Social policy

Social policy

Social policy relates to guidelines for the changing, maintenance or creation of living conditions that are conducive to human welfare. Thus social policy is that part of public policy that has to do with social issues. Social policy aims to improve human welfare and to meet human needs for education, health, housing and social security. The Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy at Harvard University describes it as "public policy and practice in the areas of health care, human services, criminal justice, inequality, education, and labor" [web-page at http://www.hks.harvard.edu/socpol/about.html, retrieved 15th July, 2008.] .

In an academic environment, London School of Economics professor Richard Titmuss is considered to have established Social Policy (or Social Administration) as an academic area of study. Many universities offer the subject for undergraduate and postgraduate study.

International Interpretations

In United States politics and in Canadian politics, social policies are those which regulate and govern human behavior in areas such as sexuality and general morality. Social policies are in contrast to other, more traditional forms of political policy, such as foreign policy and economic policy. Modern-day social policies may deal with the following issues:
* abortion, and the regulation of its practice
* the legal status of euthanasia
* the rules surrounding issues of marriage, divorce, and adoption
* poverty, welfare, and homelessness and how it is to deal with these issues
* the legal status of recreational drugs
* the legal status of prostitution

Social policy may be influenced by religion and the religious beliefs of politicians. Political conservatives as a whole generally favor a more traditionalist approach that favors individual initiative and private enterprise in social policy. Political liberals, on the other hand favor the guarantee of equal rights and entitlements to all people and tend to favor state regulation or insurance to support this.

In Europe, social policy usually refers to policies affecting the social conditions under which people live. Important areas of social policy in these countries are:
* Health insurance
* Accident insurance
* Unemployment insurance
* Retirement insurance
* Labour regulation
* Education

Social policy often deals with issues which Rittle & Webber (1973) called wicked problems.

ee also

* Socio-economics
* Program evaluation
* Social Protection

References

Rittel, H. & Webber, M. (1973). Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning. "Policy Sci" 4:155-169.

Notes


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • social policy — Precisely what counts as a social policy is a matter of debate. Both words are problematic. The term policy commonly refers to a more or less clearly articulated set of ideas about what should be done in a particular sphere, which is often set… …   Dictionary of sociology

  • Social Policy (Basic Aims and Standards) Convention, 1962 — Infobox ILO convention code= C117 name= Social Policy (Basic Aims and Standards) Convention, 1962 adopt= June 22, 1962 force= April 23, 1964 classify= Economic and Social Policy subject= Social Policy prev= Final Articles Revision Convention,… …   Wikipedia

  • Social Policy and Development Centre — Based in Karachi, Pakistan, the Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC) is considered one of the pre eminent economic policy research institutions in Pakistan and its services are much in demand by the government, civil society, academia,… …   Wikipedia

  • Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 — Infobox ILO convention code= C82 name= Social Policy (Non Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 adopt= July 11, 1947 force= June 19, 1955 classify= Economic and Social Policy subject= Social Policy prev= Labour Inspection Convention, 1947… …   Wikipedia

  • social policy — noun a policy of for dealing with social issues • Hypernyms: ↑policy • Hyponyms: ↑apartheid, ↑glasnost, ↑social action, ↑nativism …   Useful english dictionary

  • Social Policy —   A major policy area that relates specifically to employment matters and to employer worker relations …   Glossary of the European Union and European Communities

  • Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy — School of Education and Social Policy (SESP) Established 1926[1] Type Unit of Northwestern University Dean Penelope L. Peterson Academic staff 23 …   Wikipedia

  • Ministry of Social Policy (Ukraine) — Ministry of Social Policy Ukraine Міністерство соціальної політики України Agency overview Formed December 9, 2010 Preceding agency *Ministry of Labor and Social Policy (? 2010) Jurisdiction Ukraine Headquarters …   Wikipedia

  • Heller School for Social Policy and Management — Infobox university name = The Heller School for Social Policy and Management image size = 149px established = 1959 dean = Lisa Lynch motto = Knowledge Advancing Social Justice city = Waltham state = MA country = USA type = PrivateThe Heller… …   Wikipedia

  • Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of the Republic of Poland — Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of the Polish Republic Ministerstwo Pracy i Polityki Społecznej Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej Agency overview Formed 2005 Headquarters ul. Nowogrodzka 1/3/5,, Warsaw Agency executive Jolanta F …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”