Social Policy

Msaiwale Kathewera
Reflection
1. What do you understand by the term social policy?
2. Who makes social policy?
3. Who does it affect?
4. What areas of life might social policy affect?
Social Policy: What is it?
The Policies which governments use for welfare and
social protection
The ways in which welfare is developed in society
The academic study of this subject area
Some definitions
• “Social Policy refers to forms of state intervention which
affect the social opportunities and conditions under
which people live.” (Burden 1998:3)
• “Social policy is the study of welfare and the ‘welfare
state’. It is a deliberate intervention by the state to
redistribute resources amongst its citizens so as to
achieve a welfare objective.” (Baldock et al 2003:9)
• Social Policy is the “aims or goals, or statements of what
ought to happen. Social policies aim to improve human
welfare and to meet human needs for education, health,
housing and social security.” (Blakemore & Griggs
2007:1)
What does it cover?
• Policy and practice in personal and social services:
health, social security, education, employment services,
community care, housing management, youth work
• Social Concerns:
Crime, disability, employment, mental health,
educational attainment, educational need, old age
• Issues relating to social disadvantage:
Race, gender, poverty, ethics
• The range of the collective responses to these aspects
Starting points for social policy
study
Social issues
Social problems
Social groups
Social services
Experience of users
Social Policy
The term Social Policy Ultimately relates to how state and
society informs and relates to an individual’s social
biography and context:
The term ‘social policy’ refers to forms of state intervention
which affect the social opportunities and conditions under
which people live (Burden 1998:3)
In the first sense, social policy is particularly concerned
with social services and the welfare state.
In the second, broader sense, it stands for a range of issues
extending far beyond the actions of government - the means
by which welfare is promoted, and the social and economic
conditions which shape the development of welfare
Social Policy as an Academic Subject
Social Policy as an academic subject is concerned with
the study of social services and the welfare state.
It developed in the early part of the 20th century as a
complement to social work studies, aimed at people who
would be professionally involved in the administration of
welfare.
Interdisciplinarity of social policy
Social Policy is a subject area, not a discipline; it
borrows from other social science disciplines in order
to develop study in the area.
It is an interdisciplinary area which involves issues
dealt with in sociology, social work, psychology,
economics, political science, management, history,
philosophy and law
Social policy includes
1. Monetary transfers from insurance funds and state
budgets to recipients of contributional or non-
contributional benefits
2. Provision of protective rights for at-risk groups
(children, people with disabilities etc) in the workplace,
the home and in the community
3. The provision of professional support in a way that
facilitates empowerment on a personal and group
basis from a range of social and community
workers in agency, residential and community
settings
Social policy includes
4. The creation and maintenance of an institutional and
physical environment which helps individuals, families
and groups to lead a creative, independent and social life
and to receive support as needed to cope with transition
and crises
Social Policy and Welfare
The study of social policy is the study of welfare and the
‘welfare state’:
[Social Policy is]a deliberate
intervention by the state to
redistribute resources amongst its
citizens so as to achieve a welfare
objective
(Baldock et al 2003:9).
Welfare state
Welfare state is a state liable to ensure basic existence
and social security for its citizens
 A social system in which a government is responsible
for the economic and social welfare of its citizens and
has policies to provide free health care, money for
people without jobs, etc.; also : a country that has such
a system
Welfare
Welfare – another ambiguous term, used in three
main senses:
 Welfare commonly refers to 'well-being'. In welfare
economics, welfare is understood in terms of
'utility'; people's well-being or interests consist of
the things they choose to have.
 Welfare also refers to the range of services which
are provided to protect people in a number of
conditions, including childhood, sickness and old
age.
Welfare
 For instance in the United States, welfare refers
specifically to financial assistance to poor people
(e.g. Temporary Aid to Needy Families). This usage
is not generally reflected elsewhere, but it has
been adopted by politicians in the UK in recent
years.
 Welfare is often associated with needs, but it goes
beyond what people need; to achieve well being,
people must have choices, and the scope to
choose personal goals and ambitions.
Social Welfare
The well being of individuals or families, households
and communities in both material and non material
terms such as education, health….. which are produced
through provision of goods and services by families,
community, the voluntary sector, the market and the
state
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE EXAMPLES OF
SOCIAL WELFARE PROGRAMMES IN
MALAWI?
Social Policies in Malawi are;
Education eg Pregnancy Policy, Compulsory
Education
Health care policies
Reproductive Health
Orphans and vulnerable children and the youth
Social protection
Housing policies e.g. for groups of people affected
with natural disasters like floods
Disaster Risk Management Policy ( being developed)
Arguments for Welfare and Collective
Provision
Humanitarian
Religious
Mutual self-
interest
Democratic
Practical
Arguments against Welfare and Collective
Provision
• People have absolute rights
to use their own property as
they wish
• Redistributive arrangements
are compulsory and thus
mitigates against free will
• The rights of the individual
are paramount
• Undermines economic
performance
• Fosters dependency
 Values in the Welfare Debate
• Solidarity:
“A firm and persevering
determination to commit
oneself to the common
good, that is... The good of
all and of each individual,
because we are all really
responsible for each
other”
Pope John Paul II, On Social
Concern, 1987, #38
• Freedom:
Individualists argue freedom
should be based on
independence – freedom
to do something
The social model of freedom
depends on
interdependence. To be
able to act people have to
have the power to choose
in society
 Values in the Welfare Debate
• Rights:
Rights to welfare can be
general or specific
UK attempts to extend rights
to all dependent on
citizenship
However, citizenship can be a
concept that can be used
both to deny people rights as
well as to include them
• Justice:
Two approaches to justice:
Platonic: Justice is what is
good, right or desirable (The
Republic)
Aristotelian: Justice is a
principle of proportionate
action. Social justice is
basically a distributive
principle. You get only what
you deserve (Nichomean
Ethics)
Role of ideology
Ideology is a set of assumptions about how the
world works.
Most of the time ideologies are not tested
empirically. If they are tested and verified, we
would call them theories.
Ideologies are often associated with political
parties.
For example, policy decisions could be based on
the following principles:
1) Individual Responsibility
2)Social Responsibility, especially for people in
need.
 Role of ideology Cont..
A politician that adopts the Individual
Responsibility approach might argue against
new taxes and for reducing social programs.
A politician that adopts the Social Responsibility
approach might argue that new taxes are
necessary to support programs for the poor.
The Individual Responsibility approach is often
used to argue against government intervention.
Social Responsibility approach is often used to
argue for more government programs.
THE POLITICAL SUBSETS OF
AMERICAN MAINSTREAMISM
Conservative Liberal
Political Views • Right-wing, anti-federalist. • Left-wing, federalist.
• Prefer smaller government, less regulation, most services to • Prefer more regulation and services
be provided by the private sector in a free market, and a like free universal health care to be
literal interpretation of the Constitution. provided by the government to all
citizens.
Economic Views • Government should tax less and spend less. • Government should provide more
• Cutting spending to balance the budget should be the services to the less fortunate (like
priority. health care) and increase taxes if
• Higher income earners should have an incentive to invest necessary.
(credits). • High-income earners should pay a
• Charity is the responsibility of the people. larger percentage of their income as
taxes.

