Families and social policy

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  • Created by: evekav
  • Created on: 23-03-22 19:48
Explain China's one child policy.
Women must seek permission by a committee before trying to become pregnant, couples who comply get extra benefits.
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Explain the family policy in communist Romania 1980s.
Introduced policies to drive up the birth rate - restricted contraception, made divorce more difficult, lowered legal marriage age to 15, unmarries/childless couples pay 5% more income tax.
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Explain the Nazi family policy.
It encouraged the healthy and 'racially pure' to breed a 'master race'. Other policy sought to confine women to 'children, kitchen, church'.
Compulsorily sterilised 375,000 disabled people.
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Explain the difference from the previous examples to democratic societies.
The family is a private sphere in which the government will not intervene unless things 'go wrong'.
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How do functionalists view social policy on the family?
See policies as helping families to perform their functions more effectively.
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What does Fletcher argue policies since the industrial revolution has led to?
A welfare state - supports the family in performing functions more effectively.
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How are functionalists criticised?
*Assumes all members benefit equally from social policies
*It assumes a march of progress with policies making family life better
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How does Donzelot see policy on the family?
As a form of state control and power over families.
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How does Donzelot argue the family is policed?
Professionals carry out surveillance, using their knowledge to control and change families.
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Who does Donzelot argue are most likely to be policed and why?
Poor families - more likely to be seen as 'problems' and the cause of some crimes and are therefore labelled targets for 'improvements'.
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What does Condry argue the state imposes to control/regulate family life?
Compulsory Parenting Orders - parents may be forced to attend parenting classes to learn the 'correct' way to bring up their children.
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How do marxists and feminists criticise Donzelot?
Failing to identify clearly who benefits from policies of surveillance-> marxists argue this is the capitalist class, feminists argue this is men.
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What do the New Right argue changes to the nuclear family as the main type has caused?
Threatened the conventional family and produced social problems eg crime and welfare dependency.
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What does Almond argue about:
a) laws making divorce easier
b) civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples
c) tax laws
a) undermines lifelong commitment of marriage
b) sends the message the state doesn't see heterosexual marriage as superior to others
c) discriminate conventional families with a sole breadwinner
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What are New Right commentators (Murray) critical of?
Welfare policy
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What does Murray argue welfare benefits offer?
Perverse incentives - reward irresponsible/anti social behaviour.
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What examples does Murray give of the negatives of welfare benefits?
*Fathers may abandon their responsibility if they see the state will maintain their children
*Council housing for unmarried teenager mothers encourages young girls to get pregnant
*Growth of lone parent families=boys have no male role model->rising crime
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What does the New Right see policies are encouraging?
A dependency culture
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According to the New Right, what functions does a dependency culture threaten?
*Successful socialisation of the young
*Maintenance of the work ethic among men
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What solution does the New Right give to the problems created by welfare policies?
Cuts in welfare spending and tighter restrictions on who is eligible for benefits.
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What policies do the New Right favour?
Policies that favour the traditional nuclear family.
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How is the New Right view of policy criticised?
*Feminists - an attempt to justify a return to the patriarchal nuclear family
*Wrongly assumes the patriarchal nuclear family is natural rather than constructed
*Abbott and Wallace - cutting benefits=more poorer families
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How was the New Right reflected in the 1979-97 Conservative governments?
Thatcher-banned promotion of homosexuality
Also defined divorce as a social problem and emphasised the continued responsibility of parents for children after divorce.
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How was the New Right NOT reflected in the 1979-97 Conservative governments?
*Made divorce easier
*Gave children born outside marriage the same rights as those born to married parents
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How was the New Right reflected in the 1997-2010 New Labour governments?
*Family is the bedrock of society, family headed by a married, heterosexual couple best to bring up children
*Parenting Orders
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How was the New Right NOT reflected in the 1997-2010 New Labour governments?
*Policies favoured dual earner neo conventional family:
-longer maternity leave, 3 months unpaid for both parents
-Working Families Tax Credit
-The New Deal, help lone parents back to work
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How was the 1997-2010 New Labour government policies in support of alternatives to the nuclear family?
*Civil partnerships for same sex couples
*Unmarried couples same rights to adopt as married couples
*Outlawing discrimination on grounds of sexuality
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How are the Conservative led governments from 2010 conflicted over New Right policies?
Division within the Conservatives between modernisers and traditionalists
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Examples of the conflict of 2010 onwards Conservative governments.
Financial austerity policies reflected New Right desire to cut spending BUT the government failed to introduce policies to promote New Right ideal of a conventional heterosexual nuclear family.
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What does feminist Land argue social policies assume the ideal family is?
The patriarchal nuclear family with a male provider and female homemaker plus dependent children.
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How do feminists argue social policies produce a self-fulfilling prophercy?
Policies have an assumption of the ideal family and in turn the effect of them will reinforce that particular type at the expense of others=SFP
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How do Tax and Welfare policies maintain the conventional nuclear family?
They may assume the male is the main wage earner and can make it difficult for wives to claim social security benefits themselves as it is expected their husbands will provide->reinforcing women's dependence on husbands.
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How do Childcare policies maintain the conventional nuclear family?
Government funding for childcare doesn't cover full time so parents would have to pay additional costs meaning women are restricted from working and placed in a position of economic dependence on their partners.
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How do Caring for the sick/elderly maintain the conventional nuclear family?
Government assumes the family will provide this meaning generally women do this preventing them from working full time increasing their economic dependence.
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How is the feminist view of policy criticised?
There are many policies which help women become more equal: Equal Pay Act 1970, Sex Discrimination Act, equal rights to divorce....
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What does Drew use the concept of gender regimes to describe?
How social policies in different countries encourage/discourage gender equality in the family or work.
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What are the two types of gender regime Drew identified?
*Familistic gender regimes
*Individualistic gender regimes
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What is the familistic gender regime?
Where policies are based on a traditional gender division between male breadwinner and female homemaker and carer.
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What is the individualistic gender regime?
Where policies are based on the belief husbands and wives should be treated the same.
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Which gender regime does Drew argue most European Union countries are now moving towards?
Individualistic
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What has there been a trend towards since the 2008 global recession?
Neo-liberal welfare policies -> individuals are encouraged to use the market rather than the state to meet their needs eg private pension provision
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Explain the family policy in communist Romania 1980s.

Back

Introduced policies to drive up the birth rate - restricted contraception, made divorce more difficult, lowered legal marriage age to 15, unmarries/childless couples pay 5% more income tax.

Card 3

Front

Explain the Nazi family policy.

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Explain the difference from the previous examples to democratic societies.

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

How do functionalists view social policy on the family?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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