Flashcards on Families and Social Policy (4.7)

Question	Answer
What are 'social policies'?	The plans and actions of state agencies. They stem from legislation.
Some social policies affect families 'directly'. Give an example of a policy that would have a direct impact:	Policies regarding abortion, contraception, marriage and divorce would all have a direct affect.
Other policies are not aimed directly at families, but still impact them indirectly. Give an example of this:	The compulsory education policy enables parents to go out to work while schools provide free 'childminding'. Taxation policies affect how much money is taken from families.
The policies of government can have profound effects on families. Cross-cultural examples show some extreme ways in which policies impact family life. Which Chinese social policy significantly affected family life?	China introduced a one-child policy to control their growing population.
While China's policy was focused on decreasing the population, which country created a policy with the opposite intention?	Communist Romania.
In Britain, it is widely believed that the family is a predominantly private sphere in which the government rarely interfere. How do sociologists respond to this view?	Many argue that the state's social policies play an extremely important role in shaping family life, meaning the government do indeed interfere with family life.
What do functionalists think about the state's interference with families?	The state acts in the interests of society as a whole, and it only implements policies that will benefit all.
According to Ronald Fletcher, the introduction of health, education and housing policies in the years following the industrial revolution resulted in what?	The development of a welfare state that supports the family in performing its functions more effectively.
The functionalist view faces two main criticisms. What are they?	1. It assumes that all members of the family benefit equally from policies. Feminists argue that while men benefit, women do not. 2. It assumes that there is a march of progress with policies steadily improving family life. However, marxists argue that policies can actually reverse progress, by cutting welfare, for example.
Unlike functionalists, Jacques Donzelot takes a conflict view of society. What does he think of social policy?	It controls and restricts families.
What concept does Donzleot use?	Michael Foucault's concept of state surveillance.
Foucault believes that power isn't held solely by the government, but is instead spread throughout society and found in all relationships. Which profession was he particularly weary of?	Doctors, nurses and social workers. He believed they exercise their power over clients by using their knowledge to turn the clients into cases to be dealt with.
Donzelot applies the concept to the family, and is particularly interested in seeing how professionals carry out surveillance of families. What does he refer to this as?	The 'policing of families'.
However, this surveillance is not equal for all classes. Which class is more likely to be seen as a problem and the cause of antisocial behaviour?	Poor, working-class families.
By focusing on the micro level of how the 'caring professions' act as agents of social control through their surveillance, what does Donzelot show?	The importance of professional knowledge as a form of power.
What does Donzelot arguably fail to do, according to conflict sociologists?	He fails to identify clearly who benefits from such policies of surveillance.
How do the new right respond to the conventional nuclear family?	They are strongly in favour. They believe this family type is self-reliant and capable of caring for its members.
What do the new right think of family diversity?	It is threatening the traditional family and producing social problems such as welfare dependency.
What three examples of social changes does Brenda Almond give?	1. Laws making divorce easier have undermined the belief that marriage is a lifelong commitment. 2. Same-sex marriage implies that heterosexual relationships are no longer superior. 3. Tax laws discriminate against the traditional family.
What changes have made marriage and cohabitation more similar, according to the new right?	Increased rights for unmarried cohabitants (e.g. adoption rights, pension rights and succession to council house tenancies).
Which new right sociologist was particularly critical of welfare policy?	Charles Murray.
Murray stated that the 'generous' welfare benefits not only undermine the conventional nuclear family but also encourages deviant and dysfunctional family type. What do these generous benefits offer, according to Murray?	'Perverse incentives'. They reward irresponsible and antisocial behaviour.
Give an example of a perverse incentive:	If a father sees that the state will support his children, he may abandon his responsibilities to his family.
The new right argue that current policies are encouraging a 'dependency culture'. What do they mean by this?	Individuals are coming to depend on the state to support them and their children, rather than being self-reliant.
The new right argue that the growing dependency culture threatens two essential functions that the family fulfils for society. Which two functions?	1. The successful socialisation of the young. 2. The maintenance of the work ethic among men.
The new right propose a simple solution to these problems. What is it?	They argue that policy must be changed, with cuts in welfare spending and tighter restrictions on who is eligible for benefits.
What advantages would such cuts have?	Cutting welfare benefits would mean that taxes could also be reduced. This would give fathers more incentive to work and provide for their families. Likewise, denying council housing to unmarried teenage mothers would remove a major incentive to become pregnant at a young age.
Which policies do the new right advocate for?	Those which support the nuclear family, such as taxes that favour married couples over cohabiting couples.
Unlike functionalists, who believe that state welfare policies can benefit the family, what do the new right argue?	The less the state interfere with it, the better family life will be. Greater self-reliance will enable families to meet their members needs most effectively.
What do feminists believe the new right are attempting to return to?	The traditional, patriarchal nuclear family which oppresses women and confines them to a domestic role.
Feminists also argue that the new right assume the patriarchal nuclear family to be natural. What alternative explanation do feminists provide?	Such a family type is, in reality, a social construct.
What do Pam Abbott and Claire Wallace say would be the result of benefit cuts?	Poor families would simply become poorer, making them even less self-reliant.
The new right can also be criticised for ignore which policies?	Those that actually support and maintain the conventional nuclear family.
The new right is a conservative view of the family. When did it first develop?	In the 1970s.
Reflecting a new right view, Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government banned what?	The promotion of homosexuality by local authorities.
What view held by the new right did the Conservatives also reinforce?	The view that divorce is a social problem.
The Conservative party emphasised the responsibility of parents for their children even after divorce. Which agency did they create to enforce maintenance payments by absent parents?	The Child Support Agency.
However, the Conservative party did introduce measures that were opposed by the new right. Give an example:	- They made divorce easier. - They gave illegitimate children the same rights as those born to married parents.
