Impacts of Explaining Social Problems on the Social Policies Adopted - Term Paper Example

Impacts of Explaining Social Problems on the Social Policies Adopted Introduction The existence of social problems in our society influences the nature of policies that the government adopt to help counter the implication of these problems on the lifestyle of the citizens and the security in the country. Social problems can be defined s problems within the society, which is viewed as being inappropriate, undesirable and out of order with the normal societal norms and code of conduct. The categorization of social problems and their classification in a society are influenced by the beliefs and religious inclination of the society and thus require standardization through government policies (Callinicoss, 2011). Social policies are instruments used by the government to control the spiralling of social problems within the society that have the potential of creating societal disturbances. Social policies are defines as the legislations and principles outlined by the government to influence how to handle different social problems and improve the human welfare. In this paper, the extent to which social problems such as unemployment, poverty and social exclusion in the society influences government policies in the United Kingdom will be evaluated (Baldock, 2011). Poverty and social exclusion and government policies Poverty and social exclusion is one of the most discussed social problems in the United Kingdom and this has led to the intervention of the government and the adoption of a number of policies to mitigate the problem. Before the coming to power of the labour party in 1997, social exclusion and poverty were not taken as major agendas of the government and this led to widespread poverty of children and the elderly in the country. However, the labour party inherited a country that was facing major social problems that required the intervention through the development of sound social policies (Callinicoss, 2011). Politicians to make them less serious social problems have demeaned poverty and social exclusion scenarios and this initially contributed to the lack of policy by the government. Poverty was given a narrow definition that was either confined to lack of basic wants or having a basic salary that could not suffice to their many needs. Social exclusion results from the alienation of individuals within a society due to their social status and abilities as compared to others within the same society. Despite attempts by a number of people to alienate social exclusion from poverty, the two stem from similar problems and this explains the need for the government to adopt an inclusive policy for both (Callinicoss, 2011). The collective use of poverty and social exclusion has a number of benefits especially in making it possible for the government to develop policies that address challenges emanating from the two. In using social exclusion and poverty in one line, the concerns associated with low income and factors associated with severe disadvantages are easily connected. The scope of the two words is also the same and whether each is used in isolation, the impacts of each will always remain related to the other (Jordan & Drake, 2012). A report released by the office of national statistics of the United Kingdom outline the extent of the problem in the country and how laxity of the government prior to 1997 created a social crisis, as there were no proper policies to address this social problem. However, this was a time when the policies initiated by the labour government since 1997 had taken effect and being implemented to improve the social nature of the problem (Bilton, 2004). Discussion on social exclusion and poverty and its ravaging implications on the state of the society have been shown to impact positively on the government’s social policy implementations. Different forum for social exclusion and poverty discussions have been used in the different countries and these include the millennium surveys and report on social exclusion. The social exclusion and poverty report released by the millennium surveys in 1999 is credited for the development of a number of policies by the United Kingdom government. According to this survey, social exclusion dimensions were highlighted and detailed to demonstrate the extent to which the government policy formulation and implementation can affect the state of the country (Callinicoss, 2011). According to this report, social exclusion has four dimensions, which include the widespread impoverishment of the areas that are socially excluded. These parts of the society are also exposed to labour market exclusion, which results into a decrease in the presence of paid employment. Most of this part of the society is also discriminated from the public and private sector and their gains from these areas of the economy are drastically minimized. The final dimension of social exclusion according to the millennium survey of 1999 is the exclusion from social relations, a sociology aspect that involves voluntary exclusion from social, political and civil life of the society (Bochel, 2009). One important component of social exclusion that influences the policies adopted by the government in the United Kingdom is the weaknesses in the social supports and social networks. Poverty has been proved a determinant in the determination of different individual’s permissions to participate in different social and communal activities (Jordan & Drake, 2012). To counter the influences of social exclusion in the society, the United Kingdom government strengthened the social workers act to broaden their scope and study the parameters of the two. A number of discussions on social exclusion have focused on the environment of different social environments and how this influences their acceptance in the general society. Most government policies have thus focused in improving the quality of housing and working towards ensuring the presence of leisure facilities in the red areas classified as socially excluded. The presence of proper telecommunication and transport systems within such areas also improves the acceptance of such areas and increase access and communication among the occupants (Callinicoss, 2011). Apart from policies that seeks to address the infrastructural disparities that contribute to social exclusions, the studies that have highlighted the benefits of studying the social fabric has created a new frontier for policy formulators. Social fabric has been shown by sociologists to influence the understanding the study of social exclusion and poverty in the society. Social fabric is the social connection that exists between different people in the society, the development of strong civil organisations and associations and level to which people within this social setting interacts and interconnects with the problems of each other (Bradford, 2012). The erosion of social fabrics occurs in the event of the withdrawal of services to the different members of a given social group in a society. Classified as social exclusion from services, these occur when specific individuals are denied access to various private and public services despite being entitled to them. The