bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Equality, sexual values and permissive legislation: the English experience
Authors: McGregor O. R.
Published: January 2009

I have the honour to address you today in this lecture founded to cherish the memory of L. T. Hobhouse, who was the first professor of sociology in this University and in these islands. He devoted his life to extending the study of social development within the framework of those evolutionary theories which had contained so much of Victorian social thought. He discerned a ‘self-conscious evolution of humanity’, found ‘therein a meaning and an element of purpose for the historical process which has led up to it’, and concluded that the ‘slowly wrought out dominance of mind in things is the central fact of evolution’. His fundamental thesis was that humanity had for the first time reached the stage of self-direction. Hobhouse's approach to sociology was itself a protest against sterile separatism either among the several social sciences or between them and the world of everyday affairs. He was a main contributor in his day to the principles of constructive liberalism and a leading exponent of the ideal of democratic equality. He sought for himself a unity of academic theory and social practice through his lifelong commitments as a journalist and commentator as well as an active participant in the work of Trade Boards and other institutions of the labour market. I do not therefore feel that I should apologize for taking as the theme of this memorial lecture present-day anxieties, enthusiasms and confusions about sexual conduct in their bearing upon Hobhouse's ideals of the liberation of the individual, of self-direction and of democratic equality.
Ideologies and policies
Authors: Donnison David
Published: January 2009

Should social scientists, in their professional capacity, help to formulate political ideologies, policies and programmes? Or should they – and can they – preserve a professional neutrality? I begin by exploring these familiar questions and conclude that social scientists are as entitled as the next man to debate social problems, but should bear in mind that there is no authoritative solution to most of them.
Private pensions in the United States: Gambling with retirement security
Authors: Bernstein Merton C.
Published: January 2009

Reputedly some Las Vegas casinos set their roulette wheels so that overall ‘the house’ never loses although many play and some players win. In effect, the house sets the odds which remain unknown to the players. So it is with private pension plans in the United States, with the important difference that employees cannot decide whether to play or not; the decision is made for them by their employer or through collective bargaining.
Research strategies in social service departments of local authorities in Great Britain
Authors: Benjamin Bernard
Published: January 2009

In the public service a research strategy is specifically designed to yield information of value to policy-making, that is to management. This is the only ground on which the expenditure of public funds can be justified. The kind of research which I am discussing therefore is not the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake; it is research that is an integral and inseparable part of management. Because research has not often, in the past, been properly related to and integrated with management, it has tended to be regarded as an expendable fringe activity; to be restrained at all times and sacrificed in time of stringency (usually when it is most necessary). This is especially true of local government and the researchers (particularly the research directors) are often as much to blame as their political masters.
The Influence of Political Power in Determining the Theoretical Development of Social Work
Authors: Bitensky Reuben
Published: January 2009

The history of the development of social work as a professional discipline from its early beginnings in the 1900s to the present time has exhibited two contradictory trends. Sometimes social work has seemed to be the conscience of society. During other periods it seems to have been an apologist for the status quo, devoting its efforts to adjusting clients to the existing social institutions. These trends can be identified by the activity of social work during changing historical periods in the United States as well as by the professional leaders associated with these eras.
Attitude of Government and Administration towards the ‘Hunger Marches’ of the 1920s and 1930s
Authors: Turnbull Maureen
Published: January 2009

The so-called ‘hunger marches’ are a familiar feature of the depression and unemployment of the inter-war years. Their inspirer was the National Unemployed Workers' Movement (N.U.W.M.) which between 1922 and 1936 organized six national demonstrations consisting of contingents from various parts of the country, converging on London. They were protesting against unemployment and low rates of assistance, ‘work or full maintenance at trade union rates’ being the recurrent demand. There were also many local demonstrations and the organization won considerable support, particularly from younger unemployed workers frustrated by the inertia of the official labour and trade union leadership.
Social security and social welfare: a ‘new look’ from Hong Kong
Authors: Heppell T. S.
Published: January 2009

Many things are associated with Hong Kong, but innovation in social security and social welfare is not one of them. Yet recent developments in Hong Kong are perhaps of more than local interest alone, not simply because Hong Kong has the advantage of virtually starting from scratch in developing social security but also because it has, by force of circumstance as well by inclination, had to look for what have been called ‘Hong Kong solutions for Hong Kong problems’. The results of this process might be regarded, if not as models to be copied, at least as alternative approaches to be borne in mind when other countries review the possible choices of development in social security open to them.
Social Policy: Unilateral Transfer or Reciprocal Exchange
Authors: Pruger Robert
Published: January 2009

