A Level Sociology

Families and Households Topic Seven

Social Policy

Objectives:

· Identify the way in which social policies may affect family· Understand the different sociological perspectives on families and social policies· Analyse and evaluate the usefulness in understanding the relationship between families and social policyIntroduction:

Social policy refer to the plans and actions of ________________ agencies, such as the health and _____________ service, the welfare benefits system, schools and other public bodies.

Most policies affect ______________in some way or other. Some polices are aimed directly at them, like divorce laws, others affect them in indirect ways, like education policy. The policy of compulsory education enables parents to go out to work while schools provide a free ‘child-minding’ service.

Policies are usually based on laws that provide the framework within which the social services, health care services and the education system operate. For example, laws lay down who is entitled to each specific welfare benefit

Social policy is informed by certain ways of thinking, and different perspectives have different __________ on social policy. Political parties also differ in their views on policy. The Conservative party are currently in power and have shaped family policy to reflect their ideas.

The previous Labour Government was referred to as ‘________ Labour’, as they have a different way of thinking to the older Labour Government of the 1970’s. There are some signs that the Government’s thinking is informed by the ____________________way of thinking, such as statements from the Government which support the nuclear family as being important. However, other signs from the Government show support for diverse types of families, such as adoption rights for same sex and other _____________________couples.

Government new families social cohabitingNew Right views

Below are some extreme cross cultural examples of policies that can affect family life:

China has a one child policy because the government is trying to control families to reduce and control population growth. The Government implement (put into place) this policy by giving tax, healthcare and education benefits to single child families.

In contrast to this, the Romanian Government wanted the birth rate to rise to increase the population size. The government restricted people’s access to contraception and abortion, made divorce difficult and even lowered the legal age to marry to 15. Also, childless couples had to pay 5% extra income tax in Romania.

Task

Outline the Nazi family policy.

What was the intended aim of Nazi policies such as these?

In pairs list some examples of social policy in the UK which may affect the family….

Functionalist Views on Social Policy:

Functionalists see society as built on h__________ and c__________ (shared values) and free from major conflicts. They see the state as acting in the interests of society as a whole and its social policies as being good for all. Functionalists see policies as helping families to perform their functions more effectively and make life better for its members.

Fletcher (1966) argues that the introduction of health, education and housing policies in the years since the industrial revolution has gradually led to the development of the welfare state that supports the family performing its functions more effectively. For example, the existence of the NHS means that with the help of doctors, nurses, hospitals and medicines the family is better able to take care of its members.

Evaluation

· …

·

Donzelot – Policing the Family:

He believes that policy does not benefit the family. He has a conflict view of society and believes that state policy is a form of power and control over families. He agrees with Foucault in that professionals such as doctors and social workers exercise their power over their clients by using expert knowledge to turn them in to cases to be dealt with. Donzelot calls this ‘policing of the family’.

Surveillance is not targeted equally on all social classes. Poor families are more likely to be seen as problem families and as the cause of crime and anti-social behaviour. These are the families that professionals target for improvement.

Donzelot rejects the functionalists’ march of progress view that social policy and the professionals who carry it out have created a better, freer or more humane society. Instead he sees policy as a form of state control of the family.

An example of such policies include parents being given Parenting Orders, in which parents of young offenders, truants or badly behaved children may be forced to attend parenting classes to learn the correct way to bring up children.

Evaluation

· Marxists and feminists criticise Donzelot for…

Marxist Views on Social Policy:

Marxists are conflict theorists who see society as based on class conflict. Capitalist society contains two classes – the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The dominant bourgeoisie owns the means of production, such as factories, machinery and raw materials, while the working class own nothing but its labour power.

To survive, therefore the workers must sell their labour power to the bourgeoisie in turn for wages. This enables the bourgeoisie to exploit the workers, making profits by paying them less than the value of what they produce. This produces conflict between the classes.

In capitalist society, all institutions, such as education, the media and religion help to maintain class inequality and exploitation. The family too serves the interests of capitalism.

Unlike functionalists, Marxists do not see social policies as benefiting all members of society equally. They see the state and its policies as serving capitalism. For example, they see the low level of state pension as evidence that the workers are too old to produce profits and as such are maintained at the lowest possible cost. Similarly, they do not argue there is a steady march of progress towards better welfare policies.

