Sociology and social policy
Social policy is the plans or actions the government will take to tackle social problems
Social problems:
According to worsley ‘’a social problem is some piece of social behaviour that causes public
friction and calls for collective action to solve it’’
For example poverty, educational underachievement may be all seen as social problems by
members of society and the government may be called on to produce policies to tackle these
problems.
Sociological problems:
According to worsley a sociological problem is ‘’any pattern of relationship that calls for an
explanation’’
Sociological problems do not need to be negative, they can be positive, normal behaviours
such as conformity or behaving at school. ‘Normal’ behaviour is just as interesting to
sociologists as behaviour that people see as a social problem.
Sociologists can be employed by the government to investigate both social and sociological
problems e.g. the British Crime Survey investigates crime, whereas the census collects data
on standards of living.
The influence of sociology on policy:
Many factors play a role in whether sociological research succeeds in influencing policy
● Electoral popularity - research findings and recommendations may point to a
policy that would be unpopular with voters.
● Globalisation - international organisations such as the European Union or UN
influence policy. It is not always a nation state in isolation.
● Costs - the government may not have enough funds to implement policies based
on sociological findings
● Funding sources - sociologists may tone down their findings or policy
recommendations so it fits in with their pay masters. Then research findings
could be used to justify what the policy makers intended to do in the first place
Social policy is the plans or actions the government will take to tackle social problems
Social problems:
According to worsley ‘’a social problem is some piece of social behaviour that causes public
friction and calls for collective action to solve it’’
For example poverty, educational underachievement may be all seen as social problems by
members of society and the government may be called on to produce policies to tackle these
problems.
Sociological problems:
According to worsley a sociological problem is ‘’any pattern of relationship that calls for an
explanation’’
Sociological problems do not need to be negative, they can be positive, normal behaviours
such as conformity or behaving at school. ‘Normal’ behaviour is just as interesting to
sociologists as behaviour that people see as a social problem.
Sociologists can be employed by the government to investigate both social and sociological
problems e.g. the British Crime Survey investigates crime, whereas the census collects data
on standards of living.
The influence of sociology on policy:
Many factors play a role in whether sociological research succeeds in influencing policy
● Electoral popularity - research findings and recommendations may point to a
policy that would be unpopular with voters.
● Globalisation - international organisations such as the European Union or UN
influence policy. It is not always a nation state in isolation.
● Costs - the government may not have enough funds to implement policies based
on sociological findings
● Funding sources - sociologists may tone down their findings or policy
recommendations so it fits in with their pay masters. Then research findings
could be used to justify what the policy makers intended to do in the first place
