The social policy of Australia considers the protection of children and the quality of their lives a central concern. In accordance with the existing legislation, all individuals belonging to this category have the right to receive loving care, support, and services they need to succeed in their lives ( Protecting children is everyones business, 2009). Overall, the proposed policy is associated with improving existing monitoring, discovery, investigation, and management practices pertaining to child abuse and mistreatment within the Australian context. The initiative of the policy is to change the way Australian child protection agencies approach the issue of abuse. The aim of the policy is the introduction of a public health model and specific secondary interventions. The target audience is expected to include children-victims of abuse, their parents, alleged perpetrators of abuse, legislators, health care providers, and government stakeholders. At the moment, the policy is still on the stage of implementation since it continues encountering issues such as the ineffective monitoring of abuse cases, the lack of attention to Indigenous communities, the inadequate program management, and insufficient funding.
The need for a policy is evidenced by the fact that about 55,120 reports of child abuse and neglect are acquired annually (AIFS, 2018). Additionally, 168,352 Australian children were provided with child protection services in 2016-2017 (AIHW, n.d.).
Numerous government and non-government organizations are responsible for the protection of children and young people. They investigate specific cases regarding the existing social policy and provide support to individuals who needed it. In 2016-2017 the overall expenditure on child protection comprised about $4,3 billion (AIHW, 2018). However, there are still numerous problematic issues that demand further improvement of the approach to ensure better protection.
In order to ensure that the project addresses the problem from several perspectives, both quantitative and qualitative data will be used. From the quantitative perspective, the project will target the measurement of the number of investigated cases, the number of resolved cases, statistics on children out of homes as well on children on a protection order. From the qualitative perspective, the project will approach the issue of child support through discovering key themes and problems that characterize child neglect.
There are several central aspects underpinning the contemporary approach to child protection and its reformation. The first one is the need for increased investment to include more counseling services to children on a long-term basis in order to ensure greater focus on the antedescents of child abuse. In accordance with the relevant statistics, 74% of all children who were provided with specific protection services were repeat clients (AIFS, 2017a). Moreover, children from low-income or poor families face a significantly higher risk of abuse and neglect, which turns them into a vulnerable group (AIFS, 2008). When it comes to this recommendation, it should be mentioned that non-profit organizations that provide counseling services to children are inadequately funded. Since repeated sessions require the payment that the government does not currently provide, increased investment will ensure the minimization of the level of threat and cases of abuse in families that have already experienced similar problems (AIHW, 2018). It can help to improve the situation in the sphere.
The second key issue is the improvement of monitoring mechanisms to identify potentially problematic families or environments. Prevention and prophylactic work are two integral components of the existing social policy aimed at the protection of childrens rights (AIHW, 2018). However, these two directions demand the introduction and further development of assessment and monitoring mechanisms to evaluate the situation in families and conclude the probability of child abuse. Effective monitoring can include the introduction of child maltreatment surveillance systems (Meinck et al., 2015). Such systems will combine data from social services records, health records, self-repots, sentinel studies, complete agency records, and death records. Also, to contribute to effective monitoring, community members will be encouraged to report cases of child mistreatment that they have witnessed.
The third fundamental issue underpinning Australian social policy regarding childrens protection is to refrain from restricting the issue of child abuse to only governmental institutions. 2 of 3 children who have experienced different types of abuse or neglect become victims again (AIHW, 2018). Moreover, statistics show that the provision of support and needed child protection services is not associated with the complete elimination of the factor causing the problem and resulting in the deterioration of childrens state and quality of their lives (AIHW, 2017). In such a way, one of the central tasks of the existing social policy which significantly impacts its development is the introduction of measures that will help to reduce the number of re-abuse cases by revealing and solving a problematic issue that promoted the emergence of an acceptable situation. This direction remains fundamental for social services, governmental and non-governmental agencies.
The last problem is associated with restricting the problem of child abuse to only governmental organizations, the large majority of which ignores the problems occurrence within the Indigenous communities of Australia. In accordance with the statistics, about 32,600 individuals belonging to this category had been in out-of-home care for 2 or more years (AIHW, 2017). This fact constitutes a significant problem for agencies responsible for protecting children as the lack of care increases the risk of facing additional types of abuse and contributes to the overall deterioration of the situation. In such a way, the contemporary child protection is focused on the elimination of this problem by trying to use community resources to monitor cases of this sort and provide children deprived of care with the needed social protection. Additionally, in 2016-2017 indigenous children were seven times more likely to have received child protection services if compare with non-indigenous ones (AIHW, 2018). It constitutes a significant problem.
Altogether, despite numerous attempts to monitor the latest alterations in the sphere of child protection, the existing social policy might still be improved to ensure improved outcomes and guarantee reduction in abuse rates. Regarding the aspects underpinning the functioning of the approach, there are four recommendations that can be suggested.
Recommendation 1
Increase funding to include more counseling services, over a longer length of time. This will ensure more focus on the antecedents of child abuse. As has already been stated, the problem of child abuse is complicated by numerous cases of repeated neglect. To a greater degree, it comes from a lack of understanding among members of vulnerable families. In such a way, a significant increase in investments devoted to counseling services will help to investigate reasons preconditioning the emergence of inappropriate or abusive behavioral patterns and increase the level of awareness related to the problem of child protection (Wise, 2017). Additionally, eliminating the antecedents of undesired actions, agencies will be able to improve their prophylactic and prevention strategies aimed at the significant reduction in situations that might trigger the emergence of conflict situations.
Recommendation 2
Identify and work with at-risk families to a greater degree. This prevention strategy will mean the statistics are likely to improve. Governmental and non-governmental agencies admit that there is a set of factors that can be considered indicators of at-risk families. These include a low level of income, tensed relations between family members, social misconduct, divorce, and substances abuse (AIHW, 2018). The use of these factors can be considered an appropriate measure to introduce better identification and monitoring practices along with the prevention strategies. Additionally, improved work with at-risk families guarantees a reduction in the number of children deprived of home care which remains one of the central tasks of the existing social policy. In such a way, it should be considered an appropriate option for the improvement of child protection.
Recommendation 3
Provide financial help for diverse organizations to contribute to abuse prevention strategies. By doing so, children from Indigenous populations will also be included in the statistics of child abuse cases. Suggestion of this method to multiple organizations will result in the emergence of new ways to monitor the state of the problem and assist children who need child protection services. Additionally, engaging diverse organizations in abuse-prevention strategies will overcome barriers that enable exclusion, secrecy, and denial pertaining to the issues of Indigenous Australians ( Yarn up, 2018). The appearance of new actors will help to increase the coverage and assess childrens needs more efficiently. Additionally, the functioning of multiple agencies, both governmental and non-governmental ones can be considered a warranty of the further evolution of the sphere because of their contribution to its rise.
Recommendations 4
Focus on the whole-of-community response. If the initiative changes its central direction, underrepresented groups and cases will be given more attention. As it has already been mentioned, the use of community resources is one of the methods to improve the efficiency of child protection. In this regard, promoting the necessity of assisting children who need support, agencies can achieve a significant improvement of the situation. Moreover, the problem of children in out-of-home care can be solved by collecting reports about its cases from community members. Finally, at-risk families and other vulnerable groups will also be given more attention due to the enhanced community response.
References
AIFS. (2008). Fertility and family policy in Australia. Web.
AIFS. (2017a). Child abuse and neglect statistics. Web.
Strength and welfare of a society depend largely on the extent to which government and social institutions care for their most vulnerable members. Under certain circumstances, people with a learning disability, particularly those who experience severe complications are considered the most vulnerable focus group of the British society.
There is convincing evidence that people with disabilities are less likely to receive sufficient support and care regardless the Disability Discrimination Act and other legislatures that have been established in the country. The highlighted problems reveal serious pitfalls in delivering equal treatment, sustaining a high quality of care practice, and problems with funding plans that have specifically been worked out for disabled children and adults.
In addition to these problems, society experiences such problems as income inequality and poverty contributing to extremely low standards of living. As a result, failure to adhere to legislative act supporting the quality standards of public health cases, as well as inability of the government to cope with the societal problems provides a strong framework for discussion.
The emergent problems need to be addressed from the perspective of treating the most vulnerable members of society, as well as define to what extent the unemployment rates and low-income rates influence the accomplishment of social polices in Britain.
Development of Social Policy and Welfare in Contemporary Britain
In the context of the above-highlighted problems, the public care and social policies in Britain are under the primary focus. Evidence shows that many hospitals lack sufficient care and training programs that would make health care available for regardless of social status and physical abilities.
However, the contemporary situation fails to meet the established goals due to the insufficient funding, and lack of consistent action plan, and absence of specialized orientation for treating old people, as well as adults with learning disabilities. Despite the establishment of many social programs, such as Valuing People, much concern with social welfare in the country remains. According to the Valuing People program, health care professionals, as well as public officer, should follow three main principles.
First, they should assist the most vulnerable members of society in leading an independent life. Second, they should respect peoples rights, regardless of their social position and income. Finally, they should provide people with choice in terms of the type of care they need to get (The Secretary of State for Health by Command of Her Majesty, 2001).
For certain reasons, some of the hospitals, particularly the establishment located in Cornwall failed to provide sufficient care and treatment to people with learning disabilities (Healthcare Commission, 2006). The investigation has also revealed the case of maltreatment and abuse practiced by poorly trained professionals.
Such a situation has been caused by serious pitfalls in human resource management on the part of the top leaders of the hospital. In addition, lack of plans of care does not provide professionals with accurate data concerning which tools and instruments should be used to cope with people with specific needs (Healthcare Commission, 2006). Moreover, lack of records, as well as full mismatch with Valuing People program enabled the investigators to introduce solid measure to prevent the problem in future.
The root of the problem goes deeply into the historic background of social policy formation. Specifically, the committee on Social Insurance and Allied Services (SIAS) introduced a survey on the analysis of existing social schemes tackling the problems of workmens compensation, social security, social insurance, and provisional rates (Beveridge, 1942).
At this point, Workmen Compensation Act of 1897 and Unemployment Act of 1934 need to be reconsidered with regard to the result obtained from the survey (Beveridge, 1942). Specific attention was also given to the analysis of medical treatment development, welfare of children, cash benefits for funerals and maternity, and voluntary provisions for a range of contingencies.
The above-presented historical background provides a better picture of necessary improvements, changes, and programs that need to be implemented in the future. Careful reconsideration of healthcare polices and public welfare strategies are indispensible to increasing the quality of living standards.
The Policy Environment in Which Decision Making in Care Practice Takes Place
Introducing new policy environments changes health care vision on the welfare of the public sector. Hence, because public influence on governmental polices in Britain is minimal, the policy environment is largely controlled by the political reforms introduced in the British Parliament (Kavanagh et al., 2006, p. 3).
Within these context, the emergence of pressure group have provided a key platform by means of which civil society is able to participate in political discourse and influence decision making. The so-called liberal democracy prevailed in the British society creates a number of contradictions.
First, interest groups offer a channel of political communication between society and government. Second, the groups can be connected with sectionalism that does not contribute to the general welfare of society (Kavanagh et al., 2006). Despite the presented controversy, the presence of pressure groups signifies the inability of the government to meet the needs and concerns of various social groups. Therefore, the emerged confrontation influences significantly the overall decision making in the sphere of health care practice.