Marxists argue that some policies affecting families have come about because of the needs of capitalism. For example, during WW2, when large numbers of male workers were conscripted into the armed forces, women were needed as a reserve army of labour to fill the jobs that men had left vacant in the factories. The government set up 1450 full-time nurseries for the children of working mothers. However, when the men returned at the end of the war the nurseries were closed down. This meant that many women could no longer work.

Task

Summarise the Marxist view point in one sentence below:

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The New Right Views on Social Policy:

The New Right have considerable influence on government thinking about social policy and its effects on the family. They see the traditional nuclear family, with its division of labour between a male provider and female home-maker as the best type of family. This is because they are self-reliant and capable of caring for its members. In their views, social policy should therefore avoid doing anything that might undermine this natural, self-reliant family.

In their view, the changes that have led to greater family diversity, such as increases in divorce, cohabitation, same-sex partnerships and lone parenthoods, are threatening the conventional family and producing social problems such as crime and welfare dependency. These changes have all undermined the nuclear family.

How does Almond argue the following issues have undermined the nuclear family?

Laws making divorce easier:

The introduction of civil partnerships:

Tax laws:

Similarly, the New Right point out that increased rights for unmarried cohabitants, such as adoption rights and succession to council house tenancies and pension rights when a partner dies, begin to make cohabitation and marriage more similar. This sends out the signal that the state does not see marriage as special.

Lone parents, welfare policy and the dependency culture

New Right commentators such as Charles Murray are particularly critical of welfare policy. Murray argues the welfare state provides ‘generous’ welfare benefits such as council housing for unmarried teenage mothers and cash payments to support lone-parent families which encourages deviant and dysfunctional family types. Murray argued they offer ‘perverse incentives’, they reward irresponsible behaviour or anti-social behaviour. For example;

·

·

·

Social policy can have a major impact on family roles and relationships. It can encourage a dependency culture, where individuals come to support them and their children rather than being self-reliant. They argue this threatens the two essential functions that the family fulfils for society; the successful socialisation of the young and the maintenance of the work ethic among men.

Solutions

The New Rights solution to these problems is simple. They argue that the policy must be changed, with cuts in welfare spending and tighter restrictions on who is eligible for benefits.

This would have several advantages for example;

Cutting welfare benefits would mean…

Denying council housing to unmarried teenage mothers would….

On the other hand the New Right also advocate policies to support the traditional nuclear family, such as taxes that favour married rather than cohabitating couples and making absent fathers financially responsible for their children. Whereas functionalists take the view that welfare policies can benefit the family, the New Right disagree. In their view the less the state ‘interferes’ in families, the better family life will be.

Feminist Views on Social Policy:

Feminists take a conflict view. They argue that all social institutions, including the state and its policies, help to maintain women’s subordinate position and the unequal gender division in the family. In the case of social policy, the way they work is on the assumption that one type of family is better than the other, therefore it encourages marriage and discourages cohabitation.

Hilary Land (1978) argues that social policies assume that the ideal family is the patriarchal nuclear family. This is the family type that Edmund Leach (1967) calls the ‘cereal packet norm’ because it is the kind of family that often appears in advertisements for breakfast cereals.

How does the assumed norm of the family affect the kinds of policies governing family life?

How may these policies negatively impact family diversity?

Policies reinforce existing patriarchal roles and relationships:

(AO2) Feminists identify numerous examples of policies that help to maintain the conventional patriarchal nuclear family and reinforce women’s economic dependence. These include the following;

· Tax and benefits;

· Childcare;

· Care for the sick and elderly;

According to Diana Leonard, how do policies that seem to support women still reinforce the patriarchal family and act as a form of social control?

(AO3) Evaluation:

· Liberal feminists would argue that not all policies maintain patriarchy, for example…

· Maternity and paternity leave is now shared between both the man and woman

Gender Regimes:

Drew uses the concept of gender regimes to identify how social policies in different countries encourage or discourage gender equality:

· Familistic gender regimes – policies are based on a traditional gender division between the male breadwinner and the female caregiver. In Greece there is little welfare or publicly funded childcare and this encourages a traditional division of labour

· Individualistic gender regimes – where policies are based on the belief that husbands and wives should be treated the same. Wives are not assumed to be dependent on their husbands. In Sweden equal opportunities policies, state provision of childcare, parental leave and good quality welfare services mean that women are less dependent on their husbands and have more opportunities to work

She argues that most European countries are moving towards gender equality in family roles and relationships.