Conservatives fall into one of two groups, first mentioned by Richard Hayton. Name and define these groups:	1. Modernisers. 2. Traditionalists.
What impact does this division have on the Conservative party's policies on the family?	They have found it difficult to maintain a consistent policy. The influence of traditionalists was further weakened during the coalition government of 2010-2015.
There are some similarities between new right views and the views of which other party?	The new labour.
Like the new right, the new labour regarded the nuclear family as what?	The 'bedrock' of society and the best environment for children to be raised.
Also like the new right, new labour emphasised the need for parents to be responsible for their children. Which order did they introduce to encourage responsibility?	The Parenting Order.
However, Elizabeth Silva and Carol Smart note that new labour rejected which new right view?	The view that the family should have just one earner in the form of a male. Instead, they recognised that women could and should go out to work now.
New labour policies favour the kind of dual-earner, neo-conventional family described by which sociologist?	Robert Chester.
Give examples of new labour policies that favour these neo-conventional families:	- Longer maternity leave. - The right to seek time off work for family matters. - Working Families Tax Credit. - The New Deal, which helps lone parents return to work.
Such policies reflect a further difference between the new right and new labour. What is it?	While the new right oppose state intervention, new labour argue that certain types of state intervention can improve family life.
Another area of difference from the new right was in new labour's support for what?	Alternatives to the conventional nuclear family.
According to critics, the Coalition government's financial austerity policy reflected which new right desire?	The desire to cut public spending.
However, the coalition government also failed to introduce policies that specifically promote the new right ideal of a conventional nuclear family. Which policies actually put two-parent families at a disadvantage?	The coalition's tax and benefit policies.
Feminists see society as patriarchal. What do they think of social institutions?	All social institutions, including the state and its policies, help to maintain women's subordinate position. Social policies reinforce the unequal gender division of labour within the family.
What are family-related policies often based on?	What the 'normal' family is like.
What do social policies present as the 'normal' family type, according to Hilary Land?	Patriarchal, nuclear families, with a male provider and a female homemaker, and their dependent children.
The assumption that most families are in keeping with this 'normal' nuclear structure affects the types of policies governing family life. In turn, what effect do the policies have?	They support and reinforce this type of family, at the expense of others. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Give an example of a policy that could create a self-fulfilling prophecy:	If the state assumes that the 'normal' family is based on marriage and therefore offer tax incentives to married couples that are unavailable to cohabiting couples, they will be encouraging marriage and discouraging cohabitation.
Feminists identify many examples of policies that maintain the conventional nuclear family and reinforce women's economic dependence. How do tax and benefit policies do this?	Tax and benefit policies can assume that husbands are the main wage-earners and that wives are financially dependent. This can make it impossible for wives to claim social security benefits in their own right, as it is expected that their husband's will provide for them. This then reinforces their dependence upon their husbands.
How do childcare policies reinforce the conventional nuclear family and women's subordination?	The government does not provide enough childcare to allow parents to return to full-time work. They therefore must either pay for childcare themselves, or forfeit their job. Due to typically earning less, it is often the women who are forced to give up working. This means they are economically dependent on their husbands.
How do health- and pensioner care policies support the nuclear family?	Policies often assume that the family will provide such care. This responsibility then typically falls upon the woman, who is then prevented from working full-time. Again, this increases their dependency upon their husbands.
There are some policies that support women. However, which feminists argue that, in reality, these policies actually reinforce the nuclear family and act as a form of social control over women?	Diana Leonard.
Give an example of a policy that seemingly supports women, but actually reinforces stereotypes about what a woman's role is:	Maternity leave policies appear to benefit women because they entitle women to great spans of time off work. However, coupled with the short amount of paternity leave given, merely reinforces the idea that the mother should stay home with the child.
Maternity benefits are low, thus increasing mothers' economic dependency on their partners. Although mothers do gain some income in the form of child benefit, what does this mean?	Receiving child benefits implies that it is the mother's job to care for the child.
These examples show the importance of social policies in the construction of what?	Family roles and relationships.
However, this perspective has faced criticism, as not all policies are directed at maintaining patriarchy. Give examples:	Equal pay and sex discrimination laws, gay marriage, refuges for women who are victims of domestic violence, and equal rights to divorce.
By examining policies from a comparative perspective across different societies, we can do what?	See whether social policies reinforces the patriarchal family universally, or whether certain policies can encourage greater equality within the family.
A country's policies on taxation, childcare, welfare services and equal opportunities will all affect whether women can work full-time. What concept does Eileen Drew use to describe how social policies can either encourage or discourage gender equality in the family and at work?	The concept of gender regimes.
Drew identifies two types of gender regime. What are they?	1. Familistic gender regimes, where policies are based on a traditional gender division. 2. Individualistic gender regimes, where policies are based on the belief that husbands and wives should be treated the same.
According to Drew, which type of gender regime are most EU countries now moving towards?	Individualistic.
The increase in individualistic gender regimes will likely cause what?	A move away from the patriarchal family and towards greater gender equality in family life.
However, policies such as publicly funded childcare are expensive and involve major conflict regarding what?	Who should pay and who should benefit.
This conflict means that it would be naive to assume that there is an inevitable march of progress towards gender equality. According to feminists, what impact did the global recession beginning in 2008 have?	It increased pressure on women to take more responsibility for caring for family members.
Following the 2008 recession, there has also been a trend towards what?	Neo-liberal welfare policies, in which individuals and families are encouraged to use the market, rather than the state, to meet their needs.

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Flashcards on Families and Social Policy (4.7)

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