...which way social policies have an impact on family. A social policy is an action or plan adopted by the government to overcome problems or weaknesses in society, as discrimination, racism and poverty. It is usually based on laws, which provide the framework for agencies to follow. A good example of social policies are the one adopted by William Beveridge in the 1940's, after the Second World War, trying to fight the five "giant evils" of after war Britain, such as poverty (Want), unemployment (Idleness), bad housing (Squalor), not efficient educational system (Ignorance) and bad health care (Disease). Although social policy is a general term which does not refer only to programmes on family, social policies always can affect households, either directly or indirectly. For example a direct policy on family can be any law regulating marriage (such as the Divorce act, 1969, or laws on same sex marriage,while indirect ones affect other aspects or istitutions of society which, however, are linked to family or at least to certain members of the household. (E.g. Policies on education have a crucial impact on children socialization and therefore on their approach to other member in any institution of society) Besides, social policies are indicative of current ideological tendencies in society, since they help family institution to achieve a social accepted asset. As an example New Right perspective perpetrates a conservative view on family, assuming that nuclear family model is...
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...Outline and explain two ways families socialise children. (16) The family for most people in the contemporary UK is the main agent of primary socialisation. There are multiple ways in which the family socialises young people. Firstly the family teaches the basic norms and values of society. This allows the young to copy older family members and see them as role models for how they are supposed to behave in society. The basic norms passed on from generation to generation through the family can be as simple as how and where to eat when it comes to family meal times. These simple norms are important to pass on because it reflects wider values, for example the importance of family eating together at mealtimes and keeping a close bond within a family unit. Secondly the family also displays many gender roles which may influence an individual’s perspective of what is right and wrong when it comes to gender. For example a young boy may see his father go out to work every day and providing for the family as the main wage earner known as the ‘breadwinner’, while his mother my stay at home or work only part time caring for the children and taking on the role of the homemaker. This is likely to have an impact on how he would view gender roles within the family. This does not mean that he will copy these gender roles later on in life with his own family; however it is likely to influence the way he perceives gender roles and may lead him on to set paths in...
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... At the beginning of ‘The Farmer’s Bride’ the speaker questions his decision to marry the girl when she was possibly ‘too young’ but continues to explain that he was preoccupied with ‘more to do at harvest time than bide and woo.’ This is suggested to the reader as an excuse to why his spouse’s mental condition remained unnoticed over the duration of their marriage. Another implication from this could be that the couples haste to marry was their downfall as again ‘too young maybe’ could infer that she was not ready for this marriage and the pressure from the farmer to make such a commitment is what led her to begin to dislike him and fear men in the process. The farmer not realising seems the most feasible explanation as Charlotte Mew’s family had a history of poor mental well-being which is most likely to be reflected in her work. This is similar with ‘To His Coy Mistress’ which also opens with a strong statement about the...
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...Examine the ways in which social policies affect family life A social policy is a law implemented by the government to benefit society. Most social policies will affect families in some way or another. There are 2 types of policies, direct and indirect. A direct policy has a direct and immediate affect on the family, and an indirect policy is other policies not directly aimed at families but may still have an affect on them. Social policies have attempted to promote the nuclear family, such as those introduced by New Labour and the Conservative government, although New Labour are more accepting of family diversity. The New Rights ideology has influenced government policies. They argue that policies have weakened the nuclear family leading to family diversity and more problems for family members. The New Right have the view that social policies should avoid doing anything that might undermine the 'natural' and self reliant nuclear family and will often criticise many government policies for undermining the family by providing over generous welfare benefits e.g. council housing for teenage mothers. The New Right argues that social policies like the legalization of abortion and the availability of the contraceptive pill is the beginning of family decline. They also state that equal opportunities and equal pay lows distract women from their 'natural' career as a mother. The New Right feel that policies like this is causing a decline in the traditional nuclear family, resulting in...