Regardless of the current pitfalls, the presence of various interest groups allows the government tracks the changes within the society and introduces reforms that would improve the overall situation. This is of particular concern to health care practice where active engagement of insider groups into decision-making makes the government take these interventions while making policies in a particular field (Kavanagh et al., 2006, p. 8).
Hence, insider groups constitute an important resource for good information, as well as a basis for good administrative cooperation between health care field and the British government. In addition, because pressure groups operate at national and local levels, the authorities often rely on their concerns and try to identify the issues that can solve the problem.
The policy environment created as mixture of governmental and public initiatives is quite complicated due to the presence of various aspects, such as public objectives, functions and roles, and the extent of political participation at a particular level (Kavanagh et al. 2006).
Apart of positive benefits of the emergence of pressure groups, as well as governmental participation, the policy decisions often produce a number of problems. Specifically, a narrow-focused orientation on increasing the income of the citizens does not provide the country with sufficient level of living.
The Link between Legislative Development and Social Policy and Their Impact on Care Practice
To introduce improvement in administrative field and public sectors, the UK government has a complex system of stage of parliamentary bill. These stages are imperative for considering and evaluating the purposefulness of a specific policy (House of Commons Information Office, 2008).
Because the House of Commons is a democratically elected wing of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the purpose of pre-legislative scrutiny is&to make better law by improving the scrutiny of bills and drawing the wider public more effectively into the Parliamentary process (House of Commons Information Office 2008, p. 3). The process of Bill presentation and acceptance also takes places in the House of Lords (2008).
Both procedures are pivotal because they have a potent impact on the development of legislature in the sphere of care practice as well. The scrutiny of the parliament bill adoption has also been applied to the consideration of the Health and Social Care Bill that aims to protect future of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom and cope with the challenges it experiences to avoid the current problems and surpass the consequences of future crisis (Department of Health 2011).
In addition, the bill seeks to introduce innovations, develop a patient-centred approach and establish a new focus on health care in the public sector. As it can be seen, a systematic and multistage examination of specific principles creates favourable conditions for issuing bills in care practice field.
On the one hand, the complex procedures implemented in the UK Parliament introduce transparency and consistency in adopting decisions in various areas of public health care. On the other hand, the government often pursues personal interests in passing specific legal provisions. Besides, the legal assistance has undergone the change, which makes it challengeable for advice agencies and solicitors to deliver free services.
In this respect, there is a strong necessity to improve and promote access to civil legal assistance. Despite certain measures were taken to solve the problem, the sectors still needs substantial improvements to ensure wider accessibility of the civil legal services (p. 16). Due to the fact that the legal aid service has been practiced for 60 years, constant changes are indispensible for sustaining a favourable development of health care services, as well as advancing the quality standards in medical institutions.
With regard to the above-highlighted problems, the government should present a new vision for reforming public services and creating a consistent framework of high-quality social care that would meet the requirements of the current century. The shits in communities and populations imply that society become much more diverse and, therefore, the existing services should take that into the deepest consideration the demands of the contemporary people.
The Role of the Theoretical Approaches to Welfare in Determining the Shape of Care in the 21st Century
The social welfare of society can be achieved through the establishment of efficient theoretical approaches that would provide a framework for action plans. The development of social theories takes it roots in the nineteenth century, when Marx made signification contributions to exploring political and economic situations leading to poverty, high unemployment, and social inequalities (Carling, 1991).
According to Marx, the inequality lies in the extraction of the surplus value from the product produced by the employees. In fact, the employer is entitled for the creating the value and, therefore, the surplus-value they get is theft unless it is distributed among the employees.
Therefore, capitalistic system does not contribute to social equality and welfare. In order to reach the freedom and equality, there should be an equal distribution of function among the people where labour power should be given especial importance. Looking at the future development, capitalism does not provide efficient approaches contributing to the welfare of the twenty-first centurys society.
Within the perspectives of the modern development, the functionalism theory can be developed. Greater awareness of social roles that each person should take can strengthen the social structure and provide a consistent framework for building a highly functional society. Considering culturally and social diverse environments is indispensible for defining which roles and functions should each social layer perform to bring in welfare to the twenty-first centurys community in the United Kingdom.
The current problems can be solved by addressing this theoretical approach because it can significantly enhance the work incentives and make the overall social system much simpler (The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2010). In addition, increasing costs of governmental support has a negative impact on maintaining welfare and sustaining an appropriate level of care in the public sector.
There are many reasons why functionalism can be effectively applied to improve the above-highlighted problems. To begin with, defining the accurate roles of each social stratum can introduce social order and transparency in making decision and increasing the overall quality of care in the majority of UK hospitals.
With regard to the problem of insufficient funding and lack of education in Cornwall hospitals, the establishment of functionalism theory with the division of labour principle at the core can help the managers understand the problems and take greater control of the existing shortcoming, including maltreatment, abusive attitude to disabled individuals, inappropriate education.
Introducing the so-called collective consciousness and an individual-centred approach to treating patient can strike the balance between personal interest and the interest of the entire community.
The collective behaviour can create shared value consensus that would satisfy all the parties involved into social welfare creation. Health care professionals will gain a greater awareness of the importance of responsibilities they should take in front of the patients with learning disabilities.
A properly arranged social system will make the individuals believe that their duties are accomplished for the sake of their personal interests. At the same time, their contributions will be valuable for the gradual development of the UK society. In addition, members of society should be able to adapt to the various environments, attain to a commonly shared goal, integrate into the goals accomplishment and follow the generally established values.
Conclusion
The quality of health care delivery services in the United Kingdom fails to meet high-quality standards established in the world. This is of particular concern to the hospitals dealing with patients with learning disabilities. The group of patients should be able to receive an equal access to public care, which means that should receive qualified and specialized help from the health care professionals that should be much more advanced than those provided for people with ability to lead an independent life.
The major problem lies in insufficient funding, absence of appropriate recording system, lack of education and training programs for the staff, and absence of action plans. In order to solve these problems, specific legal regulations, as well as theoretical approach should be introduced. At this point, functionalism framework can significantly promote the social welfare in the 21st century.
Reference List
Beveridge, W. 1942, Social Insurance and Allied Services, His Majesty Stationery Office, London.
Carling, A. H. 1991, Social Division, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Citizens, Advice Service 2009, Social Policy Impact Report 2009, Citizens Advice Bureau, pp. 1-15.
Department of Health 2011, Overview of Health Care Bill, pp. 1-2.
Healthcare Commission 2006, Joint Investigation into Services for People with Learning Disabilities at Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust, Commission for Healthcare Adult and Inspection. pp. 1-17.
House of Commons Information Office 2008, Parliamentary Stages of a Governmental Bill, Factsheet L1 Legislation Series. pp. 3-14.
House of Lords 2008, Bills and How They Become Law, House of Lords Briefing, pp. 2-6.
Kavanagh, D., Richards, D., Geddes, A, and Smith, M 2006, Pressure Groups and Policy Networks , In D Kavanagh, D Richards, A Geddes, and M Smith, British Politics. Oxford University Press, UK.
The Secretary of State for Health by Command of Her Majesty 2000, Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century. Department of Health, Britain, pp. 1-149.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2010, 21st Century Welfare, Department for Work and Pensions, pp. 1-52.
Social policy consists of legislation, principles and activities that countries employ to enhance the social conditions of their people.
Due to the emergence of democracy across the world, social policy has become an integral part of democracy as it supports human rights and further enhances the delivery of services in important sectors such as healthcare, housing, security, education, trade and labour amongst other essential social aspects of the society (Kennett 2004, p.91).
The basic objective of a social policy is to enhance equity and to improve human welfare by ensuring the accessibility and affordability of essential resources to all members of society. Thus, the kind of social policy possessed by a country reflects the extent of how its government satisfies the societal needs since poor social policy depicts a society deprived of its essential needs and deficient of human welfare.
Kennett (2004) argues that although the social policy is a discipline on its own, it greatly interfaces with economics, political science, legal studies, history and health disciplines for they all have a significant impact on the welfare of humanity (p.91).
Thus, social policy is a complex discipline that attracts other related disciplines making it a multidisciplinary field of study. Given the complexity of social policy as a multidisciplinary subject, this essay examines factors that contribute to differential evolution of social policy in various countries ultimately exploring comparative case studies of three countries, the United States, China, and Sweden.
Historical Perspectives
Social policy is a discipline that employs multidisciplinary approaches in the study of problems that affect social processes and the welfare of human beings in society. Social policy seeks to ensure that people receive essential services such as healthcare, education, housing, security and provision of food, water and employment to improve the lives of people.
Fundamentally, social policy aims at alleviating social problems that affect the wellbeing of humanity by ensuring that the government puts proper welfare structures in place to enhance accessibility and distribution of critical resources to the people. As a discipline, social policy is the study of social problems and wellbeing of humans.
The discipline emerged after the realisation that, disciplines like political science, sociology, economic, and history do not effectively examine social issues that society is grappling with (Esping-Andersen1990, p.9). Thus, social policy provides a wider examination of social issues, as it interfaces with all these disciplines. Therefore, social policy deals with everything that affects the wellbeing of humanity.
Social policy has evolved tremendously in the last three decades since social issues have been increasing due to globalisation. The economic system of capitalism that has swept across the world has enhanced inequality in many societies, thus necessitating social policy to reverse trends of inequality and improve the wellbeing of marginalised communities.
Although governments are making significant strides towards keeping abreast with the globalised forces of politics and economics, development have been trailing due to insufficient attention from policymakers. This means that the wellbeing of citizens has been gradually declining because social policy has not been created in tandem with the societal needs.
Inefficiency of social policy is evident in the wellbeing of indigenous people or marginalised communities for they are lagging behind when mainstream society is embracing and reaping varied benefits from globalisation.
Therefore, social policy helps in improving the wellbeing of marginalised communities and unprivileged citizens through the provision of essential resources such as: healthcare, housing, security, education, food, water and employment (Kennett 2004, p.91). If the government ensures that every citizen receives enough of these resources, it guarantees the wellbeing of the people and society.
Disparity in social expenditure in different countries is due to dissimilar approaches that welfare public policy and administration use in enhancing the wellbeing of citizens. Comparative theory of social policy has shown that four main approaches of social policy exist and can effectively elucidate disparity of social expenditure among nations.
Firstly, the deterministic approach views economic conditions as the determinant of social expenditure. In this approach, both local economy and international economy due to the advent of globalisation have a significant impact on social policy of a country. Secondly, political approach views that democracy enhances development of social policy because individuals have the freedom to advocate for the needs of the society.
The third approach views that cultural and social factors determine the nature of social policy of a country. This approach holds that social ideologies, cultural values and religious beliefs have a significant impact on the development of social policy.
While the fourth approach holds that structures of institutions in policy development determine the nature of social policy in a country, it, therefore, implies that countries with excellent policymaking structures have a good social policy, while those that have meagre policymaking structures have poor social policy (Mullard, & Spicker 1998, p.186).
Basing on regime theory, the welfare systems across the world depend on regimes for they have a strong influence on social aspects of society. According to the regime theory, three types of regimes exist that determine social policy systems in the society. These regimes are liberal, conservative and universal states (Hill 2006, p.25).
The first type of regime is a liberal state in which globalisation factors of free markets take precedence over welfare systems, as markets forces self-regulate satisfying demands of the society.
