famillies and social policy

functionalism

• policies help families to perform functions more effectively

• fletcher: introduction of health, educations and housing policies led to development of welfare state that supports family in performing functions effectively

• nhs means family better able to care for members

• criticisms

• assumes all members of family benefit equally from social policies whereas feminists argue policies benefit men

• assumes there is a march of progress whereas marxists argue policies turn clock back and reverse progress e.g. by cutting benefits to poor families

donzelot: policing the family

• policy as form of state power and control over families

• uses foucaults concept of surveillance - power diffuses throughout society and found within all relationships. professionals e.g. doctors exercise power over clients by using every knowledge to turn them into cases

• applies this to family - social workers, health visitors, doctors use knowledge to control and change families

• ‘the policing of families’

• poor families more likely to be seen as problem families and cause of crime and anti social behaviour so are targeted

• condry: state controls and regulated family life by imposing parenting orders through courts where parents of young offenders forced to attend parenting classes to learn correct way

• donzelot rejects match of progress view that social policy creates more humane society and sees it as state control

• marxists and feminists criticise for failing to identify who benefits from policies of surveillance

the new right

• changes which have led to greater family diversity are threatening conventional family and leading to social problems such as crime

• state policies have encouraged undermining of nuclear family

• almond: laws making divorce easier undermine idea of marriage as lifelong commitment, civil partnerships sends message state no longer sees heterosexual marriage as superior, tax laws discriminate conventional families with sole breadwinner

• increased rights for unmarried cohabitants make cohabitation and marriage more similar sending message state does not see marriage as special

welfare policy and dependency culture

• murray: providing generous welfare benefits undermines conventional nuclear family and encourages deviant and dysfunctional family types

• welfare benefits offer perverse incentives

• if fathers see state will maintain children they will abandon responsibilities

• council housing for unmarried teenage mothers encourages pregnancy

• growth of lone parent families encourages by benefits means more boys grow up without male role model

• current policies encourage dependency culture which threatens socialising and maintenance of work ethic

new rights solution

• cuts in welfare spending and restrictions on who is eligible

• means taxes could be reduced

• give fathers more incentive to work and provide

• denying council housing to unmarried teenage mothers would remove incentive to become pregnant young

• taxes that favour married rather than cohabitating couples and making absent fathers financially responsible for children

evaluation of new tight

• feminists argue it is an attempt to justify reform of patriarchal nuclear family

• abbott and wallace: cutting benefits would drive poor families into greater poverty and make them less self reliant

feminism

• all social institutions maintain women’s subordinate position and unequal gender division of labour

• land: social policies assume the ideal family is the patriarchal nuclear family

• affects the kind of policies governing family life - reinforce that particular type of family at expense of others creating a self fulfilling prophecy

• state assumes normal families based on marriage and offers tax incentives to matthew coupes this encourages marriage and discourages cohabitation

policies supporting the patriarchal family

• tax and benefits policies assume husbands are main wage earners which can make it impossible for wives to claim social security benefits in their own right

• gov pays for some childcare but not enough for parents to work full time so women restricted from working and economically dependent

• assume family provide care for sick and elderly - middle aged women expected to provide this which prevents working full time

• leonard argues when policies appear to support women they may still reinforce the patriarchal family and act as social control over women e.g. maternity leave

evaluation of feminism

• not all policies directed at maintaining patriarchy e.g. equal pay act and sex discrimination laws, right of lesbians to marry, benefits for lone parents

• rape within marriage made criminal offence 1991

gender regimes

• drew: used concept of gender regimes to describe how social policies in different countries can either encourage or discourage gender equality in family

• familistic gender regimes where policies based on traditional gender division between male breadwinner and female housewife

• greece little state welfare or publicly funded childcare

• individualistic gender regimes where policies based on belief husbands and wives should be treated the same. wife not dependent on husband so has separate entitlement to state benefits

• sweden policies treat husbands and wives as equally responsible for breadwinning and domestic tasks