Social Policy

• What is social policy?

  Actions the gov. takes to influence society - e.g. making certain behaviours illegal, controlling immigration
• What are social problems?

  Worsley (1977): Issues concerning the public that cause public friction - e.g. poverty, juvenile delinquency
• What are sociological problems?

  A pattern of relationships that needs to be explained. (Can be actual issues (like why ppl commit crime) but also normal behaviour (like why ppl divorce))
• How can sociologists help resolve social problems?

  By doing research that can guide social policy.
• 3 ways that sociology can contribute to social policy: (HINT: D, E + E)

  1. Descriptive research - describes nature + scale of a problem
  2. Explanatory research - research aiming to reveal causes of social problems
  3. Evaluative research - researching pre-existing social policies to see if they're working/can be improved
• Which org. funds research into the UK pop. + publishes the data to inform social policies?

  Office for National Statistics (ONS)
• Gov. departments + research funding

  • Fund research in areas they manage - Dep. of Education, Dep. of Health, etc.
  • However, these deps. are political ➡️ their research could be politically biased.
  • Sometimes directly affects social policy
• Charities/Think-tanks + research funding

  • e.g. 1) Joseph Rowntree Foundation ~ researches poverty + claims to be politically neutral
  • e.g. 2) The Centre for Policy Studies ~ think-tank linked to TNR
• What do Functionalists & Positivists think of researchers + social policy?

  • Researcher should provide state w/ value-free, objective data to find root causes of social problems
  • Social policies can resolve a wide range of social problems
• What does TNR think of researchers + social policy?

  • State shouldn't be involved in society, they allow ppl to not take responsibility ➡️ delinquency
  • Social policies should encourage marriage, better parenting + reduce state benefits
• What do Marxists think of researchers + social policy?

  • Gov. ignores research from Marxist perspective bc they're mainly upper MC
  • Social policies protect the interests of the wealthy e.g. taxation
• What do Interactionists think of researchers + social policy?

  • Want to gain verstehen
  • Critique the gov. for being source of labels