According to Esping-Andersen (1990), in a liberal regime, the government function is just to enhance efficiency of trade and economic growth through liberalisation, with minimal emphasis on development of social welfare systems (p.12). Countries like the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada are in this category.
The conservative state is the second type of regime in which a state plays a vital role in the development of social policy institutions and structures that enhance formulation of social policy. In the conservative state, neither democracy nor globalisation trends of free markets determine formulation of social policy, but instead nationalism matters. Countries that fall in this category include China, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan.
The third type of regime is the universal state because it seeks to uphold the highest principles that improve the wellbeing of humanity. Hill (2006) argues that these states are very democratic, valuing social rights for they seek to promote a high standard of equality in society (p.28).
Countries under this category are trying to get out of globalising forces that seem to cloud many countries, preventing them from perceiving the importance of social policy. Countries like Sweden, Denmark and Norway fall under this category of regime.
Current Perspectives
Current trends of social policy across the world are under the influence of globalisation. Globalisation is a powerful political, economic and social ideology that is sweeping all countries to become one global nation, sharing common problems, demanding similar needs and requiring same policies (Pierson 2006, p.202).
Under the context of globalisation, countries are finding it hard to adopt conservative forms of state that have their own social policy. Since politics have a significant impact in the formulation of social policy, the influence of globalisation in the political arena consequently affects the development of social policy.
According to Kennett (2008), democracy is an overwhelming ideology in the globalisation of politics (p.12). Developed countries that have mature democracies tend to create a political environment that favours establishment and development of social policies.
For instance, a country like the United States have a good social policy because of a mature democracy, while developing countries like Zimbabwe have an immature democracy, which reflect a poor social policy.
Moreover, since the development of a social policy in a country is dependent on economic conditions, economic factors of globalisation affect the development of social policy.
Globalisations trend of liberalising markets is threatening the economies of many countries because free markets offer stiff competition in the business environment and thus do not provide a chance for uncompetitive goods from developing countries.
In essence, liberalised markets provided an opportunity for developed countries and mega-companies to monopolise and dominate markets. If the globalisation forces of liberalised markets threaten the existence of small companies and market share of developing countries, it means that economic growth and development gradually declines.
Pierson (2006) argues that nation-states are gradually losing their economic powers to international markets that regulate and determine the countrys capacity to survive in liberalised markets (p.201).
This means that the welfare system of a country is subject to a globalised economy. Countries that are uncompetitive in the liberalised markets will experience a decline in economic growth and development, which consequently hampers the establishment of social policy.
In contrast, social issues of globalisation such as the advocacy of human rights, cultural values and spread of religious beliefs enhance development of social policy. Due to technology, people living in the remotest corners of the world are able to keep abreast with social forces of globalisation that have transformed society into a global village.
Modern society can share common values and beliefs due to the advancement in information technology that hastens the transfer of information from civilized to uncivilized people.
Castells (2000) argues that information technology is transforming cultural and social aspects of society very fast, leading to the globalisation of societal values and beliefs (p.8). Therefore, information technology, as an aspect of globalisation is gradually establishing a global culture that favours formulation and development of social policy.
Development of social policy in contemporary society is dependent on the efforts of various players such as individual, non-governmental organisation and government (Mullard, & Spicker 1998, p.188). Individual members of the society play an integral role in the formulation, development and implementation of social policy, for they are at the receiving end of governance.
When a government issues orders, laws or polices, all citizens have a legal and moral responsibility of ensuring that no one is breaching those laws. Moreover, given that social policy deals wellbeing of citizens, individuals should demand better services that enhance their wellbeing and in so doing they participate in the formulation and implementation of social policy.
In times of crisis, non-governmental organisations help government in alleviating impacts of crises and improving wellbeing of the citizens.
According to Larner (2005), government uses structures and systems such as families, schools, communities, companies, media and political parties in imparting social policy into the society for people to adopt (p.53). These structures and systems are very important in the society for they reduce the burden of dealing with individual members of the society.
Critical Perspectives
Diversity in the society in terms of gender, race, sexuality and disabilities is creating inequality that classifies people into various classes of economic status and power. Society for a long time has gendered roles that suite men and women, and mostly women have experience marginalisation since men dominate in various roles (Jenson 2008, p. 135).
Since society perceives women as weak gender, issues and challenges affecting women have become part of social policy as a way of empowering them and enhancing their wellbeing. Feminists protest that the society has stereotyped roles of women to be inferior to the roles of men, thus undermining capabilities and wellbeing of women.
The Anglo-Western perspective of gender is to empower women through formulation of social policy that provide for affirmative action. According to Jenson (2008), feminists are advocating for the rights of women in social, political and economic aspects of society (p.136).
In the social aspect of society, feminists argue that women have the same abilities as men, but discrimination and stereotyping of their roles as inferior have been undermining their quest for a better life.
Feminists also assert that men have dominated politics and misused political powers in undermining women. Another view of feminists is that economic structure of society has placed women in low economic classes, thus receive economic oppression from their counterparts.
Ethnicity and race have created inequalities, in that marginalised ethnicities or races are trailing in aspects of human development such: as social, political and economics. For the government to empower different ethnicities, it must have appropriate social policy in place that identifies specific needs of the people in certain communities.
For instance, according to Morrissey (2006), the indigenous people of Australia suffered from marginalisation and discrimination for a long period because the government had no any social policy until prompted by other Commonwealth Countries (p.349). This means that social policy of indigenous or marginalised communities is not only a limited issue but also a global issue.
Disability and sexuality is a social issue that is slowly gaining recognition in social policy. People with disabilities and aberrant sexual orientations have formed part of minority groups who need recognition and protection of their rights. In the case of people with disabilities, various governments have made significant progress in gathering for their needs in spite of poor social policies.
Currently, many disabled people are receiving formal education and employment that have considerably improved their wellbeing in the society (Shima, Zolyomi, & Zaidi 2008, p.9). Regarding aberrant sexual orientation, gays and lesbians are advocating for their rights based on their perception of the society as having marginalised and discriminated against them.
Proponents of homosexuals are arguing that lesbians and gays need recognition in the society. According to Concannon (2008), the constitution and social policy provide good structures that would enhance wellbeing of homosexuals if formulated and implemented well (p.327). Therefore, social policy is central to promoting the rights and wellbeing of minority groups like homosexuals and people with disabilities in the modern society.
Comparative Case Studies
Comparative case studies show that different countries have different approaches of social policy depending on their social, political, cultural and economic conditions. Therefore, what are the approaches that countries like the United States, China and Sweden employ in their social policy? Regime theory classifies the United States as a liberalised state, due to their capitalistic economy and the liberalisation of their markets.
The United States does not place much emphasis on development of the welfare system since free trade and capitalism favours individualism. Issues that mainly dominate the United States social policy are health insurance, security, education, employment and inequality, but mainly occur at state levels.
Bailey, Harte and Sugden (1994) argue that the United States does not have an integrated welfare system because of factors such as federalism, capitalism and liberalised markets that favour individualism (p.9). Different states in the United States have their own unique social policy in sectors like health, security, education and housing due to federalism.
Capitalism and liberalised markets have provided a lucrative environment for private enterprises and non-governmental organisations to venture into the welfare system, making it complex and expensive.
Chinas social policy mainly has it basis in political stability making it fall under the conservative states according to regime theory. In China, democracy and liberalisation of trades have no any impact in the development of social policy since political figures and nationalists are only aiming to achieve political expediency and the stability of their nation.
This means that the current wave of globalisation in terms of liberalisation of markets and democracy is threatening survival of Chinas social policy. Li, Feng, and Gizelis (2008), argue that the current economic, social and political trends of globalisation have compelled the Chinese government to construct new social policies (p.6).
New social policies became essential because the liberalisation of capital and labour markets have affected traditional labour and trade systems tremendously, thus necessitating restructuring of both social and economic policy.
The restructuring of economic policy resulted in unprecedented unemployment, which aggravated inequality and increased the cost of living, hence compelling the government to formulate new social policies to address these issues.
Moreover, the family-planning policy of one-child significantly changed the demography of China in that extended families that provided support for the elderly diminished, leaving nuclear families that have no capacity to support the old in the society. Thus, the Chinese government had to gather for the needs of the elderly through social policy (Li, Feng, & Gizelis 2008, p.5)
Sweden is the ideal form of a welfare state, which belongs to the category of a universal state according to regime theory. Hantrais (2007) argues that the Swedish model of social policy is very advanced compared to the British model because it provides universal care to its citizens, enhancing equality (p.23).
Comparatively, in the European Union, Sweden has the highest social expenditure relative to Gross Domestic Product per head. According to social expenditure database, Sweden spends 35.2% of Gross Domestic product, while it has Gross Domestic Product of $28100 per head, which is the lowest in Europe and the entire world (Hill 2006, p.20).
Hence, factors that contributed to development of social policy in Sweden as a welfare state include its
Good policy institutions, stable economy, political commitment to social issues, and culture that favour social protection.
Therefore, comparative case studies have shown that social policy in different countries varies according to political, social, economic and cultural factors. The comparative case studies have shown that variability in social policy and social expenditure in developed countries is attributable to political, social, and cultural factors, while financial factors do not have a momentous impact.
For instance, according to Hill (2006), the United States has Gross Domestic Product per head of $37,600 and spends about 19.6% of this in public social expenditure, while Sweden has Gross Domestic Product per head of $28,100 but spends approximately 35.2% of it in social expenditure (p.20).
The statistics shows that Sweden spends significantly higher on social expenditure as compared to the United States. Therefore, the disparity is in social expenditure across nations depends on economic, social, cultural and political aspects of government since they have a significant impact in the formulation of social policy.
Conclusion
Social policy is an integral type of policy that every government needs to enhance provisions of essential services and resources such as healthcare, education, security, employment, housing and food, among other societal needs. Social policy has evolved considerably in the last three decades because inequality has been increasing following the globalising factors of capitalism, liberalised markets and economic crisis.
Although globalisation seems to pose a harmful blow in the progress of social policy, it has benefits in enhancing democracies, providing information technology and creating a global culture that promotes the wellbeing of humanity.
Literature reviews and comparative case studies have shown that different countries employ different approaches in developing social policy. Thus, the social policy possessed by any country depends on economic, social, cultural and political factors.
References
Bailey, D., Harte, G., & Sugden, R., 1994. Transnationals and Governments: Recent Policies in Japan, France, Germany, the United States, and Britain. London: Routledge.
Castells, M., 2000. The Rise of the Network Society. Malden: Blackwell Publishers
Concannon, L., 2008. Citizenship, Sexual Identity and Social Exclusion: Exploring
Issues in British and American Social Policy. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 28, (10), pp. 326-339.
Esping-Andersen, G., 1990. The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. United Kingdom: Polity Press
Hantrais, L., 2007. Social Policy in the European Union. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Press.
Hill, M., 2006. Social Policy in the Modern World: A Comparative Text. London: Wiley-Blackwell.
Jenson, J., 2008. Writing Women Out, Folding Gender In. Social Policy, 15(2), pp. 131-153.
Kennett, P., 2004. A Handbook of Comparative Social Policy. Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Kennett, P., 2008. Governance, Globalisation, and Public Policy. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Larner, W., 2005. Analyzing Social Policy: A governmental Approach. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Li, J., Feng, Y., & Gizelis, I., 2008. Chinas New Social Security System in the Making: Problems and Prospects. International Journal of Public Administration, 31(1), pp. 5-23.