Social Views • Opposed to gay marriage, abortion and embryonic stem cell • Gay couples to get equal rights like
research. everyone else (e.g. marriage); abortion
• Support the right to bear arms, death penalty, and personal should be legal; support embryonic
responsibility as an individual. stem cell research.
• Support restrictions and regulation
around the right to bear arms.

Personal • Individuals should exercise personal responsibility and it is • The people should look to the
Responsibility the governments role to hold them accountable even with government to provide a structure.
severe penalties. • Laws are enacted to protect every
• Laws are enacted to reflect the best interest of the society as a individual for an equal society
whole. sometimes at the expense of economic
freedom if neccessary.
Conservatism
Conservatives believe that adoption of their ideas result
in more efficient and effective government.
They are convinced that government eco intervention
should be minimized, so that each individual has both
the discretion and obligation to participate in our free

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market system.
Liberalism
Liberals (sometimes called “progressives,” a category
that includes most social workers) are likewise
convinced in the moral and logical superiority of their
ideas.
They contend that government should pursue equal

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individual opportunity and somewhat greater equality of
outcome; in other words, that government should help to
maximize social mobility, while limiting the gap
between rich & poor. “challenging injustice,” as
advocated by the nasw code, is thus a typical expression
of the liberal credo.
Distributive justice
Deciding how resources should be distributed
requires some rules or parameters
Three views of philosophy, all very different offer

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ways to make this decision
Libertarianism
Utilitarianism
Egalitarianism
Libertarianism
 Focuses on the liberty/freedoms of
individuals
 Libertarians argue that people should be free
from any pressure or oppression to acquire

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resources they require and to dispose of them
as they please
 Libertarians support a free-market economy
and oppose to government intervention in
redistributing resources for example, welfare
rights
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism weigh up decisions about distribution of
resources according to what will deliver the greatest
good for the greatest number
E.g. They ask questions like should we allocate

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resources to increase number of police in the
community or assign funding to health care or adult
education?
The one they weigh as most beneficial to most people
of the society is the decision they will go for
Egalitarianism
 Egalitarians adopt a moral position, arguing that we
cannot justify the common good if some people are
forced into hardship or are denied basic liberties
 Egalitarianism is based on the notion that society

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requires all its citizens to have the same basic rights
 Thus, there should be equality of opportunities and no
inequality in power, income and other resources, and
this view is more sympathetic to SW and Human
Services
Welfare State
The institutional arrangement through which the state
provides money, goods and services to its citizens.
This concept is usually used to refer to main
institutions of the post-war welfare settlements
Some of these goods and services are national health
service, social security systems, state funded education
systems, the state role in the provision of funding for
housing and state personal and social services
IS MALAWI A WELFARE STATE????
Welfare System
Means a range of institutions that together determine
the welfare of the citizen.
Among these are the family and the community
network in which the family exist, the market and the
charitable and voluntary sectors the social services and
benefits provided by the state
The organisation and mechanisms primarily concerned
with providing or guaranteeing the social welfare of
citizens these may include : non state organisations
such as those in voluntary sector and those in the
private for profit sector.
Welfare state and systems
Note that during the past three decades, such a view
has been marginalized by policy approaches that
emphasize safety nets and the targeting of vulnerable
groups.
Comprehension check
 Read handout and answer the following questions:
 What is the study of social policy concerned with?
 List 4 importance of Social Policy
 Which processes does social policy seek to explain?
 Who are the target audience of Social Policies?
 What distinguishes social policy from other social science
subjects?