There is absolutely no way to attack poverty through the transfer of economic resources without also profoundly affecting, for better or ill, the social bond. Definitions of social welfare generally recognize ‘…the mutually supportive obligations of people to each other’. Yet many serious and competent social thinkers apparently deny the significance of reciprocity in those social exchanges that are arranged as a matter of social policy. The predominant view is that social policies are ‘…characterized not so much by exchange by which a quid is gotten for a quo as by unilateral transfers that are justified by some kind of appeal to a status or legitimacy, identity or community’. Titmuss refers to the grant or gift as a unilateral transfer which ‘…is the distinguishing mark of the social (in policy and administration) just as exchange or bilateral transfer is the mark of the economic’. It will be argued here that this view, useful in some ways, also seriously distorts perceptions and has a deleterious effect on the design and implementation of programmes that make up the official helping enterprise in general, and programmes of income maintenance in particular. Most often social policy transactions are erroneously conceived in ideal or pure terms, bearing little or no resemblance to economic or market exchange. In reality, however, the vast majority of all transactions, economic and social, occur on a continuum between these theoretical poles.
The American Poverty Programme 1969–71
Authors: Holman Robert
Published: January 2009

Studies of the American ‘War on Poverty’ have concentrated on the period 1964–8 during which it attracted much attention due, firstly, to its optimistic claims to abolish poverty and, secondly, to the militant tactics used by some of its participants. Little note has been given to the years 1969–71, yet during this period significant changes occurred. In the Spring term of 1972 I was able to visit a number of the programme's projects and to study at the headquarters of the Office of Economic Opportunity. Having had access to documents with a limited circulation I am thus able to describe developments in the later period in a way which, to my knowledge, has not been published previously in Britain.
Social Security and Social Welfare: a ‘New Look’ from Hong Kong. Part Two
Authors: Heppell T. S.
Published: January 2009

In an earlier article, the writer discussed the general background of social security and social welfare in Hong Kong; and went on to consider in particular what might usefully be learnt from the public assistance scheme as it has developed in Hong Kong. This article considers the other areas of social security in Hong Kong. It also touches on management control in social security.
National Insurance Local Tribunals: A Research Study – Part II
Authors: Bell Kathleen , Collison Peter , Turner Stephen , Webber Susan
Published: January 2009

Tribunals, now recognized as key institutions of the Welfare State, are attracting a good deal of attention. Despite a growing volume of criticism little systematic research has been undertaken into the way they actually function. Since almost every British citizen has rights of appeal to national insurance local tribunals (NILTs) it would seem that they constitute a good starting point. An earlier article presented a general view of NILTs. This paper examines the way the appeal system works from several different perspectives. Difficulties encountered by ordinary citizens at various stages in the appeal process are discussed. The research findings on attendance, representation and success rates are analysed. Attendance by the appellant at the hearing of his appeal is shown to be of particular significance. It is also clear that expansion of facilities for providing advice and representation would be advantageous to appellants. Problems connected with expansion of these facilities are discussed, and an ‘ideal type’ representative is outlined. This leads to a discussion of different tribunal models and a ‘participation model’ is developed. Finally, some implications of the research findings for the development of social policy are considered.
Income Distribution and Social Change Revisited
Authors: Atkinson A. B.
Published: January 2009

Eleven years after the publication of Richard Titmuss's essay on Income Distribution and Social Change, the official statisticians are still drawing optimistic conclusions about the tendency of income inequality to decline in Britain. This article re-examines some of the critical questions raised by Titmuss concerning the accuracy and interpretation of the official statistics. It considers the definition of income, the implications of capital gains, fringe benefits and the benefits from owner-occupation, the role of life-cycle factors, and the measurement of inequality. It concludes with an assessment of the impact of Titmuss's study on the quality of statistical information and on attitudes and beliefs.
Ideology, Conflict and Social Policy
Authors: Birrell Derek , Murie Alan
Published: January 2009

Social policy in Northern Ireland offers examples of social policies strongly influenced by ideological considerations. There are a number of factors which determine how susceptible services and policies are to ideological influences. Some services are particularly sensitive to ideological values and demands, for example, education. In certain areas the distribution of services and the allocation of resources has been significant in maintaining the political structure. The distribution of administrative responsibility, the absence of pressure from Britain for maintaining parity in social services, and the absence of non-secretarian pressures on the government are other significant factors. The process of analysing problems and formulating social policy reflects deep ideological divisions. This can be contrasted with the rational, empirical and pragmatic models of policy making, implicit in the development of social policy in Britain. With some minor modifications the British model of the Welfare State operates in Northern Ireland. In some areas it operates to serve ends other than those of redistribution or meeting social need. This provides insights into some of the assumptions made about social policy and the Welfare State in Britain.
Social Indicators, Urban Deprivation and Positive Discrimination
Authors: Edwards John
Published: January 2009

The use of social indicators in the implementation of area-specific positive discrimination programmes is increasing and is likely to continue to do so. It is important in this context that some of the unintended consequences of their use be appreciated.