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...New right ideology has always viewed state policy as the reason why the traditional family institution is in decline in Britain today. Whether this is an accurate reflection on state policy will be assessed in this essay. Functionalists have always had a traditional view on family ideology where there is a clear segregation of tasks between the man and the women which is seen as natural or God given. But through the introduction of government policies in order to cater for the changing image of the family, functionalists feel that this is causing the nuclear family as an institution to be in decline. They believe that the 1960s and the 1970’s was a big turning point for the decline in familiar ideology as the state introduced policies such as the legalisation of abortion which was seen as women lessening their commitment to the family and the availability of the contraceptive pill. This introduction had a significant effect on the family as it undermined the family as private institution where important decisions could be made. Other policies such as the role of social workers through the local government, as discussed in item B were “if social workers feel that the upbringing of children is not provided properly children could be temporarily or permanently taken into care”. This has an effect on the nuclear family in particular because it means that the family’s privacy is undermined. Functionalists such as Howard argue that the state and the media have made marriage have less...
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...Sociologist and political groups all have different views of social policies, some believe that they are a good way of achieving something and others see them as bad because they may only support one view point and not others. To start of here is the definition of a social policy; it is an action, plan or programme that the government puts in place that aims to deal with a problem or achieve a goal. These social policies are mainly based on laws, which provide the framework for agencies to follow. The first social policy that will affect the family is marriage. There are different laws in place to discourage certain behaviour inside marriages, a few examples of these would be; marriages must be monogamous where only one person can be married to one person at one time, in the UK it is illegal to marry or have children with your brother/sister but is legal to marry and have children with your first cousin, etc. Laws like these would have an effect on a family as having an affair on your partner is illegal and therefore if this happens then the marriage may breakdown and may end up in a divorce. Divorce is another social policy that will have an effect on the family. Divorce was granted legal in 1857 but it was very hard to get one up until the late 1960’s which made divorce become more popular as it was easier to declare. However, a divorce can only be granted if one of the following applies; Adultery – when one partner has a sexual relationship with another whilst in a marriage...
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...Examine the ways in which laws and social policies affect family life. There are many different ways in which laws and social policies affect family life. Laws and social policies affect different cultures. In Russia a new policy was introduced in 1917, the new Communist Government wanted to destroy the patriarchal family structure; the patriarchal family structure was seen as an obstacle to true communism and socialism. The Russian Government changed these laws to make abortion and divorce easier for men and women, equal rights for women was also introduced as well as communal nurseries that were provided by the state. The goal of the changed laws was to break down the traditional family in order to give people more freedom and to reduce the inequalities that were produced between the rich and poor. As a result of this the traditional family did break down, there was a rapid increase in divorce and abortions, as people began to search for the ‘ideal’ freedom and equality. The Government realised that things were beginning to become chaotic so there was a policy change. The government took drastic action by tightening divorce laws and making abortion illegal. The government also said that parents who had more children were awarded allowances. China’s population control policy was introduced under the intention to reduce the population in an over-crowded country but also to save society. China’s workplaces planning communities’ controlled the women employees menstrual cycle and...
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...of women and a cause of lack of progression made. With all of the hard work women endure and go through to support their husband and family, they receive no recognition, just the degrading treatment to remind them that their husband rules over them, that they have no say, and no right to do anything without permission from their spouse. Luckily over time, Indigenous Andean women’s rights, roles, and health have developed greatly since the 1940’s due to the development of education, knowledge, empowerment, and opportunity growth for women in Latin America. In this paper I have brought to attention the rough and unfair circumstances that Latin American indigenous women of the Andes have had to endure since the 1940’s to present day. The first subject brought to attention is the topic of marriage and what it entails for a woman of the time. Also included is the role of them woman and how they are treated and disrespected by their husbands in the early decades of this century. The I continue to dicuss how in future years circumstances change, and how women become more independent and even the role’s of the household out more, if not totally turn them around. Finally, I discuss the matter of health care to indigenous women in the Andes and how their culture has affected many aspects of their decisions concerning their health and that of their family. In both aspects that I have brought to attention, over time do get better and improve with help from support of men and of accessibility...