1. Why would it be naïve to assume there is an inevitable ‘march of progress’ towards gender equality?

2. Why has there been a trend towards neo-liberal welfare policies, in which individuals are being encouraged to use the market rather than the state?

Government Policies from 1979 Onwards:

Date

Views on the family and policies introduced

Conservative government’s from 1979 – 1997

New Labour government’s 1997 – 2010

The Coalition government 2010 – 2015

Think higher… After winning the 2015 election have the current conservative government made any changes to family policy? What does this tell us?

Examples of Policies:

Policy

Explanation

Consequences

Welfare State

Marital Rape Act (1991)

The Children’s

Act (1989)

The Sex Discrimination Act (1975)

Bedroom Tax (2013)

Divorce Reform Act (1969)

Marriage – same sex couples (2013)

Free childcare for 15hrs (2015)

Glossary of Key Terms to Learn:

CONCEPT

DEFINITION

Social Policy

China – one child policy

Functionalism and policy

Feminism and policy

New Right and policy

Donzelot and policy

Marxism and policy

New Labour and policy

Conservatives and policy

`

Topic Summary:

Examples from China and elsewhere show how government policies may affect family life. ………………………………. see policies as supporting the family in performing its functions for the benefit of all its members. …………………………….. argues that state professionals exercise control and surveillance, intervening to regulate family life.

Social policies may work to undermine or support different kinds of family. The ………………… ………………….. argue that over generous welfare benefits to unmarried mothers encourages a ………………………. ………………………….. Feminists disagree, arguing that government policies legitimate the heterosexual ……………………….. nuclear family and make other family types seem less valid.

Countries with ……………………………. gender regimes follow policies promoting women’s equality. …………………………..regimes perpetuate women’s patriarchal dependence.

Donzelot individualisticNew Right Functionalistspatriarchal

dependency culture familistic

Quick Check Questions:

1. Give one example of how the state may control family life

2. What is meant by ‘perverse incentives’ in relation to social policies?

3. Give two examples of New Right policies introduced by governments

4. Name two New Labour policies that did not reflect a New Right view of policy

5. Why do feminists favour an individualistic rather than a familistic gender regime?

6. How do Marxists view social policies?

7. How do policies encourage surveillance according to Donzelot?

Exam Technique:

Outline and explain two ways in which government policies may affect family structure (10 marks)

Point one –

Point two –

Outline and explain two ways in which social policy has impacted upon gender roles within the family (10 marks)

Point one –

Point two –

Outline and explain two ways in which government policies may affect the experience of childhood today (10 marks)

Point one –

Point two –

Item

Over the past 50 years, conjugal roles have become much more equal.

The government have played a vital role in these changes, while power within the family can be said to have shifted, and become much more equal.

Applying material from the item, analyse two ways conjugal roles have become more symmetrical in the family (10 marks)

Point one –

Point two –

Item

According to feminist sociologists, the main function of laws and policies on families and households is to support the conventional heterosexual nuclear family and reproduce patriarchy. For example, policies concerning the care of children or the old often make the assumption that these are the women’s responsibility. By contrast, New Right thinkers argue that may policies offer ‘perverse incentives’ that actually undermine rather than support the conventional family.

Applying material from the item and your knowledge, evaluate the view that the main function of laws and policies on families and households is to reproduce patriarchy (20 marks)

Independent Study Checklist:

Activity

Tick when done

Complete an A3 revision sheet for this topic

Create revision cards/key cards for the key policies discussed in this topic

Create a timeline of key policies with detailed information about each policy

Add all the key concepts in to your address book or make flashcards for the concepts

Make an information booklet that details each theory and its views on policy – Marxism, feminism, functionalism, New Right, Donzelot

Create a poster summarising either New Labour views on policy or the Conservative party views on policy

Read the Sociology Review article ‘The Family and Social Policy’ and mind map the key ideas

For more resources and articles see: www.aqusociology.weebly.com

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