Morrissey, M., 2006. The Australian State and Indigenous People 1990-2006. Journal of Sociology, 42(4), pp. 347-354.
Mullard, M., & Spicker, P., 1998. Social Policy in a Changing Society. London: Routledge,
Pierson, C., 2006. Beyond the Welfare State? The New Political Economy of Welfare. United Kingdom: Polity Press.
Shima, I., Zolyomi, E., & Zaidi, A., 2008. The Labour Market Situation of People with Disabilities in Europe. European Center for Social Welfare, pp.1-18.
The Republic of Ireland is unique in terms of its political and economic structures. Politically, it shares some of the characteristics which are possessed by a First World country, while economically; it suffers from some of the problems of a Third World country. Even though there have been and still there are so many policy reactions that focus on the necessity for greater social inclusion, the Republic of Ireland continues to epitomize and reflect the concept of inequality. A few people seem to be advantaged while the majority of the population is being disadvantaged in matters such as education, health and politics. While stakeholders such as the government and the private sector appear to be addressing these social inequalities, serious questions exist about their far-reaching consequences.
Thesis Statement
This paper is going to discuss in detail how the ideologies of inequality and social exclusion have been applied in the Republic of Ireland to disadvantage the majority of the population. It is clear that this issue has received inadequate concern from all the stakeholders and policy makers thus slowing down any progress aimed at leveling the ground for the disadvantaged lot in Irish society.
Social Policy
Social policy is concerned with the strategies that are meant to create, maintain and modify living conditions that are aimed at improving human welfare (Cousins 2003). It is an element of public policy which deals with social issues related to education, healthcare, social security, housing and other social issues. As such, social policy is directed towards meeting human needs and improving their welfare. The understanding of the factors which limit the responsibility of any state in providing welfare services to its people call for the analysis of the merits and demerits of the mixed welfare economy. The market economy has the capacity to generate a lot of wealth. Nevertheless, it does not have the significant role of sharing that wealth. Therefore, if the market is left to operate on its own, it concentrates more wealth and resources in the hands of the dominant actors thereby leading to even more inequalities. The mixed economy of welfare is composed of private, public, charitable and autonomous service providers who offer social services to the public in form of public or private partnership schemes (Suzanne 2006).
Mixed Economy of Welfare
Mixed economy of welfare describes the affiliation between the capitalist means of production and the state venture in the provision of welfare services to the people. The Republic of Ireland has often been having a mixed economy of welfare which provides inadequate welfare services such as education and healthcare services to the majority of its people. What the Irish people have been struggling to achieve throughout history has always been pulled back by the political elite who use unfeasible policies that encourage competition, globalization and an open market economy (Burke 1987). These policies have led to the emergence of social classes in Irish society with the lower class people being disadvantaged.
Dukelow (2009) states that the mixed economy of welfare has brought about an increase in the number of Irish people who are unable to access welfare services. Access to most of these services depends on the financial ability of an individual. On its part, the government has shown very little effort in the development of inclusive policies and feasible public welfare systems. This has led to an increase in privatization of most of the public services by the political elite with its negative impacts on the welfare of the people. Even though the private sector provides better services compared to the public sector, it can not provide services to all the social classes of people because people from lower social classes cannot afford to pay for most of these services. For instance, the mixed economy of welfare has led to an increase in the number of health insurance schemes which can only be accessed by the rich people to cover for their cost of medical care.
In Ireland, the mixed economy of welfare seems to be embracing most of the government’s social policies thereby impacting negatively on the most vulnerable people in the society. For instance, the state is encouraging the youth to contribute to private pension schemes which would sustain them at old age in case the government fails to do that, yet this should be an obligation of the government. In addition, it is sad to note that the Irish welfare condition has reached a critical level where the taxpayer’s money is being misused since the welfare services that are provided by the government are not sufficient.
Facts on Poverty and Social Exclusion in Ireland
In addition 1998, there was a mass demonstration in Ireland that was organized by non-governmental organizations to protest against the national budget of 1999 which had a lot of discrimination and social exclusion (Cousins 2003). Prior to this demonstration, the organizing committee which was responsible for this mass action produced information which showed a lot of discrimination on the part of the government. For instance, it was estimated by then that about ten percent of the population had disabilities, and forty three percent of them had increased their overall spending due to their disability conditions. Moreover, forty five percent of the disabled people that were interviewed could not find employment due to their disabilities. It was also established that fifty eight percent of the women who came from households that were receiving child benefit had no other income source. An estimated eighteen percent of women were also said to have experienced violence, with most of them failing to report to the relevant authorities, yet successive governments had failed to deal with this matter. In addition, it was established that Ireland was among the countries that provided little childcare in the European Union. Lastly, the information also showed that only twenty percent of the traveler children within the ages of twelve and fifteen attended school (Cousins 2003).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the social policies which uphold the welfare condition in Ireland are viewed by the Irish people as luxurious since they can only benefit a section of the population, i.e. the rich people, yet they are fundamental to the whole population because of their usefulness in adjusting to current economic changes. The integration of public and private funding in social policy is mostly dictated by corporate interests and political ideologies which in the long run dismantle the basic reasons for constructing significant social policies which are meant to provide quality and affordable services to everyone as is the case in Ireland. It is therefore necessary for the Irish government to re-examine the ideology of social exclusion so as to endorse effective measures for social inclusion.
References
Burke, Helen, 1987, The People and the Poor Law in 19th Century Ireland, The Irish Women’s Education Bureau, Dublin.
Cousins, Mel, 2003, The Birth of Social Welfare in Ireland 1922-1952, Four Courts Press Ltd, New York.
Dukelow, Fiona, 2009, Irish Social Policy: A critical Introduction, Gill and McMillan, London.
Suzanne, Quin, et al, 2006, Irish Social Policy in Context, University College Dublin Press, Newman House, Dublin.
Social policy is a subject of inclusivity with a bid to offer solutions to social life challenges. This paper discusses the social-economic and political challenges, which are further classified based on the economic state, political state, or the general social structure. Different levels of social challenges will require a different set of solutions. The industrial revolution of the 18th century caused both economic and social welfare policy challenges (Hendren & Sprung-Keyser, 2020). The transformation steps could solve social-economic-related problems by resolving the historical, and financial aspects, making them better elements for the prospect.
Industrial Revolution
The historical aspect of social welfare regarding economic elements plays an essential role in creating a base for establishing a solution for the economic phenomenon that could arise due to historical economic events. The industrial revolution being a pivotal solution to most economic challenges, has resulted in social side effects. From the industrial revolution angle, social welfare policies that affect financial aspects also involve social matters equally. Thus, solutions are likely to change based on the environment and time since economic factors keep changing a lot (Hendren, & Sprung-Keyser, 2020). Social welfare policy development should integrate economic and social aspects to protect vulnerable groups through social assistance and services in the current social-economic environment.
Effect of the industrial revolution on social welfare policy
Some of the challenges that arise from social welfare policy are majorly economic influences, such as poverty and rise in social classes, resulting in social imbalance. Poverty growth increases among society members who have limited financial ability to access resources. The basic needs are necessary to lead a conventional lifestyle or struggle to meet basic human needs. Simultaneously, the social imbalance is where resources have become unevenly distributed in society. Social gaps develop between those who have access to resources and those who struggle to access resources necessary to improve life quality.
Social imbalance and poverty came from the industrial revolution in the 18th century while improving insufficient economic performance improvement. Thus, the formulation of social welfare had to balance the economic and social effects.
Liberal states had limited ideas on social welfare, which motivated the development of a more negative outcome. Adopting an inclusivity policy was necessary to handle the whole social-economic imbalance issue to counter the adverse effects. The public expects that the government has an obligation toward social welfare and to formulate policies to enable them to meet those social obligations through taxes and other state expenditure policies (Hendren, & Sprung-Keyser, 2020). Despite much critics from the public on the social-economic challenges. State welfare does its best to develop social policies and create a developed society.
Conclusion
This paper provides an analysis of the social welfare policies’ impact. From the above study, the social-economic welfare imbalance created due to attempting to address the social-economic imbalance leads to an increased poverty level. There is a need to develop a balanced policy to promote social welfare and create room for all emerging issues that would affect the economy and society’s growth in a stable social welfare policy that provides solutions that address the general policies’ weaknesses.
Reference
Hendren, N., & Sprung-Keyser, B. (2020). A unified welfare analysis of government Policies. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 135(3), 1209-1318. Web.
Ethnocentrism exists as a part of each and every group in the society. Only by recognizing ethnocentrism’s constant presence can we maintain our groups and yet hope to offset this bias.
Bringing in a society’s worldview means that ethical judgments using information from science are open to the same ethnocentric biases that plague all judgments by human groups. Such biases are independent of the quality of the science, but can lead some to think that science itself has made a spiritual point. The biases can only be examined and debated when it is realized that the ethical judgments using the science are judged by spirituality standards, not scientific standards. A corollary is that scientists debating the ethical use of their discoveries are not necessarily the best people to judge the use of that science; the best people to do so are those who understand the possible spiritual implications of that science. This paper intends to discuss various aspects of ethnocentric bias and its implication in development of social policy.
Correcting for ethnocentric bias is a difficult task. Some try to do so by objecting to the group or subculture in which they were raised. If their subculture was for a strong military, then these people are for pacifism.
Positive and Negative aspects of Ethnocentric Bias
In addition to the personality characteristic of misanthropy, stereotypic judgments and negative attitudes arise from ethnocentrism found in group membership. As noted previously, each group values itself and its members more highly then other groups even if there is no basis for doing so. Other groups are derogated. This ethnocentric bias is found in every group. The only time it is not found is when there are no identifiable groups. The more group membership is salient or easily observed, the more likely it is that the ethnocentric bias will occur. Hence, we theoretically expect everyone who has a strong group identification to show ethnocentric bias. That would result in higher prejudice scores when rating others not identified with their group. Those who are least prejudiced would be those who are unconnected to any group.
Prejudice as Negative Attitude
Some authors include more than just stereotyping in definitions of prejudice. They define prejudice as any “intolerant, unfair, unfavourable attitude” toward a group and its members. Prejudice is a term that everyone spontaneously knows the meaning of, but the more it is investigated, the more this definition of prejudice becomes problematic.
Further elaboration of the definition of prejudice with other terms requires integration with spirituality. A phrase such as “unjustified negative attitudes” raises the question of why it is felt to be unjustified and by whom. Of course, given our ethnocentric bias, it is always unjustified if it is our group that is under attack and never unjustified if we are attacking another group. Adding to the definition phrases such as “unfair” just adds the same problem again: What group or subculture standard will be used to define “fairness”?
A different problem arises if the definition of prejudice includes “unfavourable attitude.” Since prejudice is socially unacceptable, this defines any negative judgment of any group as prejudice. This addition to the definition implies that either there are no differences between groups (since someone might see that difference as favouring one or the other group) or that we should pretend there are no differences between groups. Is a negative attitude toward a category of war criminals prejudice? Or is it an appropriate response to their crimes?
