HARAMAYA UNIVERSITY

College of Educational and Behavioural Science

Department Psychology

MA Program in Social Psychology

Course Title: Social Policy and Program Evaluation

Course Code: Spsy6042

Individual Assignment (1)

By
Jafer Aliyi Abdurahman
(ID: K/PGP/417/11)

Submitted To: Bahar Adam (PhD)

 Individual Assignment (1)

A) Success and failure factor for social policy

Social policy is a plan or action of government or institutional agencies which aim to improve or
reform society. Social policy might also be described as actions that affect the well-being of
members of a society through shaping the distribution of and access to goods and resources in
that society. There are some factors which are implementation success determinants such as
choice of policy instruments, precision and clarity of policy design, control structures,
institutional design, administrative capacities and social acceptance.

The factors for successful implementation of the policy: are effective planning, good plan and
design of the policy from policy it self’s; policy objectives are clear and consistent; transparent
institutional framework and approval at highest level; public and private… etc. Policy successes
can be understanding the past and learn from failure, open up the policy process, be rigorous in
analysis and the use of evidence, allow time and space for iteration and adaptation, recognise the
importance of individual leadership and strong personal relationships.

Failure factor for social policy can be identified: overly optimistic expectations; implementation
in dispersed governance; inadequate collaborative policy making; and the vagaries of the
political cycle. The four broad contributors to policy failure are: (1) the uneven distribution of
human resources; (2) barriers to economic mobility; (3) the economic structure of a country; (4)
the social and political organisation of a country.
 B) Considering a social policy in Ethiopia, explain the privileged and oppressed group

(Gender equality and women’s empowerment)

Privilege group:

with regard to gender equality and women’s empowerment in Ethiopia, men’s largely dominated
the access to community participation and decision making. They often face less basic economic
constraints than women, including more access to credit and market access.

Oppressed group:

In Ethiopia 80 percent of the population resides in rural areas and women provide the majority of
the agricultural labour in these communities. However, their contributions often go largely
unrecognized and their fathers or husbands often restrict access to resources and community
participation. According to the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey in 2016, 30 percent of
Ethiopian women do not make decisions on individual and family issues. Instead their husbands
make decisions for them on choices including the option to use birth