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Sociological Debates and Social Policy - Coggle Diagram
Sociological Debates and Social Policy
What is a social policy?
Social policies refer to the plans and actions of state agencies.
. Laws introduced by the government attempting to deal with a social problem
¬ The Welfare System - poverty
¬ Schools - jobs
¬ Local Councils - domestic violence/ child abuse
Most social policies affect all families in some way or another
Functionalism
Sociology is a science so can provide objective information to improve society.
Society is based in a value consensus and government's reflect societies values
. All social policies are good because they help institutions functions efficiently
. Social policies maintain social order as they reflect societies values
Piecemeal social engineering - changeover time
Left Realism
Townsend (1979)
- social policies should tackle issues of social inequality.
. Sociologists should research social problems and outline how to eradicate them.
¬ E.g. more welfare spending/ investment
. Social policies should promote equality of opportunity
¬ Everyone should have an equal chance to succeed
. You must change capitalism over time
¬ Marxists/ Feminists are too idealistic
Marxism
Criticises the other two perspectives:
.
Functionalism
- social policies should change society now not over time
.
Left realism
- issues of poverty and inequality should be tackled but you cannot have equality under capitalism.
The economy is based on an elite owning the majority of wealth.
They believe that social policy has 3 functions:
1. Ideology and the welfare state
Make the system look like it cares for the poor when it does not.
2. Maintain the labour force
NHS - cheap for employers, keeps workers healthy
3. Prevent revolution/ change
Stops the WC revolting against inequality
Right Realism
The state should have minimal involvement in people's lives.
.
Thatcher
: 'There is no such thing as society'
Social policies undermine individual responsibility create dependency and undermine work ethic.
Welfare benefits provide incentives for anti-social behavior
. Single fathers assume the state will take care of their child when they abandon their families
. Providing public housing to young women encourages teen pregnancy
. Single mothers lead to life of crime for young boys
Not interested in 'nothing works' sociology
. It is not the job of the researcher to impose abstract ideas on social policy.
¬ E.g. revolution or a different society
Murry
Social policy must:
Socialised the young through the nuclear family
Maintain work ethic amongst men
Feminism
Social policies are patriarchal and can produce self-fulfilling prophecies
. If the government promotes the nuclear family many women will conform to that oppressive family structure
Liberal Feminists
. Social policies can lead to a march of progress
¬ Girls education/ women's role in the family has improved over time.
Radical Feminists
. Governments/ social policy is controlled by men and ensure women's subordination.
. Women should have separate institutions to resolve social problems.
¬ Women's refuge/ women's aid federation/ access to abortion etc.
Social Problems
Vs
Sociological Problems
Worsley (1977)
Social Problems
Social Behaviour, which causes public friction or misery
. E.g. poverty, crime and deviance
Can be solved by governments
Sociological Problems
A pattern or relationship which requires an explanation
. Why do girls achieve more than boys?
. Why are divorce rates increasing?
Factors making sociological research more or less influential?
Popularity with the Electorate
Research findings and recommendations might point to a policy that would be unpopular with voters.
Ideological Perspective of the Government
If the researchers value stance or perspective is similar to the political ideology of the government, they may stand more chance of influencing.
Interest Groups
These are pressure groups that seek to influence government policies in their own interests. For example, business groups may succeed in persuading the government not to raise the minimum age, even though this might reduce poverty.
Globalisation
Social policy isn’t just made by nation-states in isolation. International organisations such as the EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF) may influence the social policies of individual governments. For example, the IMF’s ‘structural adjustment programmes’ have required less developed countries to introduce fees for education and health care as a condition for aid, despite evidence from social scientists that this makes development less likely.
Critical Sociology
Sociologists who are critical of the state and powerful groups, such as Marxists, may be regarded as too extreme, hostile or impractical and therefore unlikely to influence policy.
Costs
Even if the government is sympathetic to the sociological findings, it may not have sufficient funds to implement an appropriate policy based on them, or it may have other spending priorities and commitments.
Funding Sources
In some cases, sociologists may tone down their findings and policy recommendations so as to fit in with their paymasters’ wishes - a case of ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune’. Similarly, policymakers may recruit sociologists who share their assumptions and political values. The research findings may then be used to justify what the policymakers intended to do in the first place. Similarly, ‘think tanks’ or research institutes often have particular political sympathies - for example, some are seen as left-leaning, while others have right-wing sympathies. Politicians seeking a particular result to justify their favoured policies can be selective in which think tank they turn to for research.