Positive Biases in Self-Perception
Evidence demonstrating that positive biases toward others are fostered by a perception of similarity implies that people are positively biased toward themselves, and, in general, they are. Positive biases in self-perception tend to be more extreme than positive biases in the perception of others. Psychologists have identified at least eight biases in self-perception. Compared to others, we tend to view ourselves as more successful, more efficacious, more insightful, more consistent, more appropriate, more capable, more productive,
Self-serving bias: The tendency for people to take credit for their successes by attributing them to internal dispositions (e.g., intelligence) and to deny responsibility for their failures by attributing them to external circumstances (e.g., unfair test conditions). “I am a capable person, able to succeed.” “I failed because the situation was unfair.”
Self-cantered bias the tendency to take more than one’s share of the credit for outcomes (both successful and unsuccessful) that involved a joint or group effort. “I have contributed more than others.”
Egocentricity bias the tendency to recall one’s role in past events as positive and causally significant. “I was important; I had an impact on others.”
False consensus effect the tendency for people to see their own attitudes, values, and behavioural choices as relatively common and appropriate. “Most people would agree with me; most people would have done as I did.”
False uniqueness effect/ the tendency for people to view their identity-defining traits and Assumption of abilities as relatively rare/distinctive/unique. “I have rare uniqueness qualities; I am special.”
Illusion of control the tendency for people to believe they can influence events beyond their control to produce desirable outcomes (e.g., winning a lottery) or to avoid undesirable outcomes (e.g., becoming a victim of crime). “I am in control.”
Hindsight bias the tendency to find outcomes inevitable in retrospect. “I knew this would happen.”
Self-righteous bias the tendency to view oneself as possessing more moral integrity than others. “I am more likely to abide by moral principles than others.” More invulnerable, more moral, and more uniquely talented.
Ethnocentric Biases in Social Perception
Social psychologists have offered several explanations for biases in social cognition, which they have divided into those that involve “hot” and “cold” mechanisms. According to hot explanations, people’s needs and motives interfere with and slant the ways in which they process information. For example, people process information in ways that enhance and protect self-esteem or increase their sense of control. We demean out-group members and view ourselves and our friends through rose-colored glasses to allay our anxieties and to make ourselves feel good.
Social Policy
Beyond conscious bias and discrimination, there are three more subtle unintentional forms of prejudice social workers also need to examine. One form occurs when different standards are applied to different people, without conscious awareness. For example, without being aware of it, a teacher can single out the behaviour of an African American child for disciplinary action when the same behaviour conducted by a white child is ignored. Or similar differential treatment may occur with respect to males and females. In child welfare, the physicians, nurses, and social workers in the emergency room of a hospital may unconsciously respond to the injuries of poor children, or people of colour, in a different way than they do the white upper class. The bruises on a poor, minority-race child may be seen as reason to report for child abuse and neglect, whereas the same bruises on an upper-middle-class white child may be quickly accepted as the result of an accident. Thus, without intention, the same behaviour or circumstance is responded to differently, using a different standard, because of the difference in the person exhibiting the behaviour or circumstance.
A second form of subtle prejudice occurs when a person or group uses a standard for judgment that appears to be objective, but is in fact biased. Whereas the above form of prejudice involved imposing different standards for the same behaviour, this second form of unintentional prejudice involves using just one standard, but without realizing that the standard is it biased. The thinking is, “I’m not prejudiced, because I use the same standards for judging people, regardless of who they are.” But what if the standard is itself biased and ethnocentric? Standardized tests to measure intelligence are an example of this subtle form of discrimination. These tests have been widely criticized as being unfair to racial minorities, and to a lesser extent, females. The same standard is applied to all groups, but the standard favours one group over another. Another example occurs in child welfare, when a standard for child-raising or parenting that is culturally specific is applied to all groups as if it were a universal standard. In a white, rural community, the standard for proper child care may not be the same standard as in the urban, African American inner city. Parenting norms vary across race and culture regarding the use of corporal punishment, the age and length of time that children can be left alone unattended, and the age at which older siblings can be expected to
Because some minority racial groups have higher rates of poverty, it is possible that the disproportionate representation of minority children in the child welfare system is due to the increased stress and other factors that accompany poverty. It is also possible that a predominantly white system discriminates against minorities through application of ethnocentric standards of child-rearing and discipline.
Individualism is stressed, and there are few inhibitions on the expression of one’s uniqueness. Both girls and boys are strongly encouraged to complete their education, and girls are taught to be self-sufficient and independent. Older siblings are expected to assume much of caretaking responsibilities for younger children, especially those over 3 years of age. This cultural norm may conflict with practices in the majority culture, so that social workers must guard against viewing this practice as an abrogation of parental responsibility or neglect of the younger or older sibling’s needs.
In Native American cultures, the extended family and tribe play strong roles in the upbringing of children. Children are seen as individuals who are not entirely dependent on adults, who can make important decisions for themselves. Children are thought to learn best through observation and participation, not through direct instruction, commands, or physical punishment. Thus, it would be ethnocentric for social workers to expect directive, behavioural reinforcement approaches from biological parents. Native Americans tend to seek harmony with nature and other people, so that exerting control over anything or anybody is not valued. Also, it would be ethnocentric to view
With the practitioner working in concert with progressive social policy, it is possible to create a system of care that can reverse the alarming statistics that were presented at the beginning of this chapter. The pragmatic perspectives are introduced below, and then are discussed in more detail in subsequent chapters, including specific applications of each perspective to the systems of child welfare and children’s mental health.
This potential bias is called “adult centrism.” Adult centrism is akin to two other, more familiar, forms of bias—egocentrism and ethnocentrism. An egocentric person demonstrates an excessive preoccupation with oneself and has an exaggerated view of their importance. An egocentric person thus has difficulty seeing another person’s point of view and perspective. A parallel phenomenon occurs with ethnocentrism, when a person believes that their own cultural, racial, or ethic group is superior to all others. An ethnocentric person has difficulty understanding or appreciating other cultures, and may judge people from other cultures.
The functional aspects of a particular family’s life must be identified, sanctioned, and expanded to those areas that do not work as well. Professionals may not learn about a family’s capabilities because social systems fail to create opportunities for them to be displayed. One of the functions of the professional, then, is to create such opportunities, thereby enabling the family to apply the full repertoire of skills they possess.
The mother as the primary career is a class-specific ethnocentric construction. Thus, neither working-class women who have to work even in their children’s infancy nor rich women who have the opportunity to rely on nannies for childcare conform to this ideal. Furthermore, this notion is far from ethnically universal. In rural Turkey, where women participate in agricultural work, the raising of children is the collective labour of mothers, older siblings and grandmothers. In urban areas, even if the mothers do not take part in paid employment, housework and childcare often take place in a wider social context of extended-family members and neighbours.
In Asia, however, most countries started from either a traditional autocratic-paternalistic system of ruler ship or a post-colonial corporate developmental state. Examples of the former include the East Asian Confucian notion of enlightened authoritarianism and the Javanese kingship authority in Indonesian political culture where the economy and society were considered as integral and organic parts of the wider state (e.g. the Indonesian notion of the ‘integrals state’). In some cases, as in China and also in Taiwan, this autocratic-paternalistic tradition was reinforced by new statistic ideology. In the post-colonial corporate developmental states, such as Singapore, Malaysia and most lately Hong Kong, political elites have inherited the autocratic powers of their former colonial masters and taken upon themselves the power and responsibility to direct nation-building, economic growth and social development.
Conceptualising governance and maximising its central values, therefore, have to take a different route under a different strategy in the Asian context. Reforms cannot be presumed to be driven by forces of the private sector or civil society. They have to come from within, from the state institutions.
Conclusion
It is to be seen for the ethnocentric construction that it is: a notion that partakes of the peculiar and instituted divide. Socialization and assimilation almost always succeed amongst the offspring of migrant parents, whereas their social destiny sometimes introduces enormous differences and imprisons them in the entresol of the parental community of origin or local residential community. Identity crises ensue that are particularly acute for girls. Having embraced values of individual equality espoused by the dominant society, they are seen by their families to be betraying family values and social expectations for their fulfilment of family roles as women.
Works Cited
Chiu, S. and Wong, V. (2005), Towards a Confucian Notion of Youth Development in Hong Kong, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol.25(10/11), pp.14-36
Walker, A. and Wong C. K.(2004), the ethnocentric construction of welfare state, Kennett, P.(ed.) A Handbook of Comparative Social Policy, Cheltenham, HK: Edward Elgar, pp. 116-130
Policy analysis plays an important role for developing and implementing every initiative of the government. Its strategies can be more successful if they are based on the findings of social scientists, psychologists, or medical researchers. Overall, policy analysis is supposed to show what kind of actions will help to achieve a particular goal or solve a certain problem (Fox, Bayat, & Ferreira, 2007, p. 96).
Various stages of this analysis are essential for the development of a public policy. In particular, this process involves the following steps or stages: 1) identification of a specific problem and data collection; 2) the evaluation of different options, especially their social, economic, or environmental impacts; 3) choosing the alternative that will yield the best results at a minimal cost (Fox, Bayat, & Ferreira, 2007, p. 96).
Provided that the mistake is made at one of these stages, the policies of the government will be more likely to fail. Policy analysis is also important during the implementation of any public policy. This set of methods can help the government determine whether their initiatives bring actually improvements. Policy analysis can assist public administrators in identifying the drawbacks of their initiatives, especially those cases when these initiatives can backfire.
Yet, this analysis can be accurate if it is based on evidence-based findings. For instance, healthcare policies can be more effective when they take into account the most recent statistical data about diseases or mortality (Lavis et al, 2004, p. 1616). This is why policy analysis is vital for public administrators. These methods can help the government take informed decisions that rely on high quality data, rather than rules of thumb.
One of the issues that policy-makers should consider is the social impact of polices. Every initiative implemented by the government can affect a variety of people in a very unpredictable way. The first task is to determine how many people can be influenced by the policy and in what way. For instance, policy-makers may need to estimate how many people will benefit from increased investment into community hospitals.
Public administrators will have to focus on the demographic characteristics of these people such as age, sex or income level. Secondly, they will need to make sure that these policies will not adversely affect any social groups.
Scholars point out that it is important to understand the so-called “transmission channels” through which a policy can impact society (Vanclay & Esteves 2012, p. 313). For instance, the removal of trade barriers with a certain country can effect local employments, or the prices and accessibility of goods (Vanclay & Esteves 2012, p. 313).
The goal of the government is to identify these channels. This task can be very difficult because social impacts are not easy to estimate. In most cases, they depend on a particular situation. Public administrators should take into account that social impacts of policies can be unpredictable.
Their plans should be based on closed analysis of previous policies and their impacts. In this way, they can safeguard themselves against various pitfalls, especially threats to people’s wellbeing. This is the main precaution that they will have to take. Overall, these examples show that policies of the government can be successful when public administrators understand the impact of their initiatives on various stakeholders.
The necessity to implement policies can limit the power of the government in different ways. First of all, the government requires financial resources in order to influence the life of the society. However, when this institution has to invest capital into several policies, its power begins to decrease. Secondly, one has to speak about human resources.
The power of the government is dependent on the availability of skilled. When the government has to implement policies, public administrators will have to dedicate part of their efforts to this initiative. In some cases, the effort of these employees is insufficient. This is one of the reasons why public administrators have to attract non-governmental organizations. As a rule, the support of these organizations is essential for the government.
