Sociology & Social Policy
Sociology: AQA A Level, topic 1.2.8
Feminist and Marxist Perspective
Feminist and Marxist perspectives on social policy and sociology.
Feminist perspective
- Feminists see society as being based on conflict.
- Society is based on patriarchy benefiting men at women’s expense.
- They argue that the state perpetuates female subordination through social policies.
Example
- For example, the state bases its policies on the nuclear family so it offers benefits to married couples.
- This forces women into often exploitative family structures and segregated conjugal roles.
Marxist perspective
- They see society as divided by a conflict of interest in which the ruling capitalist class exploits the labour of the working class.
- The state represents the ruling class and its social policies serve the interests of capitalism.
- The state represents the ruling class and they use ideological law-making and selective law enforcement to further oppress the proletariat.
The ’caring face’ of capitalism
- They argue that social policy often creates a ’caring face’ of capitalism.
- This means that policies fool the poor into thinking that the state cares about them when in actual fact policies offer a distraction from the exploitation that exists in society.
Example
- For example, the introduction of the minimum wage helps to mask their exploitation by making it appear that the capitalist system cares about the poor.
- This is a way of preventing revolution when class conflict threatens capitalism.
Functionalist and the New Right Perspective
Functionalist and the New Rights perspective on social policy and sociology.
Functionalist view
- Functionalists see society as being based on value consensus which is free from conflict.
- Durkheim believed that through scientific research we could discover both the problems and solutions to society’s social ills.
- Therefore sociology's role is to provide the state with objective scientific information that they can use to base their policies on.
Piecemeal social engineering
- They see the state as serving the interests of society as a whole and policies help society run more smoothly and efficiently.
- Functionalists take a cautious approach, they tend to look at one issue at a time, this is called ‘piecemeal social engineering’.
The New Rights perspective
- They believe the state should have minimal involvement in society.
- They are opposed to state involvement in the family, income support, education, and healthcare.
- They feel that this takes away people’s choices and their feeling of personal responsibility.
The welfare state
- Charles Murray argues that the welfare state gives ‘perverse incentives’ that weaken self-reliance and encourages a dependency culture.
- They want sociologists to come up with alternative policies to the existing ones.
New policy
- They want these new policies to restore the responsibility that the welfare state has taken away from individuals.
- They want individuals to take responsibility for their own and their family's welfare rather than leaving it to the state.