Canadian society thus exist as a proletariat and bourgeoisie system where evidence of class struggles exist and is evident in the way the bourgeoisie struggle to have utmost control on the means of production as the proletariats struggle to survive under the low wages they are offered. The bourgeoisie who are the wealthiest control the production channels and extract capital, which contributes their high wealth, from the production processes (Jordan & Drake, 2012). The proletariats on the other hand struggle to offer their services in form of labour in exchange for wages. Evidence of increased industrialization and architectural development in the country has significantly resulted into increased social stratification in the country especially after the Second World War. Family backgrounds and traditions established by age long social standings are still revered in the country, a fact that contributes significantly to social stratification and inequality in the country (Bilton, 2004). Despite the detailed explanation provided by the reporter on the issues of stratification and issues of inequality in the country, the inequality found within the different tribes in the country is not shown. Canada has a diverse society with individuals from different social backgrounds that obviously have a wealth distribution pattern that differs significantly. However, the report has provided a brief overview of the country’s social wealth distributions, relying heavily on the results from census released by the national housing statistics. Inequality and social stratification within the capitalist systems has resulted into widespread inequalities in different economies around the world. The wage patterns thus vary depending on an individual’s social status and their ability to control the means of production within the country (Dickens & Connors, 2009). These includes access to electricity, water and sewerage services, postal and banking access and other primary needs like education and hospital facilities. His task force was mandated to identify the best government approaches that could be adopted to mitigate the prevalent social exclusion in this society. According to this taskforce, a number of events were categorized as social exclusion and an in depth study of their prevalence and presence in the society was needed to help guide the government mitigation approaches (Bradford, 2012). The criteria for identifying social exclusion according to the government taskforce laid emphasis on the presence of a number of events including the lack of opportunities for the individuals in these areas. The inability to access educational and work related opportunities despite the willingness and ability to deliver was also considered as social exclusion within the mandate of this taskforce. The disruption of families resulting from conflicts and other social and family related results have been categorized as potential sources of social exclusion. Apart from the highlighted primary factors, others as highlighted in this taskforce included the presence of poor housing, uncaring neighbourhoods riddled buy crime and the disadvantages caused by poverty and discrimination (Alcock, 2012). According to a survey on government policies released by the centre for analysis of social exclusion at the London school of economics, the United Kingdom government has demonstrated its commitment to work towards the elimination of poverty and social exclusion. Through the adoption of a number of policies, the government has demonstrated a distinction in the various approaches that they are adopting as compared to those adopted by previous governments (Jordan & Drake, 2012). Most of the problems that were faced by a number of British in the mid-90s that concluded to the growth of social exclusion are today covered in the government policies and approaches. Poverty have been given different classifications to enable the government developed a more informed approach on formulating these policies. Of major concern to the government today is the prevalence of child poverty, an aspect that grows from societal exclusion and erosion of the binding fabrics in the society (Dickens & Connors, 2009). To develop an approach that is all-inclusive, the government has recognized social exclusion and poverty as multi-faceted and interlinked to each other. This has guided the public debates on the policies that the government have introduced and has led to an approach that does not just look at the cash income and services today in the country but also the long-term demerits associated with societal exclusion. The government made a commitment to cut the relative child poverty level by a quarter by the end of the 2004-2005 financial years and to ensure that the menace is reduced to half by the end of 2011. Most of the policies incorporated today focuses in areas such as employment, education, and the eradication of child impoverishment and the provision of essential services to the vulnerable groups in the society. Such bold approaches by the government have resulted into significant reduction in poverty levels and social exclusion cases in the country. The available data points to a reduction since the labour government assumed power and initiated the enactment of social policies aimed at eliminating societal disparities witnessed in the country. Education as a social problem and the social policies developed Education inequalities in the United Kingdom have reached a level that the intervention of the government through the formulation of policies that ensure quality to all is essential. The differences and the inequalities have been attributed to the influences of the social status in determining the access of different individuals to better education opportunities. According to sociologist, education presents an alternative social investment that has the ability to change the social status of a society and eliminate social exclusion within (Wright & Wright, 2008). For the European Union to achieve its economic competitiveness and plans, it must ensure the development of proper education structures and opportunities to all irrespective of their social status. With the surging number of students dropping out of primary school, the country will witness an increase in the number of its citizens who lack proper reading and comprehension skills to drive its economy towards its economic goals. The groping out of schools currently witnessed has been attributed to the direct impacts of educational inequalities as a social problem in the country (Dickens & Connors, 2009). The approaches adopted by the UK government as early as the 19th century demonstrated its commitment to develop policies that will ensure the creation of free opportunities for all. With the introduction of free elementary education in 1870, the admission rate increased significantly, which demonstrated the social inequalities that existed before? However, secondary education was not offered the waiver and this resulted into a large number of elementary school dropouts in the country as compared to those who acquired admission in the elementary schools. To demonstrate commitment towards creating social equalities in educational sector and in response to the discussions