Social Policy as a Discipline - Essay Example

SOCIOLOGY Social Policy Introduction Social is a discipline that looks at the social behavior of individuals. Through its knowledge, social policies arise to guide and protect the society. 1. Social policy acts like a protection umbrella to ensure that people’s welfare gets full appreciation. It is a term used frequently by governments and welfare groups in relation to social services. A great philosopher by the name (Mills, 1956) Aristotle expressed his concerns of what he considered good life. According to him, only male individuals were valid to lead a good life. Women and slaves had no chance. According to Gaarder, there are three forms of happiness: pleasure and enjoyment, freedom and thinking. Social policy is very important in the study because of various reasons. It boosts and strengthens cohesion in all organizations s well as propel equity. Since it involves welfare issues, social policy gives learners a wide perspective and ideas on how to handle and bring cohesion in an organization. This in return promotes equity and unity. It is also concerned with natural environment and interdependency among people. For this reason, it is important in studies because through it, individuals shape their skills in taking care of both nature and other people. Social policy has a key goal, which is to make sure that everyone leads a good life. Already, good life is basic need for everybody around the world. 2. Social service organizations use a series of terms to define something. A common term is the hospital. This place offers health services to the public. Close to, it in terms of meaning is the nursing home. However, nursing homes (Jones, 1971 pg vii) offer intensives care and personalized attendance. In all these facilities, a management can oversee its operations. Management is a process that includes the use of social and technical skills in and outside the organizational setting in order to realize the set goals. Through managers, health providers can ensure effectiveness in the healthcare provision. Changes in management depend on how best issues are handled. Relying on this process of management can be helpful. Planning gives direction and thus priorities show the difference. Organizing sets the organization into units that make tasks easy to handle thus the need for staffing. Controlling is the ability to supervise the staff in order to realize good results. Offering direction to the staff motivates the team to work accordingly because of the trusted leadership. Making decisions from those that are urgent to less urgent ensures quality service provision and reduces misappropriation of budgets. All these skill require interpersonal, conceptual and technical abilities. 3. There are so many social issues in the current world. It is 2014 and there is a widespread unemployment, housing, and education issue. The world’s population keeps growing day by day. This has outweighed the number of housing units available in most countries. The pressure from such a big population is giving the housing departments a rough time because there is little land to build and at the same time, agricultural land must be protected to ensure that there is enough food for the country (Leon & Walt, 2001, p 56). A large population means many people are looking for education. Many students are forced to share little resources at school. The education sector is already out of ideas. Education is the only possible way that the society knows can secure employment to students. However, with everybody going to school, there is stiff competition in the job market. Graduates end up jobless because there are little job spaces left. This can be associated with this rising number of criminal activities in the world. The graduates have the skills. Though they are supposed to use them positively, others find it (Lewis, 2009 pg.170) easy engaging in crimes just for quick cash. This is why there are so many cyber-crimes, bank robberies, carjacking, and money laundering. 4. Social policy “needs to be viewed in the round” means that it should be seen beyond the literal understanding. Social policy in sociology is concerned with wellbeing of the society. Through this, better service provision is only possible if the basic requirements are clear. Welfare issues are centered on the family. Though countries differ in the way they express their concerns about family issues, there still exists a clear view on its importance. This means that those who divert from the normal understanding of such provisions may be penalized. However, family issues are never certain because in a marriage that has to be permanent, either partner can be divorced or die, teens can get pregnant, but that does not mean they can be penalized for such issues. Other social policy understanding arises from the work relations. In such a context, stability in social welfare relies (Williams, 1954, pg. 54) on the working environment and issues that lead to unemployment. The nation is another way of understanding of social policy. Countries are against gender and racial discrimination. These three scenarios explain Jones’s phrase. Social policy deals with welfare and wellbeing of the society. The scenarios defend these ideas. 5. Every action has questioned. This is to make sure that the facts are valid and necessary in such a context. Questioning makes people develop the urge to research and find better solutions apart from the one given. With this, the future generation can rely on t as a beginning point in the development and happening of something (Lemert, 1972). Theorizing is validating a point but leaving it to further questioning. This means that the argument is not yet to be a law. Such thinking gives room for future changes when need sets in. social policy changes daily. Issues that relate to it take a new form depending on the level of technology, environment, situation, and location. Such factors make policies questionable because they have to be compared with those in the past or from other regions and occasions. This gives rise to questioning. It gives rise to either positive or negative criticism that is helpful to the society. Conclusion Social policies are best when integrated in a society. This makes sure that they favor and protect those meant for. The arguments in the essay give an understanding of how the welfare issues relate with the society in general. References Jones, K, 1972, The Year Book of Social Policy in Britain. London: Penguin. Leon, D & G. Walt, 2001, Poverty, inequality, and health: An international perspective. New York: Oxford University Press. Lemert, E, 1972, Human Deviance, New York: Prentice Hall. Lewis, J, 2000, Gender and the Development of Welfare Regimes. Journal of European Social Policy, 159-173 Mills, W, C, 1956, The Power Elite. London: Oxford University Press. Williams, F, 1988, Social Policy. New York: Oxford University Press. Read More