Should socio effect social policies

• Functionalism (for)-

  -social policies help society run smoothly and promote equal opportunity

  -positivist methods use science and reason to improve society

  -Durkheim- by understanding laws, they could inform governments of what the appropriate polices were to manage social change

  -Governments use official statistics to make decisions about social policy
• Marxism-

  -the state represents the interests of the ruling class, therefore social policies will also reflect this

  -they provide ideological legitimisation to capitalist exploitation e.g. welfare state benefits make it look like they care for the poor

  -maintains the labour force

  -means of preventing revolution-policies such as maximum working hours make it seem like the state is looking after the W/C
• Feminist-

  -The state and society is patriarchal so social policy is designed to maintain this e.g. maternity policies aimed to keep women at home

  -feminist research has has an impact in areas such as equal opportunity but these reflect liberal feminism not racial or Marxist views
• New Right-

  -People should be self reliant, therefore the state shouldn’t interfere too much with the private lives of citizens

  -they are against the welfare state which they see as undermining people's sense of responsibility

  -social policy should aim to restore responsibility