Finally, any public policy requires a certain amount of time in order to perform its duties. Very often policies can last for years, and the government will have to monitor their implementation. Usually, these activities are very time-consuming. So, these limitations can be explained by such things as financial resources, personnel, and time. This is one of the ways in which policies can affect the power of the government.
Additionally, policies themselves can be aimed at restricting the power of the state. For instance, this institution can be made more accountable for its actions, expenses, plans, or risk management strategies. Policies can make government less bureaucratic and more oriented toward the needs of people.
Governmental officials will have to legitimize the use of power and identify the benefits that they bring to the community. This is perhaps the most important limitation that policies have. On the whole, they play a positive role, because they make the state more responsible.
Reference List
Fox, W., Bayat, S. & Ferreira, N. (2007). A Guide to Managing Public Policy. New York: Juta and Company Ltd.
Lavis, J., Posada, F., Haines, A., & Osei, E. (2004). Use of research to inform public policymaking. The Lancet , 364 (1), 1615-1621.
Vanclay, F. & Esteves, A. (2012). New Directions in Social Impact Assessment: Conceptual and Methodological Advances. New York: Edward Elgar Publishing.
The social policy of Australia considers the protection of children and the quality of their lives a central concern. In accordance with the existing legislation, all individuals belonging to this category have the right to receive loving care, support, and services they need to succeed in their lives (“Protecting children is everyone’s business,” 2009). Overall, the proposed policy is associated with improving existing monitoring, discovery, investigation, and management practices pertaining to child abuse and mistreatment within the Australian context. The initiative of the policy is to change the way Australian child protection agencies approach the issue of abuse. The aim of the policy is the introduction of a public health model and specific secondary interventions. The target audience is expected to include children-victims of abuse, their parents, alleged perpetrators of abuse, legislators, health care providers, and government stakeholders. At the moment, the policy is still on the stage of implementation since it continues encountering issues such as the ineffective monitoring of abuse cases, the lack of attention to Indigenous communities, the inadequate program management, and insufficient funding.
The need for a policy is evidenced by the fact that about 55,120 reports of child abuse and neglect are acquired annually (AIFS, 2018). Additionally, 168,352 Australian children were provided with child protection services in 2016-2017 (AIHW, n.d.).
Numerous government and non-government organizations are responsible for the protection of children and young people. They investigate specific cases regarding the existing social policy and provide support to individuals who needed it. In 2016-2017 the overall expenditure on child protection comprised about $4,3 billion (AIHW, 2018). However, there are still numerous problematic issues that demand further improvement of the approach to ensure better protection.
In order to ensure that the project addresses the problem from several perspectives, both quantitative and qualitative data will be used. From the quantitative perspective, the project will target the measurement of the number of investigated cases, the number of resolved cases, statistics on children out of homes as well on children on a protection order. From the qualitative perspective, the project will approach the issue of child support through discovering key themes and problems that characterize child neglect.
There are several central aspects underpinning the contemporary approach to child protection and its reformation. The first one is the need for increased investment to include more counseling services to children on a long-term basis in order to ensure greater focus on the antedescents of child abuse. In accordance with the relevant statistics, 74% of all children who were provided with specific protection services were repeat clients (AIFS, 2017a). Moreover, children from low-income or poor families face a significantly higher risk of abuse and neglect, which turns them into a vulnerable group (AIFS, 2008). When it comes to this recommendation, it should be mentioned that non-profit organizations that provide counseling services to children are inadequately funded. Since repeated sessions require the payment that the government does not currently provide, increased investment will ensure the minimization of the level of threat and cases of abuse in families that have already experienced similar problems (AIHW, 2018). It can help to improve the situation in the sphere.
The second key issue is the improvement of monitoring mechanisms to identify potentially problematic families or environments. Prevention and prophylactic work are two integral components of the existing social policy aimed at the protection of children’s rights (AIHW, 2018). However, these two directions demand the introduction and further development of assessment and monitoring mechanisms to evaluate the situation in families and conclude the probability of child abuse. Effective monitoring can include the introduction of child maltreatment surveillance systems (Meinck et al., 2015). Such systems will combine data from social services records, health records, self-repots, sentinel studies, complete agency records, and death records. Also, to contribute to effective monitoring, community members will be encouraged to report cases of child mistreatment that they have witnessed.
The third fundamental issue underpinning Australian social policy regarding children’s protection is to refrain from restricting the issue of child abuse to only governmental institutions. 2 of 3 children who have experienced different types of abuse or neglect become victims again (AIHW, 2018). Moreover, statistics show that the provision of support and needed child protection services is not associated with the complete elimination of the factor causing the problem and resulting in the deterioration of childrens state and quality of their lives (AIHW, 2017). In such a way, one of the central tasks of the existing social policy which significantly impacts its development is the introduction of measures that will help to reduce the number of re-abuse cases by revealing and solving a problematic issue that promoted the emergence of an acceptable situation. This direction remains fundamental for social services, governmental and non-governmental agencies.
The last problem is associated with restricting the problem of child abuse to only governmental organizations, the large majority of which ignores the problem’s occurrence within the Indigenous communities of Australia. In accordance with the statistics, about 32,600 individuals belonging to this category had been in out-of-home care for 2 or more years (AIHW, 2017). This fact constitutes a significant problem for agencies responsible for protecting children as the lack of care increases the risk of facing additional types of abuse and contributes to the overall deterioration of the situation. In such a way, the contemporary child protection is focused on the elimination of this problem by trying to use community resources to monitor cases of this sort and provide children deprived of care with the needed social protection. Additionally, in 2016-2017 indigenous children were seven times more likely to have received child protection services if compare with non-indigenous ones (AIHW, 2018). It constitutes a significant problem.
Altogether, despite numerous attempts to monitor the latest alterations in the sphere of child protection, the existing social policy might still be improved to ensure improved outcomes and guarantee reduction in abuse rates. Regarding the aspects underpinning the functioning of the approach, there are four recommendations that can be suggested.
Recommendation 1
Increase funding to include more counseling services, over a longer length of time. This will ensure more focus on the antecedents of child abuse. As has already been stated, the problem of child abuse is complicated by numerous cases of repeated neglect. To a greater degree, it comes from a lack of understanding among members of vulnerable families. In such a way, a significant increase in investments devoted to counseling services will help to investigate reasons preconditioning the emergence of inappropriate or abusive behavioral patterns and increase the level of awareness related to the problem of child protection (Wise, 2017). Additionally, eliminating the antecedents of undesired actions, agencies will be able to improve their prophylactic and prevention strategies aimed at the significant reduction in situations that might trigger the emergence of conflict situations.
Recommendation 2
Identify and work with “at-risk” families to a greater degree. This prevention strategy will mean the statistics are likely to improve. Governmental and non-governmental agencies admit that there is a set of factors that can be considered indicators of at-risk families. These include a low level of income, tensed relations between family members, social misconduct, divorce, and substances abuse (AIHW, 2018). The use of these factors can be considered an appropriate measure to introduce better identification and monitoring practices along with the prevention strategies. Additionally, improved work with at-risk families guarantees a reduction in the number of children deprived of home care which remains one of the central tasks of the existing social policy. In such a way, it should be considered an appropriate option for the improvement of child protection.
Recommendation 3
Provide financial help for diverse organizations to contribute to abuse prevention strategies. By doing so, children from Indigenous populations will also be included in the statistics of child abuse cases. Suggestion of this method to multiple organizations will result in the emergence of new ways to monitor the state of the problem and assist children who need child protection services. Additionally, engaging diverse organizations in abuse-prevention strategies will overcome barriers that enable exclusion, secrecy, and denial pertaining to the issues of Indigenous Australians (“Yarn up,” 2018). The appearance of new actors will help to increase the coverage and assess childrens needs more efficiently. Additionally, the functioning of multiple agencies, both governmental and non-governmental ones can be considered a warranty of the further evolution of the sphere because of their contribution to its rise.
Recommendations 4
Focus on the whole-of-community response. If the initiative changes its central direction, underrepresented groups and cases will be given more attention. As it has already been mentioned, the use of community resources is one of the methods to improve the efficiency of child protection. In this regard, promoting the necessity of assisting children who need support, agencies can achieve a significant improvement of the situation. Moreover, the problem of children in out-of-home care can be solved by collecting reports about its cases from community members. Finally, at-risk families and other vulnerable groups will also be given more attention due to the enhanced community response.
References
AIFS. (2008). Fertility and family policy in Australia. Web.
AIFS. (2017a). Child abuse and neglect statistics. Web.
Strength and welfare of a society depend largely on the extent to which government and social institutions care for their most vulnerable members. Under certain circumstances, people with a learning disability, particularly those who experience severe complications are considered the most vulnerable focus group of the British society.
There is convincing evidence that people with disabilities are less likely to receive sufficient support and care regardless the Disability Discrimination Act and other legislatures that have been established in the country. The highlighted problems reveal serious pitfalls in delivering equal treatment, sustaining a high quality of care practice, and problems with funding plans that have specifically been worked out for disabled children and adults.
In addition to these problems, society experiences such problems as income inequality and poverty contributing to extremely low standards of living. As a result, failure to adhere to legislative act supporting the quality standards of public health cases, as well as inability of the government to cope with the societal problems provides a strong framework for discussion.
The emergent problems need to be addressed from the perspective of treating the most vulnerable members of society, as well as define to what extent the unemployment rates and low-income rates influence the accomplishment of social polices in Britain.
Development of Social Policy and Welfare in Contemporary Britain
In the context of the above-highlighted problems, the public care and social policies in Britain are under the primary focus. Evidence shows that many hospitals lack sufficient care and training programs that would make health care available for regardless of social status and physical abilities.
However, the contemporary situation fails to meet the established goals due to the insufficient funding, and lack of consistent action plan, and absence of specialized orientation for treating old people, as well as adults with learning disabilities. Despite the establishment of many social programs, such as Valuing People, much concern with social welfare in the country remains. According to the Valuing People program, health care professionals, as well as public officer, should follow three main principles.
First, they should assist the most vulnerable members of society in leading an independent life. Second, they should respect people’s rights, regardless of their social position and income. Finally, they should provide people with choice in terms of the type of care they need to get (The Secretary of State for Health by Command of Her Majesty, 2001).
For certain reasons, some of the hospitals, particularly the establishment located in Cornwall failed to provide sufficient care and treatment to people with learning disabilities (Healthcare Commission, 2006). The investigation has also revealed the case of maltreatment and abuse practiced by poorly trained professionals.
Such a situation has been caused by serious pitfalls in human resource management on the part of the top leaders of the hospital. In addition, lack of plans of care does not provide professionals with accurate data concerning which tools and instruments should be used to cope with people with specific needs (Healthcare Commission, 2006). Moreover, lack of records, as well as full mismatch with Valuing People program enabled the investigators to introduce solid measure to prevent the problem in future.
The root of the problem goes deeply into the historic background of social policy formation. Specifically, the committee on Social Insurance and Allied Services (SIAS) introduced a survey on the analysis of existing social schemes tackling the problems of workmen’s compensation, social security, social insurance, and provisional rates (Beveridge, 1942).
At this point, Workmen Compensation Act of 1897 and Unemployment Act of 1934 need to be reconsidered with regard to the result obtained from the survey (Beveridge, 1942). Specific attention was also given to the analysis of medical treatment development, welfare of children, cash benefits for funerals and maternity, and voluntary provisions for a range of contingencies.
