For AQA GCE Sociology Unit 1 Chapter 1 Revision. Print out as a handout, it is a good way to revise. Application, Interpretation and Analysis tips are also included. All derived from the AS Sociology Revision Guide. Good luck!!!

1. Unit 1: Families and Households
(6) Social Policy and the Family

2. Social Policy and the Family (Intro)
• Social policies: are the measures taken by state
bodies such as schools and welfare agencies
• They are usually based on laws introduced by
government
• Laws and policies can have both direct and
indirect effects on the family:
1. Direct effects
2. Indirect effect

3. 1. Direct effects
• Some policies are aimed specifically at family
life – e.g. laws on marriage, divorce, child
protection, contraception and abortion

4. 2. Indirect effects
• Policies on other social or economic issues
also affect the family –
• E.g. Compulsory schooling provides childcare
for working parents but also keeps children
dependent financially for longer

5. Application
• In essays on policy, you need to give examples
of different policies and how they affect
family life – so learn a range of them

6. Perspectives on policy and the
family
Different perspectives have different views on the relationship between social
policy and the family

7. Functionalism
• Functionalists see society based on value
consensus
• The state acts in the interests of the whole of
society and its policies benefit everyone
• Policies HELP the family to perform its functions –
socialising children, caring for the welfare of its
members etc.
• There is a ‘march of progress’ – policies are
gradually improving family life; e.g. the welfare
state enables families to look after their members
better, through access to the NHS etc.

8. Evaluation
• Functionalism assumes policies benefit
everyone, but feminists argue they benefit
only men
• It also assumes policies make family
better, but they can also make it worse, e.g.
cutting benefits to poor families

9. The New Right
• The New Right is a conservative political perspective
that opposes state intervention in family life
• It has a major influence on social policy
It sees the traditional nuclear family as ‘natural’ and
based on a biological division of labour between
male breadwinner and female nurturer
If parents perform these roles properly, the family
will be self-reliant, able to socialise children
effectively and to care for its members
It opposes family diversity and sees lone-parent and
same-sex families as damaging to children

10. cont. The New Right
• THE PROBLEM:
• The New Right criticise many welfare policies for
undermining the family’s self-reliance by proving
generous benefits, e.g. to lone parent families
 This results in a ‘DEPENDENCY CULTURE’
where individuals depend on the state to
support their families

11. Murray (1984): ‘Perverse incentives’
Murray (a New Right thinker): sees benefits as
‘PERVERSE INCENTIVES’ rewarding
irresponsible behaviour –
• E.g. If the state provides benefits to lone-
parent families

12. cont. The New Right
• THE SOLUTION:
• The New Right favour cutting welfare
spending, especially universal benefits
• This will give fathers more incentive to provide
for their families
• Unlike functionalists, who sees policies
benefiting the family, the New Right believe
that the less families depend on the state, the
better

13. Evaluation
• Feminists criticise New Right views as an
attempt to justify the patriarchal nuclear
family that oppresses women
• They argue that the nuclear family is NOT
‘natural’ but socially constructed

14. The New Labour
• New Labour is a political perspective
• LIKE the New Right, it favours the traditional
family as usually the best place to raise
children, and prefer means-tested benefits
targeted at the poor rather than universal benefits
• However, UNLIKE the New Right:
It is more accepting of family diversity –
- E.g. it introduced the Civil Partnership Act and
legislation to allow co-habiting couples to adopt
It believes some policies can improve family life
- E.g. extra benefits for poor families

15. Analysis
• You can score analysis marks by showing
the similarities and/or differences
between different theories

16. Feminism
• Feminist is a conflict perspective
• It see society based on a conflict of interests between men
and women
• Society is patriarchal – male dominated
 Social policies often shape or define family life in ways that
benefit men and maintain patriarchy, disadvantaging
women and maintaining their subordination
 Land (1978) argues that policies often assume the
patriarchal family to be the norm
• As a result, policies act as a self-fulfilling prophecy, actually
helping to reproduce this family type
• For example, maternity leave is much longer than paternity
leave, reinforcing women’s responsibility for childcare

17. Evaluation
• NOT ALL policies maintain patriarchy –
• E.g. women’s refuges, laws against rape
in marriage
• In Sweden, policies treat women as
individuals, NOT dependants

18. Marxism
• Marxism is a conflict perspective
• It sees society as divided into two classes, in
which the capitalist class exploit the working
class by paying them less than the value of what
they produce
• All social institutions – including policies – serve
the interests of capitalism, e.g. the low levels of
benefits for the old maintains on the cheap
those who can no longer be used to produce
profits

19. cont. Marxism
• Policies affecting families often result from the
needs of capitalism, for example:
• IN World War 2, women were needed as a
reserve army of labour and so the government set
up nurseries to enable them to work
• AFTER the War, women were no longer needed
and the nurseries were closed, forcing them back
into the housewife role and dependence on their
husbands
 This shows how policies serve the needs of
capitalism and how this may affect families

20. Interpretation
• In essays on how policies affect the
family, you need to discuss them in the
context of different perspectives