair’s statement; ‘work for those that can, security for those that can’t.’
- This policy sought to move those who can work from welfare into work and improve benefits for those who can’t.
19
Q
Labour’s - Sure Start
A
- Childcare schemes
- Offered programmes which provided health/support services for low income families with young children.
- One of Labour’s stated aims was to take all children out of poverty.
- Various benefits were increased - Child Benefit raising by 26% in real terms from 1997 - 2001.
- Labour’s policies focused on work and money – children need money, parents have a responsibility to work (Lewis, 2001)
20
Q
Labour’s New Deal
A
- Labour’s New Deal schemes were to help people find paid employment.
- One scheme, was aimed at lone parents, most lone mothers.
- From April 2001, all lone parents were required to attend an annual interview about job opportunities.
- The Working Families Tax Credits topped up the wages of parents moving from benefits to low paid jobs.
21
Q
Conclusions
A
- Sociology has some influence on social policy (varies from government to government)
- Governments tend to select particular perspectives within sociology when forming social policy. They are rarely influenced by radical perspectives.
- Sociology provides a range of ideas and evidence that can inform social policy.
- Sociologists often sit on governments committees and working parties that help to develop social policy.
- Some sociologists see themselves as problem raisers, opening the government’s eyes rather than helping to solve problems.
- Government policies have recognised the realities of family life (family diversity)
- Politicians have realised that they have a responsibility to support all families.
- Alternative family forms are no longer condemned but despite this, both parties see marriage and the nuclear family as the ideal.
