Running Head: SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY AND HISTORY 1

Social Welfare Policy and History

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SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY AND HISTORY 2

Social Welfare Policy and History

Question 1

Each political section or coalition in the history, which forms around the issues of

political ideologies, can be classified into either conservative or liberal factions. Every party can

also be given some overarching conservatism or liberalism, which can be described with some

qualifiers as well.

Conservative Perspectives

Conservatism is a political philosophy that promotes traditional institutions in the context

of civilizations. It's primarily religious, social, and cultural beliefs which do not incorporate time

factor as means of change. Conservatives believe all questions to be of private morality. A

society that is guided by the belief surrounded by the moral order, For instance, a strong sense of

right or wrong by strong personal convictions about justice, is regarded as a good idea in the

society. American conservatism came as a result of the blending of different thoughts, which

cannot be reconciled but rather exist in creative tension. Conservative people will always uphold

traditional concepts, beliefs, and ethnicities as opposed to assimilating changes which can erupt

over-time.

Liberal Perspectives

Liberalism is a political morality based on the essence of development. It assimilates

equality before the Law as a means of governance. Liberals believe that, provided there are

proper institutions and diplomacy measures, the state can work together to maximize success and

minimize conflict (Sandel, 2017). The key fundamental elements of contemporary society are

based on liberalism thoughts. Liberals seek to replace traditional norms with representative

democracy and the Rule of Law. It is explicitly up-to-date considering the modernization and
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technology factors across the world. Based on social contracts, liberals act as a distinct factor for

expanding democracy.

The current federal administration has based its moral altitudes on liberalism. Liberalism

is the dominant version in the United States governance. A combination of liberal ideas of civil

rights and equality before the Law constitutes to modern liberalism. It's only through liberal

philosophy that the government can spend on different developmental and social programs such

as education, healthcare, and social welfare.

A social policy describing the two approaches

The United States incorporates the two perspectives in diverse areas. The critical

consideration is based when political parties suggest on the public policy on government

spending(Graham, Haidt and Nosek,2007). Usually, the government, through legislator, evaluate

both traditional and modern budget considerations. This budget allocation policy is currently the

most critical idea, whose differentiation is based upon liberal minds and conservative thoughts.

Question 2

Elizabethan Poor Laws

Elizabeth reigned at a time when the country was faced with a high number of poor

people. The issue of helping or caring for the poor became paramount. Elizabeth's poor Law was

introduced in 1601, which provided for both indoor and outdoor relief. The morals reformations

were based upon Christians to undertake corporal works of mercy (Szreter, 2020). The Law

categorized the poor into legislation and made provisions for them. For instance, impotent poor,

able-bodied poor, idle poor, and needy children. As consolidated in legislation, the considerable

Law made provision for the taxation on every parish to accommodate the needs for the poor.

Setting some work for the poor and equivalently collecting of underprivileged aid from land and
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chattels owners. Indoors reprieve allowed the unfortunate to be taken into the local industries,

admitted freely to hospital in the case on ailments, orphans would be taken to the residential care,

and idle poor would be taken to the workhouse.

Importance of Elizabethan Poor Laws in the development of social work in the US.

North American created a social welfare system that would benefit immigrants and

citizens. As a result, it welcomed millions of immigrants from diverse cultural grounds and

political views. Poor relief was developed mainly from the first settlers. The strategies and

practices of supporting the poor originally came from Elizabethan poor laws of 1601(Hanrieder,

2019). Based on the number of immigrants and residents, it is unrealistic to believe that

American was able to provide necessary financial support to every needy person. Although the

categorization of poor into classes helped in highlighting those individuals who cannot protect or

provide for themselves, this Norm continued persistently up-to-date—different programs where

set-forth to assist the poor who cannot work. The provision of social work was based on the

category of the poor in society. Elizabethan poor laws enlightened the need for social work

development as well as care for the poor in the United States.

Evolution of Indoor and Outdoor relief

After the onset of the industrial revolution, there was an adverse need to differentiate

between indoor and outdoor relief. The need for more workers in industries allowed the poor to

get an opportunity to work. Outdoor relief was majorly related to monetary support to the needy,

while indoor relief was meant to send a poor individual to the workhouses. Although the notion

of stigma in society limited these ideas, For instance, it was difficult to categorize both disabled

and mentally disturbed individuals in either indoor or outdoor reliefs. The consistency of

relieving the poor faced challenges as many where unable to differentiate between poor and
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pretenders. Restrictions on categorizations of indoor and outdoor relief led to stigmatization as

most of the able-poor were not willing to work in industries.

Question 3

Social welfare problem and its solution in social welfare history.

The history of social welfare elaborates on the evolution of charitable works, related to

the social reformation and non-profit services entirely designed to protect and benefit citizens of

the larger communities. Social welfare problems depend on the city or society under

consideration (Austin, 2019). Although some of the welfare issues are common, for instance,

Poverty was the critical social problem which resulted from lack of employment and poor social

amenities. People were categorized as either rich or poor depending on their abilities to afford

basic needs effortlessly, although the introduction of Elizabethan Poor laws shed light on this

problem. The charitable works designed to benefit the society aimed at eradication of poverty

and ignorance. The disadvantaged group benefited positively from social welfare works

organized by both the federal government and private sectors, especially religious groups.

How social work address the problem today.

The current society is faced with the same challenges as it was during social welfare

history. Poverty and homelessness is a critical challenge in social works. Although there are

devise measures for handling this problem. The assistance of the poor with concrete needs is an

essential way of helping them. Specific requirements include shelter, food, and clothing—

advocacy for the poor in society (Stern,2013). In most cases, mentally affected people might be

unable to speak for themselves; provision of advocacy services such as mediators may direct

solve their problems by almost half. Social policy development and community education shed

light on society on the importance of caring for the poor.

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Assess the pro and cons of today's approach

The social problem approach has changed dramatically since the social welfare era.

Technology has simplified solutions when dealing with the social problem. The more significant

advantage arises in that it is possible to solve a problem at a minimum cost (Finn & Jacobson,

2013). Mobilization of resources can be done faster through social media, thus handling the

problem cheaply. Although this approach is disadvantageous, there is a higher number of people

living in deplorable conditions. The procedure is not suitable for creating long-lasting solutions.

Reasons for assessment

Based on increasing population across the world, the level of Poverty increases

tremendously due to lack of opportunities. We cannot ultimately solve these problems; neither

can we create opportunities for every poor person in the society. The optimum solution can only

be achieved by educating the community through social work. This can only be done if

successively fight ignorance. Use of available resources maximumly to solve the problem, for

example, use of technology to locate affected people in society, arranging cheap means of

handling the issue, and critically evaluating the results based on the available data.
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Reference

Austin.D.M. (2019).The Flexner Myth and the History of Social Work. The University of

Chicago

Finn, J. L., & Jacobson, M. (2013). Social justice. In Encyclopedia of social work.

Graham J, Haidt J, and Nosek, B. (2007).Liberals and Conservatives Rely on Different set of

morals foundations. University of Virginia

Hanrieder, W. F. (Ed.). (2019). Helmut Schmidt: Perspectives on Politics. Routledge.

Sandel, M. J. (2017). Political Liberalism 1. In Rawls and Law (pp. 189-218). Routledge.

Stern .M .J. (2013) Social Policy.Encyclopedia of Social Work accessed online.

Szreter, S. (2020). The Capacity to Surprise: On the Importance of History for Public Health

Policy. American Journal of Public Health, 110(3), 337-338.