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...Examine the ways in which feminist sociologists have contributed to our understanding of family Many of the contributions to this debate have come from radical feminists who have tended to focus on the following aspects of relationships: How domestic roles are divided between men and women, the nuclear family as an ideological construct and domestic violence. Femenism is a sociologicalpersctive and political movement that focuses on womens oppression and how to end it. There are several types of feminism,and they differ in term of what they see as the cause of womesn oppression and the ways to tackle it. Delphy and Leonard studied mainly working-class nuclear families between the 1950s and 1980s. They argue that the type of work women do in the family is the primary cause of their oppression. For example: 9 out of 10 of the households they studied had a male head of household as the main decision maker, with the women and children being defined as his dependents or helpers. The male head of household was the only one earning a wage. The wife, and maybe older children too, did unpaid work in the house whilst relying on him for financial security also even when the wife did paid work, she was still expected to do the vast majority of the domestic labour. Willmott and Young’s research, conducted mainly in the 1950s to 70s, can be used to criticise the work of Delphy and Leonard. Their research found that: In 1973, Willmott and Young were optimistic about the prospects of...
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...Examine the ways in which Government policies and laws affect the nature and extent of family diversity Government policies and laws are put in place to uphold moral values of society and force people to take responsibility themselves. Social policy refers to the actions of government agencies such as the welfare system. Most policies affect families in one way or another, some are aimed directly at families, whilst other policies aren’t but still have an impact on families. One way in which family diversity diverse is by an increase in same sex families. This is gay and lesbian couples living together with children. A social policy that can be linked to this type of family diversity is that in 1967 male homosexuality was legalised and this made homosexuals feel socially accepted, eventually allowing gay individuals to start a family. There was also other policies that made same sex families even more accepted. For example, in 2002 UK adoptions laws were changed. The laws meant that gay couples were now able to adopt and have a family of their own. Additionally, in 2004 the Civil Partnership was introduced. This meant that gay people could now have a type of marriage if they felt they had stability, commitment and happiness to starting a family. All of these policies have a link to the increase in same sex families. Feminist sociologist were really happy with these policy changes. Feminist believes that society is patriarchal, that men dominate and exploit women. Feminist...
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...Currently, in the UK, the family is a fairly unregulated sphere of life, compared with different societies such as China. Laws and social policies in Britain today tend to encourage or discourage certain types of families, rather than actively enforcing them like China’s one child policy. Government agencies and institutions only seem to take an active role on policing areas of family life when things are perceived to have gone wrong, such as regulating the fair distribution of assets following the breakdown of a marriage. Most current social policies in the UK come from a New Labour perspective, as this party have been in power for almost 12 years. Therefore, many of these current social policies encourage the existence of the family, although not just in the nuclear form endorsed by the New Right. For instance new labour modified the law so that unmarried cohabiting couples, both heterosexual and homosexual, had the right to adopt on a basis equivalent to that of a married couple. This has made adopting easier for unmarried couples with fertility issues, but the biggest change to have resulted from it is that homosexual couples can now, fairly easily, adopt children, leading to a much more diverse range of families. This change has been heavily criticised by New Right thinkers, who claim that it further undermines the nuclear family, by removing the restriction on unmarried couples from adopting children. They also claim that, due to not being raised in the “natural”...