by sociologists then, the government introduced free secondary education through the education act of 1944 (Bradford, 2012). These approaches significantly influenced the equalization of educational opportunities in the country despite the social differences that existed then. Every new government committed to this progress and this resulted into the centralization of education by the conservative government of the 80s and 90s. Through this centralization, the United Kingdom adopted a national assessment approach that created uniformity and eliminated the difference in exam qualification based on school type and level. Through this policy, the focus of education was shifted to the nature of the school but the approaches adopted by the government to improve the educational standards in otherwise poorly resourced schools. The assessment approaches by the government also changed and it was to be pegged on outcomes as opposed to educational institutions (Alcock, 2012). An improperly streamlined educational sector is exposed to a number of social problems that affect negatively on the educational standards of the system. A number of social issues arise in a system that fails to recognize the need for equality and implement policies that reduce social disparities and discrimination. Racism is one of the social problems associated with improper development of education policies aimed at addressing disparities in the system. An educational environment filled with racism reduces the benefits of education and discourages one social group from pursuing their educational dreams. It is therefore essential for policies to be developed based on the nature of a problem and the sector that it influence most (Wright & Wright, 2008). According to the British educational research association, the evaluation and exploration of social inequalities in the educational sector requires an understanding of differences in familial circumstances and how such influences family life. A number of factors exist that highlight the family differences and these vary from ethnic factors, income, health and others such as religious inclination. All these factors have the ability to interact in a number of ways to affect the educational chances of all individuals. Most of the policies that have been developed to tackle inequalities in education have aimed to tackle the socioeconomic factors that increase the presence of disparities in societies and thus extend into schools (Bradford, 2012). Economic disparity between students increases the presence of educational disparities as students from less privileged families lack the ability to meet the financial obligations as compared to their colleagues. One of the core oiling factors in the gender inequality issue in or societies that have led to the determination of the responsibilities for the two genders is stereotypes. This has remained as the major determinant in the social inequality issue as it has continued to build on the perception that men are superior to women and should therefore be responsible for superior roles in the society. Our language that gives the male gender more dominance as compared to the male gender has supported this stereotype and this has also led to a new definition for their roles. In a situation where an individual’s gender is unknown, the term ‘he’ has always being used due to its universality and applicability to all the genders (Dickens & Connors, 2009). Despite the intervention of the government and the commitments that they have continued to show to the achievement of the educational equality in the country, most of the approaches are long term. These policies require at least three to five years for their effects to change the current educational inequalities in the country. The evaluation of the impacts of the policies may also be affected by the changes in time that may result into an increase in student’s population relative to the impacts of the policies (Best, 2003). Apart from time factor in evaluating the impacts of these policies, some of the evaluation approaches have also been criticized for being too weak to determine the differences achieved due to changes in the policies. The impacts of the policies aimed at improving educational opportunities to all may be difficult to evaluate from the cognitive development impacts perspective. This may result into erroneous conclusions on the benefits of the policies and their impacts on different policies adopted by the government to eradicate educational inequalities in the country (Bradford, 2012). Conclusion Social inequalities affect the normal growth of any economy as it creates a non-intentional profiling of specific members of the population based on their social abilities and weaknesses. Social inequalities are based on the beliefs that some social classes are more important and essential in a country as compared to the others. These results into the development of a feeling of discrimination within the group of people viewed as either being too low or belonging to an inferior social class (Wright & Wright, 2008). In most countries, the continuation of social inequalities without the intervention of the government has the potential of changing the political discourse of a country and plunging into chaos and anarchy. This explains the need for governments to intervene and formulate policies that seeks to remedy the situation and make opportunities in a country equally accessible by all citizens in the country. Social inequalities have a number of facets and have been considered multifaceted as they affect different levels of life, interactions in the society and the relationship of citizens (Dickens & Connors, 2009). In this paper, the educational inequalities, poverty and social exclusions were discussed to highlight their extent in the United Kingdom. Social exclusion creates a feeling of rejection and results from the erosion of the fabric that holds societies together, a situation that results into profiling of people based on their social classes. Educational inequalities also create a situation where the educational options in the country are limited to the social classes and not the abilities of the citizens. The government has developed a number of polices that have worked towards remedying this situations and developing a society that is inclusive irrespective of the social class of an individual or the economic capabilities. References Alcock, P 2012, Student’s Companion to Social Policy, Basingstoke: Palgrave. Baldock, K 2011, Social Policy, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Best, S 2003, A Beginners Guide to Social Theory, London: Sage. Bilton, T 2004, Introductory Sociology, Basing stoke: Macmillan. Bochel, P 2009, Social Policy: Issues and Developments, Harlow: Pearson. Wright, T. & Wright, S 2008, Understanding Inequality, Poverty & Wealth, Cambridge: Polity Press. Jordan, B. & Drake F 2012, Social Work & Social Policy under Austerity: Palgrave Macmillan. Bradford, S. 2012, Sociology, Youth and Youth Work practice, Basingstoke: Palgrave. Callinicoss, A, 2011, Social Theory: An Historical Introduction: Cambridge: Polity. Dickens, J. & Connors 2009, Social Policy for Social Welfare Professionals, Bristol: Policy Press. Read More