The above-presented historical background provides a better picture of necessary improvements, changes, and programs that need to be implemented in the future. Careful reconsideration of healthcare polices and public welfare strategies are indispensible to increasing the quality of living standards.
The Policy Environment in Which Decision Making in Care Practice Takes Place
Introducing new policy environments changes health care vision on the welfare of the public sector. Hence, because public influence on governmental polices in Britain is minimal, the policy environment is largely controlled by the political reforms introduced in the British Parliament (Kavanagh et al., 2006, p. 3).
Within these context, the emergence of pressure group have provided a key platform by means of which civil society is able to participate in political discourse and influence decision making. The so-called liberal democracy prevailed in the British society creates a number of contradictions.
First, interest groups offer a channel of political communication between society and government. Second, the groups can be connected with sectionalism that does not contribute to the general welfare of society (Kavanagh et al., 2006). Despite the presented controversy, the presence of pressure groups signifies the inability of the government to meet the needs and concerns of various social groups. Therefore, the emerged confrontation influences significantly the overall decision making in the sphere of health care practice.
Regardless of the current pitfalls, the presence of various interest groups allows the government tracks the changes within the society and introduces reforms that would improve the overall situation. This is of particular concern to health care practice where active engagement of insider groups into decision-making makes the government take these interventions while making policies in a particular field (Kavanagh et al., 2006, p. 8).
Hence, insider groups constitute an important resource for good information, as well as a basis for good administrative cooperation between health care field and the British government. In addition, because pressure groups operate at national and local levels, the authorities often rely on their concerns and try to identify the issues that can solve the problem.
The policy environment created as mixture of governmental and public initiatives is quite complicated due to the presence of various aspects, such as public objectives, functions and roles, and the extent of political participation at a particular level (Kavanagh et al. 2006).
Apart of positive benefits of the emergence of pressure groups, as well as governmental participation, the policy decisions often produce a number of problems. Specifically, a narrow-focused orientation on increasing the income of the citizens does not provide the country with sufficient level of living.
The Link between Legislative Development and Social Policy and Their Impact on Care Practice
To introduce improvement in administrative field and public sectors, the UK government has a complex system of stage of parliamentary bill. These stages are imperative for considering and evaluating the purposefulness of a specific policy (House of Commons Information Office, 2008).
Because the House of Commons is a democratically elected wing of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, “the purpose of pre-legislative scrutiny is…to make better law by improving the scrutiny of bills and drawing the wider public more effectively into the Parliamentary process” (House of Commons Information Office 2008, p. 3). The process of Bill presentation and acceptance also takes places in the House of Lords (2008).
Both procedures are pivotal because they have a potent impact on the development of legislature in the sphere of care practice as well. The scrutiny of the parliament bill adoption has also been applied to the consideration of the Health and Social Care Bill that aims to protect future of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom and cope with the challenges it experiences to avoid the current problems and surpass the consequences of future crisis (Department of Health 2011).
In addition, the bill seeks to introduce innovations, develop a patient-centred approach and establish a new focus on health care in the public sector. As it can be seen, a systematic and multistage examination of specific principles creates favourable conditions for issuing bills in care practice field.
On the one hand, the complex procedures implemented in the UK Parliament introduce transparency and consistency in adopting decisions in various areas of public health care. On the other hand, the government often pursues personal interests in passing specific legal provisions. Besides, the legal assistance has undergone the change, which makes it challengeable for advice agencies and solicitors to deliver free services.
In this respect, there is a strong necessity to improve and promote access to civil legal assistance. Despite certain measures were taken to solve the problem, the sectors still needs substantial improvements to ensure wider accessibility of the civil legal services (p. 16). Due to the fact that the legal aid service has been practiced for 60 years, constant changes are indispensible for sustaining a favourable development of health care services, as well as advancing the quality standards in medical institutions.
With regard to the above-highlighted problems, the government should present a new vision for reforming public services and creating a consistent framework of high-quality social care that would meet the requirements of the current century. The shits in communities and populations imply that society become much more diverse and, therefore, the existing services should take that into the deepest consideration the demands of the contemporary people.
The Role of the Theoretical Approaches to Welfare in Determining the Shape of Care in the 21st Century
The social welfare of society can be achieved through the establishment of efficient theoretical approaches that would provide a framework for action plans. The development of social theories takes it roots in the nineteenth century, when Marx made signification contributions to exploring political and economic situations leading to poverty, high unemployment, and social inequalities (Carling, 1991).
According to Marx, the inequality lies in the extraction of the surplus value from the product produced by the employees. In fact, the employer is entitled for the creating the value and, therefore, the surplus-value they get is theft unless it is distributed among the employees.
Therefore, capitalistic system does not contribute to social equality and welfare. In order to reach the freedom and equality, there should be an equal distribution of function among the people where labour power should be given especial importance. Looking at the future development, capitalism does not provide efficient approaches contributing to the welfare of the twenty-first century’s society.
Within the perspectives of the modern development, the functionalism theory can be developed. Greater awareness of social roles that each person should take can strengthen the social structure and provide a consistent framework for building a highly functional society. Considering culturally and social diverse environments is indispensible for defining which roles and functions should each social layer perform to bring in welfare to the twenty-first century’s community in the United Kingdom.
The current problems can be solved by addressing this theoretical approach because it can significantly enhance the work incentives and make the overall social system much simpler (The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2010). In addition, increasing costs of governmental support has a negative impact on maintaining welfare and sustaining an appropriate level of care in the public sector.
There are many reasons why functionalism can be effectively applied to improve the above-highlighted problems. To begin with, defining the accurate roles of each social stratum can introduce social order and transparency in making decision and increasing the overall quality of care in the majority of UK hospitals.
With regard to the problem of insufficient funding and lack of education in Cornwall hospitals, the establishment of functionalism theory with the division of labour principle at the core can help the managers understand the problems and take greater control of the existing shortcoming, including maltreatment, abusive attitude to disabled individuals, inappropriate education.
Introducing the so-called collective consciousness and an individual-centred approach to treating patient can strike the balance between personal interest and the interest of the entire community.
The collective behaviour can create shared value consensus that would satisfy all the parties involved into social welfare creation. Health care professionals will gain a greater awareness of the importance of responsibilities they should take in front of the patients with learning disabilities.
A properly arranged social system will make the individuals believe that their duties are accomplished for the sake of their personal interests. At the same time, their contributions will be valuable for the gradual development of the UK society. In addition, members of society should be able to adapt to the various environments, attain to a commonly shared goal, integrate into the goals accomplishment and follow the generally established values.
Conclusion
The quality of health care delivery services in the United Kingdom fails to meet high-quality standards established in the world. This is of particular concern to the hospitals dealing with patients with learning disabilities. The group of patients should be able to receive an equal access to public care, which means that should receive qualified and specialized help from the health care professionals that should be much more advanced than those provided for people with ability to lead an independent life.
The major problem lies in insufficient funding, absence of appropriate recording system, lack of education and training programs for the staff, and absence of action plans. In order to solve these problems, specific legal regulations, as well as theoretical approach should be introduced. At this point, functionalism framework can significantly promote the social welfare in the 21st century.
Reference List
Beveridge, W. 1942, Social Insurance and Allied Services, His Majesty Stationery Office, London.
Carling, A. H. 1991, Social Division, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Citizens, Advice Service 2009, Social Policy Impact Report 2009, Citizens Advice Bureau, pp. 1-15.
Department of Health 2011, Overview of Health Care Bill, pp. 1-2.
Healthcare Commission 2006, Joint Investigation into Services for People with Learning Disabilities at Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust, Commission for Healthcare Adult and Inspection. pp. 1-17.
House of Commons Information Office 2008, Parliamentary Stages of a Governmental Bill, Factsheet L1 Legislation Series. pp. 3-14.
House of Lords 2008, Bills and How They Become Law, House of Lords Briefing, pp. 2-6.
Kavanagh, D., Richards, D., Geddes, A, and Smith, M 2006, “Pressure Groups and Policy Networks”, In D Kavanagh, D Richards, A Geddes, and M Smith, British Politics. Oxford University Press, UK.
The Secretary of State for Health by Command of Her Majesty 2000, Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century. Department of Health, Britain, pp. 1-149.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2010, 21st Century Welfare, Department for Work and Pensions, pp. 1-52.
Social policy consists of legislation, principles and activities that countries employ to enhance the social conditions of their people.
Due to the emergence of democracy across the world, social policy has become an integral part of democracy as it supports human rights and further enhances the delivery of services in important sectors such as healthcare, housing, security, education, trade and labour amongst other essential social aspects of the society (Kennett 2004, p.91).
The basic objective of a social policy is to enhance equity and to improve human welfare by ensuring the accessibility and affordability of essential resources to all members of society. Thus, the kind of social policy possessed by a country reflects the extent of how its government satisfies the societal needs since poor social policy depicts a society deprived of its essential needs and deficient of human welfare.
Kennett (2004) argues that although the social policy is a discipline on its own, it greatly interfaces with economics, political science, legal studies, history and health disciplines for they all have a significant impact on the welfare of humanity (p.91).
Thus, social policy is a complex discipline that attracts other related disciplines making it a multidisciplinary field of study. Given the complexity of social policy as a multidisciplinary subject, this essay examines factors that contribute to differential evolution of social policy in various countries ultimately exploring comparative case studies of three countries, the United States, China, and Sweden.
Historical Perspectives
Social policy is a discipline that employs multidisciplinary approaches in the study of problems that affect social processes and the welfare of human beings in society. Social policy seeks to ensure that people receive essential services such as healthcare, education, housing, security and provision of food, water and employment to improve the lives of people.
Fundamentally, social policy aims at alleviating social problems that affect the wellbeing of humanity by ensuring that the government puts proper welfare structures in place to enhance accessibility and distribution of critical resources to the people. As a discipline, social policy is the study of social problems and wellbeing of humans.
The discipline emerged after the realisation that, disciplines like political science, sociology, economic, and history do not effectively examine social issues that society is grappling with (Esping-Andersen1990, p.9). Thus, social policy provides a wider examination of social issues, as it interfaces with all these disciplines. Therefore, social policy deals with everything that affects the wellbeing of humanity.
Social policy has evolved tremendously in the last three decades since social issues have been increasing due to globalisation. The economic system of capitalism that has swept across the world has enhanced inequality in many societies, thus necessitating social policy to reverse trends of inequality and improve the wellbeing of marginalised communities.
Although governments are making significant strides towards keeping abreast with the globalised forces of politics and economics, development have been trailing due to insufficient attention from policymakers. This means that the wellbeing of citizens has been gradually declining because social policy has not been created in tandem with the societal needs.
Inefficiency of social policy is evident in the wellbeing of indigenous people or marginalised communities for they are lagging behind when mainstream society is embracing and reaping varied benefits from globalisation.
Therefore, social policy helps in improving the wellbeing of marginalised communities and unprivileged citizens through the provision of essential resources such as: healthcare, housing, security, education, food, water and employment (Kennett 2004, p.91). If the government ensures that every citizen receives enough of these resources, it guarantees the wellbeing of the people and society.
Disparity in social expenditure in different countries is due to dissimilar approaches that welfare public policy and administration use in enhancing the wellbeing of citizens. Comparative theory of social policy has shown that four main approaches of social policy exist and can effectively elucidate disparity of social expenditure among nations.