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...Examine the ways in which the government policies and laws may affect the nature and extent of family diversity. Government policies and laws are put in place to uphold moral values of society and force people to take responsibility over themselves and who else they may be responsible for e.g. children. Although the government see its policies as being able to produce the ‘ideal’ nuclear family where the man works and the woman looks after the children, the policies today fail to take into account the changes in society and the different types of families that are becoming more common in society. The government’s policies affect different family types in different ways e.g. the government policies and laws benefit married couples in more ways that cohabiting couples and single parent families as they make divorce harder as well as being benefiting married couple financially as they can claim more tax allowances. This policy only benefits married couples as the government sees the nuclear family as the ideal family and therefore benefits this certain family type through its laws and policies. Functionalists see society built on harmony and consensus and free from major conflicts. They see the state as acting in the interests of society as a whole and its social policies as being for the good of all. Functionalists see policies as helping families to perform functions more effectively to make life better for their members. Ronald Fletcher believes the introduction of health...
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...Examine the ways in which the government policies and laws may affect the nature and extent of family diversity. Government policies and laws are put in place to uphold moral values of society and force people to take responsibility over themselves and who else they may be responsible for e.g. children. Although the government see its policies as being able to produce the ‘ideal’ nuclear family where the man works and the woman looks after the children, the policies today fail to take into account the changes in society and the different types of families that are becoming more common in society. The government’s policies affect different family types in different ways e.g. the government policies and laws benefit married couples in more ways that cohabiting couples and single parent families as they make divorce harder as well as being benefiting married couple financially as they can claim more tax allowances. This policy only benefits married couples as the government sees the nuclear family as the ideal family and therefore benefits this certain family type through its laws and policies. Functionalists see society built on harmony and consensus and free from major conflicts. They see the state as acting in the interests of society as a whole and its social policies as being for the good of all. Functionalists see policies as helping families to perform functions more effectively to make life better for their members. Ronald Fletcher believes the introduction of health...
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...Examine the ways in which feminist sociologists have contributed to our understanding of family roles and relationships Feminists as a whole take a critical view of the family and they argue that family life oppresses women. They mainly focus on issues such as the unequal division of labour and domestic violence against women. Feminists believe that gender inequality is neither natural nor inevitable but something that society created. Feminists belief in the symmetrical family, which promotes the roles of husbands and wives being, not identical, but similar. Feminism does not cover all the beliefs of the different types of feminists and each approaches family life in a different way and provides varied solutions for each problem or issue. There are many feminists who argue that, despite women having jobs and working, there is little or insufficient evidence of a “new man” who helps out and does an equal share of domestic labour. Women seem to have simply acquired the burden of both paid work and unpaid housework, which is known as the dual burden. So the family still remains to be patriarchal; men are benefiting from their wives or partners unpaid housework. Further support comes from Elsa Ferri and Kate Smith (1996) who provide evidence of the dual burden. They found that the employment increase of women outside of home has had little impact on the domestic division of labour between the sexes. Liberal feminism is an individualistic form of the feminist theory, which...
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...Assessed Essay In what ways can the representation of the family in Nada be read as a microcosm of Spanish society in the immediate post-Civil War era? Carmén Laforet's first novel, “Nada” is set in the war torn city of 1940's Barcelona, and depicts the aspiration of a young woman arriving to the city. This protagonist, Andrea, has her dreams quickly shattered as she witnesses, from the shadows, the chaos and mental and physical torment within the house. The novel is loosely based on Laforet's own experiences, her circumstances are very similar to that of Andrea; in the novel Andrea expects to find joy and love within her grandparents house in Barcelona, as she lived there as a child, however her hopes of this are quickly shattered,“cuando yo era la única nieta pasé alli las temporadas más excitantes de mi vida infantíl...¿todo esto podíá estar tan lejano?” (p22) Even though, taken literally, the narrator is reminiscing over earlier, happier times spent in the house, it echoes memories of Spain in general before the Civil War. Laforet herself was born in Barcelona and both Andrea and Laforet moved away as children and returned during the early 1940's in their late teens to study at the University of Barcelona. From this, Laforet experienced the struggles of post-war Spanish society first hand and evidence of this pervades the novel, drawing a picture of the times, which are not only represented in the city, but almost metaphorically in the household in which the majority...
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