AC 4.2 How Social Changes Affect Policy Development

• Social valuesmeaning


  Rules that are shared by most people in a culture or the ideas that they hold. They are more general guidelines than norms. They tell us what is right and wrong, good and bad. Different societies may have differing values.
• Social valuesexamples


  • Most people feel that the elderly should be respected and that seats should be given up for the older people to sit in.
  • The phrase 'women and children first' related to the social value of letting women and children leave a sinking ship in priority to men.
• Normsmeaning


  Social expectations that guide behaviour and explain people's behaviour and the way they act in the way they do. They are specific rules and socially accepted standards on how we are expected to behave in specific situations. They keep deviant behaviour in check.
• Normsexamples


  • In the UK people wear dark sombre colours to a funeral but in China the colour of mourning is white.
  • Informal unwritten rules such as you shouldnt queue jump
  • Formal written rules for example for the amount of alcohol you are allowed to drink before you cannot drive.
• Moresmeaning


  Morals or good ways of behaving. They are very basic essential norms that society sees as vital for maintaining the standards of decency and civilised behaviour.
• Moresexamples


  • The taboo against incest (sexual relations between close relatives) which is found in all socities.
  • The prohibition against taking human life other than in very exceptional circumstances.
• Societies values, norms and mores have all changed over time resulting in changes in laws and policy.
• Laws often change because of a change in a society's culture - its norms and values. These changes in values can affect the public's perception of crime - an act that used to be acceptable may now be seen as wrong by today's values.
• Drink driving


  An example of how society's changing views have stimulated a change in policy.
• Changes in drink driving laws and policies

  1. 1925: First law making driving while drunk an offence, but no clear definition of drunk and no legal limit

  2. 1967: Road Safety Act introduced a blood alcohol limit of 80mg per 100ml of blood

  3. 1968: First breathalysers introduced for roadside use

  4. 1983: High Risk Offender scheme introduced for convicted drivers with an alcohol problem

  5. 1991: New offence of causing death by driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs introduced with a compulsory prison sentence

  6. 2014: Penalty for a first drunk driving offence increased to up to 6 months imprisonment, an unlimited fine and a driving ban for a least one year, with heavier penalties for repeat offenders
• Drink driving laws and policies

  Changing public perceptions of drink driving as a crime
• In 1979 half of all male drivers admitted to driving drunk at least once a week, but by 2014 a survey showed 91% of people agreed that drink driving was unacceptable and 92% said they would feel ashamed if they were caught drink driving.
• In 1945 there were fewer than 20000 non white residents in the UK, with the main immigrant groups being white Irish and Jews.
• During the 1950s and 60s non white immigrants came from former British colonies in the Caribbean, the Indian subcontinent and Africa, as well as more recently from Eastern Europe.
• Windrush Generation


  The early arrivals bringing immigrants from the Caribbean, who faced great hostility and racist stereotypes.
• Throughout the 50s and 60s immigrants often met with discrimination in housing, employment and services.
• Race Relations Act (RRA)


  Legislation banning racial discrimination in public places and making the promotion of hatred on grounds of colour, race, ethnic or national origins an offence. The 1976 RRA significantly strengthened the law by extending it to cover both direct and indirect discrimination.
• The RRA was replaced by the 2010 Equality Act which brought together laws on racial, sex, age and disability discrimination.
• Since the 1960s there has been a cultural change - a decline in prejudice towards ethnic minorities, with the percentage of people saying they were racially prejudiced falling from 39% in 1987 to 26% in 2017.
• Direct discrimination


  When someone treats you less favourably for example because of your race
• Indirect discrimination


  When there is a policy or rule that applies to everyone, but it has a worse effect on some groups
• In 2010 the RRA was replaced by the Equality Act which brought together laws on racial, sex, age and disability discrimination
• The Equality Act is overseen by the Equality and Humans right commission
• Since the 1960s there has been a cultural change - a decline in prejudice towards ethnic minorities
• In 2018 66% of the over 65s in ethnic minorities said the level of racial prejudice today is lower than it was in 1968
• Both minorities and the wider population are at ease with the idea of mixed relationships and a more integrated society
• As a result of changing attitudes there has been a change in the public perception of discrimination and race hate crimes
• In recent years there has been a lot of new legislation created to tackle all forms of discrimination and hate crime
• The punishments for such crimes have also significantly increased as society's values become even more aware that discrimination of this kind needs to be eradicated
• Reasons for change in attitudes

  If the law is changed to forbid discrimination people may abandon their prejudiced attitudes to bring them in line with how they are now required to behave
• People thought children of different backgrounds mixing at school and workplace contact with people from other ethnicities were both more important than race relation laws in improving race relations in Britain
• There have been changes in attitudes and behaviour since the demographic changes brought by immigration
• However this does not mean discrimination has disappeared
• Forms of discrimination that still exist

  • Racism towards non-whites
  • Islamophobia
  • Racism towards white Eastern Europeans
  • Racism towards Gypsies
  • Anti semitism towards Jews
• In 2018 the Conservative government was accused of creating a hostile environment that led to the wrongful deportation of members of the 'windrush generation, who had lived in the UK for decades
• As of 2024, there has been a significant rise in antisemitism not just in the UK but throughout the world as a result of the Israeli Palestine conflict
• Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in the UK have changed dramatically in recent times in line with changes in society's culture and values
• For centuries same sex sexual activity was condemned as immoral or sinful and severely punished by the law
• The 1533 Buggery Act made sodomy between men punishable by death and men were executed until as late as 1835
• Although the death penalty for sodomy was abolished in 1861 an Act of 1885 extended the laws to include any sexual activity between men