Family and Social Policy

Functionalism - Family and Social Policy

See society as built on a consensus (shared values)  

See society as a system that is made up of different subsystems that depend on each other, just like a human body that needs different organs to function 

They see social policies as an exemplary aspect of society as it helps families to perform their functions more effectively and it makes life better for family members 

Fletcher 

Argues that the introduction of health, education and housing policies has led to a welfare state that supports the family, for example for the NHS, with the help of doctors, hospitals, nurses and medicine, the family can take care of their family members when they are sick.  

Criticism 

All members of the family benefit equally from these policies. Feminists would argue that these policies would benefit men more than women.  

New Right - Family and Social Policy

The new rights are firmly in favour of the conventional nuclear family. The nuclear family is (a heterosexual married couple) husband and wife and children, they believe that the nuclear family is the best. Families and social policy have created changes that have led to greater family diversity, such as cohabitation and lone parenthood. These threaten the conventional nuclear family and they disrupt society. They believe that certain state policies have encouraged these changes. 

Almond 

Laws making divorce easier, undermine marriage being a lifelong commitment. This creates more lone-parent families. 

The introduction of civil partnerships, for gay and lesbian couples, led to more homosexual couples.  

Welfare Dependency Culture - Family and Social Policy

Murray 

The state provides generous welfare benefits, such as providing accommodation to support unmarried teenage mothers, and cash payments to support lone-parent families. This rewards irresponsible behaviour, it allows women to have children that they cannot afford, it encourages young girls to become pregnant, and fathers will abandon their responsibilities if they see that the state will maintain their children. More boys grow up without a male role model. The solution to these problems is to have tighter restrictions, for example, denying council housing. Think that the state should involve less in families. 

Evaluation 

Abbott and Wallace argue that cutting benefits would simply drive many poor families into even greater poverty and make them even less self-reliant.  

Feminism - Family and Social Policy

They see society as patriarchal and they argue that policies help to maintain subordinate positions, they have identified numerous policies that reinforce women’s economic dependence.  

Taxes and benefits policies assume that husbands are the main wage earners and that wives are dependent because of this it makes it can make it impossible for wives to claim social security benefits in their own right. This makes them dependent on their husbands 

Childcare, while the government pays for some childcare it is not enough, for women to work full-time, so they are restricted from working, as they are taking care of their children, so they are economically dependent on their husbands. 

Care for the sick and elderly, is government policies assume that the family will care for elderly family members this means women are expected to do the caring, and this prevents them from working this gives them economic dependence on their husbands 

Evaluation – Feminists take an overly pessimistic view on family policy, not all policies disadvantage women, and some take women at an advantage, the example Equal Pay Act and refugees for women escaping domestic violence and equal rights for divorce, help women. 

Donzelot’s policing the family - Family and Social Policy

He sees policies and the government as a form of state power, and control over families so it is a way of surveillance which observes and monitors families, and professionals such as doctors use their power over clients and turn them into “cases” Surveillance is not targeted equally over classes. As poor families are more likely to be seen as “problem families” there is more surveillance around these families, and they are usually targeted for improvement.