Firstly, the deterministic approach views economic conditions as the determinant of social expenditure. In this approach, both local economy and international economy due to the advent of globalisation have a significant impact on social policy of a country. Secondly, political approach views that democracy enhances development of social policy because individuals have the freedom to advocate for the needs of the society.
The third approach views that cultural and social factors determine the nature of social policy of a country. This approach holds that social ideologies, cultural values and religious beliefs have a significant impact on the development of social policy.
While the fourth approach holds that structures of institutions in policy development determine the nature of social policy in a country, it, therefore, implies that countries with excellent policymaking structures have a good social policy, while those that have meagre policymaking structures have poor social policy (Mullard, & Spicker 1998, p.186).
Basing on regime theory, the welfare systems across the world depend on regimes for they have a strong influence on social aspects of society. According to the regime theory, three types of regimes exist that determine social policy systems in the society. These regimes are liberal, conservative and universal states (Hill 2006, p.25).
The first type of regime is a liberal state in which globalisation factors of free markets take precedence over welfare systems, as markets forces self-regulate satisfying demands of the society.
According to Esping-Andersen (1990), in a liberal regime, the government function is just to enhance efficiency of trade and economic growth through liberalisation, with minimal emphasis on development of social welfare systems (p.12). Countries like the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada are in this category.
The conservative state is the second type of regime in which a state plays a vital role in the development of social policy institutions and structures that enhance formulation of social policy. In the conservative state, neither democracy nor globalisation trends of free markets determine formulation of social policy, but instead nationalism matters. Countries that fall in this category include China, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan.
The third type of regime is the universal state because it seeks to uphold the highest principles that improve the wellbeing of humanity. Hill (2006) argues that these states are very democratic, valuing social rights for they seek to promote a high standard of equality in society (p.28).
Countries under this category are trying to get out of globalising forces that seem to cloud many countries, preventing them from perceiving the importance of social policy. Countries like Sweden, Denmark and Norway fall under this category of regime.
Current Perspectives
Current trends of social policy across the world are under the influence of globalisation. Globalisation is a powerful political, economic and social ideology that is sweeping all countries to become one global nation, sharing common problems, demanding similar needs and requiring same policies (Pierson 2006, p.202).
Under the context of globalisation, countries are finding it hard to adopt conservative forms of state that have their own social policy. Since politics have a significant impact in the formulation of social policy, the influence of globalisation in the political arena consequently affects the development of social policy.
According to Kennett (2008), democracy is an overwhelming ideology in the globalisation of politics (p.12). Developed countries that have mature democracies tend to create a political environment that favours establishment and development of social policies.
For instance, a country like the United States have a good social policy because of a mature democracy, while developing countries like Zimbabwe have an immature democracy, which reflect a poor social policy.
Moreover, since the development of a social policy in a country is dependent on economic conditions, economic factors of globalisation affect the development of social policy.
Globalisation’s trend of liberalising markets is threatening the economies of many countries because free markets offer stiff competition in the business environment and thus do not provide a chance for uncompetitive goods from developing countries.
In essence, liberalised markets provided an opportunity for developed countries and mega-companies to monopolise and dominate markets. If the globalisation forces of liberalised markets threaten the existence of small companies and market share of developing countries, it means that economic growth and development gradually declines.
Pierson (2006) argues that nation-states are gradually losing their economic powers to international markets that regulate and determine the country’s capacity to survive in liberalised markets (p.201).
This means that the welfare system of a country is subject to a globalised economy. Countries that are uncompetitive in the liberalised markets will experience a decline in economic growth and development, which consequently hampers the establishment of social policy.
In contrast, social issues of globalisation such as the advocacy of human rights, cultural values and spread of religious beliefs enhance development of social policy. Due to technology, people living in the remotest corners of the world are able to keep abreast with social forces of globalisation that have transformed society into a global village.
Modern society can share common values and beliefs due to the advancement in information technology that hastens the transfer of information from civilized to uncivilized people.
Castells (2000) argues that information technology is transforming cultural and social aspects of society very fast, leading to the globalisation of societal values and beliefs (p.8). Therefore, information technology, as an aspect of globalisation is gradually establishing a global culture that favours formulation and development of social policy.
Development of social policy in contemporary society is dependent on the efforts of various players such as individual, non-governmental organisation and government (Mullard, & Spicker 1998, p.188). Individual members of the society play an integral role in the formulation, development and implementation of social policy, for they are at the receiving end of governance.
When a government issues orders, laws or polices, all citizens have a legal and moral responsibility of ensuring that no one is breaching those laws. Moreover, given that social policy deals wellbeing of citizens, individuals should demand better services that enhance their wellbeing and in so doing they participate in the formulation and implementation of social policy.
In times of crisis, non-governmental organisations help government in alleviating impacts of crises and improving wellbeing of the citizens.
According to Larner (2005), government uses structures and systems such as families, schools, communities, companies, media and political parties in imparting social policy into the society for people to adopt (p.53). These structures and systems are very important in the society for they reduce the burden of dealing with individual members of the society.
Critical Perspectives
Diversity in the society in terms of gender, race, sexuality and disabilities is creating inequality that classifies people into various classes of economic status and power. Society for a long time has gendered roles that suite men and women, and mostly women have experience marginalisation since men dominate in various roles (Jenson 2008, p. 135).
Since society perceives women as weak gender, issues and challenges affecting women have become part of social policy as a way of empowering them and enhancing their wellbeing. Feminists protest that the society has stereotyped roles of women to be inferior to the roles of men, thus undermining capabilities and wellbeing of women.
The Anglo-Western perspective of gender is to empower women through formulation of social policy that provide for affirmative action. According to Jenson (2008), feminists are advocating for the rights of women in social, political and economic aspects of society (p.136).
In the social aspect of society, feminists argue that women have the same abilities as men, but discrimination and stereotyping of their roles as inferior have been undermining their quest for a better life.
Feminists also assert that men have dominated politics and misused political powers in undermining women. Another view of feminists is that economic structure of society has placed women in low economic classes, thus receive economic oppression from their counterparts.
Ethnicity and race have created inequalities, in that marginalised ethnicities or races are trailing in aspects of human development such: as social, political and economics. For the government to empower different ethnicities, it must have appropriate social policy in place that identifies specific needs of the people in certain communities.
For instance, according to Morrissey (2006), the indigenous people of Australia suffered from marginalisation and discrimination for a long period because the government had no any social policy until prompted by other Commonwealth Countries (p.349). This means that social policy of indigenous or marginalised communities is not only a limited issue but also a global issue.
Disability and sexuality is a social issue that is slowly gaining recognition in social policy. People with disabilities and aberrant sexual orientations have formed part of minority groups who need recognition and protection of their rights. In the case of people with disabilities, various governments have made significant progress in gathering for their needs in spite of poor social policies.
Currently, many disabled people are receiving formal education and employment that have considerably improved their wellbeing in the society (Shima, Zolyomi, & Zaidi 2008, p.9). Regarding aberrant sexual orientation, gays and lesbians are advocating for their rights based on their perception of the society as having marginalised and discriminated against them.
Proponents of homosexuals are arguing that lesbians and gays need recognition in the society. According to Concannon (2008), the constitution and social policy provide good structures that would enhance wellbeing of homosexuals if formulated and implemented well (p.327). Therefore, social policy is central to promoting the rights and wellbeing of minority groups like homosexuals and people with disabilities in the modern society.
Comparative Case Studies
Comparative case studies show that different countries have different approaches of social policy depending on their social, political, cultural and economic conditions. Therefore, what are the approaches that countries like the United States, China and Sweden employ in their social policy? Regime theory classifies the United States as a liberalised state, due to their capitalistic economy and the liberalisation of their markets.
The United States does not place much emphasis on development of the welfare system since free trade and capitalism favours individualism. Issues that mainly dominate the United States social policy are health insurance, security, education, employment and inequality, but mainly occur at state levels.
Bailey, Harte and Sugden (1994) argue that the United States does not have an integrated welfare system because of factors such as federalism, capitalism and liberalised markets that favour individualism (p.9). Different states in the United States have their own unique social policy in sectors like health, security, education and housing due to federalism.
Capitalism and liberalised markets have provided a lucrative environment for private enterprises and non-governmental organisations to venture into the welfare system, making it complex and expensive.
China’s social policy mainly has it basis in political stability making it fall under the conservative states according to regime theory. In China, democracy and liberalisation of trades have no any impact in the development of social policy since political figures and nationalists are only aiming to achieve political expediency and the stability of their nation.
This means that the current wave of globalisation in terms of liberalisation of markets and democracy is threatening survival of China’s social policy. Li, Feng, and Gizelis (2008), argue that the current economic, social and political trends of globalisation have compelled the Chinese government to construct new social policies (p.6).
New social policies became essential because the liberalisation of capital and labour markets have affected traditional labour and trade systems tremendously, thus necessitating restructuring of both social and economic policy.
The restructuring of economic policy resulted in unprecedented unemployment, which aggravated inequality and increased the cost of living, hence compelling the government to formulate new social policies to address these issues.
Moreover, the family-planning policy of one-child significantly changed the demography of China in that extended families that provided support for the elderly diminished, leaving nuclear families that have no capacity to support the old in the society. Thus, the Chinese government had to gather for the needs of the elderly through social policy (Li, Feng, & Gizelis 2008, p.5)
Sweden is the ideal form of a welfare state, which belongs to the category of a universal state according to regime theory. Hantrais (2007) argues that the Swedish model of social policy is very advanced compared to the British model because it provides universal care to its citizens, enhancing equality (p.23).
Comparatively, in the European Union, Sweden has the highest social expenditure relative to Gross Domestic Product per head. According to social expenditure database, Sweden spends 35.2% of Gross Domestic product, while it has Gross Domestic Product of $28100 per head, which is the lowest in Europe and the entire world (Hill 2006, p.20).
Hence, factors that contributed to development of social policy in Sweden as a welfare state include its
Good policy institutions, stable economy, political commitment to social issues, and culture that favour social protection.
Therefore, comparative case studies have shown that social policy in different countries varies according to political, social, economic and cultural factors. The comparative case studies have shown that variability in social policy and social expenditure in developed countries is attributable to political, social, and cultural factors, while financial factors do not have a momentous impact.
For instance, according to Hill (2006), the United States has Gross Domestic Product per head of $37,600 and spends about 19.6% of this in public social expenditure, while Sweden has Gross Domestic Product per head of $28,100 but spends approximately 35.2% of it in social expenditure (p.20).
The statistics shows that Sweden spends significantly higher on social expenditure as compared to the United States. Therefore, the disparity is in social expenditure across nations depends on economic, social, cultural and political aspects of government since they have a significant impact in the formulation of social policy.
Conclusion
Social policy is an integral type of policy that every government needs to enhance provisions of essential services and resources such as healthcare, education, security, employment, housing and food, among other societal needs. Social policy has evolved considerably in the last three decades because inequality has been increasing following the globalising factors of capitalism, liberalised markets and economic crisis.
Although globalisation seems to pose a harmful blow in the progress of social policy, it has benefits in enhancing democracies, providing information technology and creating a global culture that promotes the wellbeing of humanity.
Literature reviews and comparative case studies have shown that different countries employ different approaches in developing social policy. Thus, the social policy possessed by any country depends on economic, social, cultural and political factors.
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