Social Welfare Ch.2

• Different people can take the same issue and come to very different conclusions
• Understanding social work and social welfare is less about facts and more about ideological lenses
• People filter facts through their ideological perspectives
• Conservative and liberal political perspectives are not inherently correct or incorrect
• Social work is often considered a liberal profession
• National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics is not applicable to only liberal values
• People have differing attitudes and opinions about social welfare issues
• Conservative view: "the government that governs least governs best"
• Different analyses of the same issue can make sense
• Ideological lenses influence how people view social welfare policies and programs
• People have different views on causes and solutions for social issues
• The three main political perspectives on social welfare are conservative, liberal, and progressive
• Conservatives value tradition and resist change, believing that change usually has more negative than positive consequences
• Liberals believe in progress and view history as progress, advocating for change to make the world better
• Progressives stress the need for more fundamental alterations in the social system, doubting that moderate change can address pervasive inequities
• Modern populists believe that change has gone too far and advocate for a return to a past state
• Conservatives have a pessimistic view of human nature, seeing people as corrupt, self-centered, lazy, and incapable of true charity
• Conservatives argue that people need to be controlled due to their negative nature
• Liberal views on human nature are more optimistic, believing in progress and that people can change for the better
• Progressives suspect that social welfare programs distract from real societal problems and advocate for fundamental changes in the social structure
• Radical conservatives believe that many social welfare programs should never have been implemented and should be completely eliminated
• Conservatives argue that people need to be controlled because of their fundamentally negative nature
• Conservatives have a basic distrust of democracy, doubting the ability of the masses to make decisions for the common good
• Liberals take a more optimistic view of human nature, believing that people are born with infinite possibilities for being shaped for the good
• Progressives believe that people are inherently industrious and creative
• Conservatives generally view individuals as autonomous and responsible for their own behavior
• Liberals and progressives emphasize the environment as a factor in individual behavior
• Conservatives believe that social inequality ensures that the most important positions are filled by the most capable people
• Liberals believe that the social system needs nurturing and regulating
• Progressives see the social system as a class hierarchy where one class has predominant power and uses it to control others
• Conservatives believe that fairness is unattainable in the present system
• Fairness can be achieved only if society restructures its existing institutions to redistribute wealth and power
• Conservatives tend to support social welfare programs that help people adjust to society as it currently exists and improve their living standard within the current social and economic structure
• Liberals believe in changes that will reduce inequality and increase social justice
• Many liberals assert that the wealthiest members of society argue against poverty elimination efforts to retain their power, resources, and positions
• Liberals reject social welfare programs that simply help people adjust to society as it is, seeing them as means for the powerful to keep the powerless "in their place"
• Progressives believe that the only way to prevent inequality is to change society completely
• For progressives, when power and wealth are distributed equitably and everyone is guaranteed the necessities of life, cooperation will predominate over competition and conflict
• Some progressives believe society can be restructured gradually and democratically, while others see only revolutionary change as sufficient
• Populists believe in the autonomous individual who is responsible for their own success or failure