What do sociologists think about family and social policy?

Question 1

Fletcher (Functionalist)

Answer 1

• the introduction of health, education and housing policies led to the development of a welfare state that supports families

Question 2

Land (Feminist)

Answer 2

• social policies assume the ideal family is the patriarchal nuclear family

Question 3

Leonard (Feminist)

Answer 3

• policies may look like they’re supporting women but actually act as a form of social control, reinforcing patriarchal stereotypes and roles within the family

Question 4

Donzelot (Postmodernist)

Answer 4

• social policy is a form of state power over families

- uses Foucault’s concept of surveillance to describe the ‘policing of families’

Question 5

Condry (Postmodernist)

Answer 5

• the state may seek to control the parents of young offenders, truants or badly behaved children by imposing compulsory Parenting Orders