It is argued that the concentration on the statistical niceties and technical details of social indicators especially as they are applied to the identification of areas of urban deprivation has been misplaced, and the concern for the ‘arithmetic of woe’ has diverted attention away from some of the more fundamental assumptions underlying their use.

As predominantly used, social indicators have assumed both that a value consensus exists about the nature and parameters of urban deprivation, when in fact this is an issue of value (and political) conflict, and, more specifically, that urban deprivation springs from social pathology. By default, urban deprivation has been assumed to be that which the indicators measure, when in fact they often reflect no more than existing levels of service provision and current social policies.

There is a need for a clear (even if arbitrary) definition of deprivation, and the derivation of indicators from such a definition. In the latter part of the article the author outlines an attempt to do this.
Approaches to the Analysis of Social Service Organizations
Authors: Rose Gordon
Published: January 2009

Organizations have some similarities, although they also vary widely. Various modes of conceptualizing and analysing Organizations have developed largely from work in industry, but also from studies in the public sector, but one has to consider which of these are particularly relevant to the study of social service Organizations. The approach commonly used in comparing Organizations to Weber's description of bureaucracy is not very productive; and neither is a similar usage of Goffman's ‘total institution’. A critical examination is made of analytical categories set up by one author, but these also are of limited usefulness, and it is suggested that it is better to approach the problem by looking at important general problems which are central to many kinds of Organizations. Some of those which seem to be particularly relevant to social service Organizations are discussed. These are: the relationship between technology and structure; organizational climates; occupational conflicts; and organizational environments. Various examples are given to illustrate how these affect particular sectors of the field. Entering an area of study by selecting problems which are of key importance has a long tradition in social administration, as in other disciplines, and the study of social service Organizations is no exception.
Supplementary Benefits: Dilemmas and Priorities
Authors: Donnison David
Published: January 2009

The statutory functions of the Supplementary Benefits Commission are described, together with the Secretary of State's invitation to the Commission to play a more active and public part in reformulating the problems of social assistance and proposing policies for dealing with them. Next the Commission's Chairman considers how he and his colleagues should respond to this invitation and which issues they should concentrate upon, focusing particularly on the growing use of discretion in a service originally intended to confer clearly understood rights, the bewildering complexity which results from this trend, and the ‘frontier’ problems arising between their service and other social services. In conclusion he considers the implications of the Commission's extended role for other bodies and the Commission's relations with them – particularly Ministers and their advisers, the academic community, the communications media, and the pressure groups. Ultimately, he asks, should the Commission itself be abolished?
Charging for the Social Services
Authors: Parker R. A.
Published: January 2009

New or increased charges to the users of the social services are likely to be considered with greater interest in our present economic situation. It seems an appropriate time, therefore, to ask what purposes direct charges are intended to serve and whether, in practice, they live up to these expectations. Admittedly, it may be misleading to refer to ‘purposes’ in this way, since they will be interpreted differently by different interests. But we may gain at least an idea of the range of purposes that governments have in mind by looking at the introduction, removal or variation of charges. The same might be done at the level of local government in those spheres where councils act independently. Proceeding in this way I suggest that five main purposes may be identified. Briefly, these are: raising revenue; reducing demand; shifting priorities; checking abuse, and a symbolic purpose. I shall say a little about each of them and then draw two sets of conclusions: one about the overall effect of charges and the other about the circumstances in which changes in charges are likely to occur.
Intention and Implication in Housing Policy: A study of Recent Developments in Urban Renewal
Authors: Mason Tim
Published: January 2009

This paper considers the explicit intentions and possible implications of the new phase of urban renewal policy now being developed in Britain under the Housing Act 1974. The details of the Act are seen in the context of the evolution of this type of social policy since the last war. The aims of this policy are to preserve certain ‘housing functions’ that are considered to be necessary components of the urban housing system, at the same time as relieving ‘housing stress’ and achieving the physical improvement of existing dwellings. A case study of an inner city improvement area in a provincial conurbation is used to suggest that it will be difficult to achieve all these aims at one time due to the inherent limitations of policies based on small areas. These limitations are seen as the consequence of a continuing effort to patch up the obvious shortcomings of existing policies without wishing to face the political and economic problems of a comprehensive housing policy.
Developmental Roles for Social Work in the Third World: The Prospect of Social Planning
Authors: Midgley James
Published: January 2009

Many social workers today are critical of what they regard as their profession's conventional concern with remedial social welfare. This criticism has been voiced with special reference to developing countries, and some social workers have suggested alternative roles for social work in the third world. Among these it has been suggested that social workers should take prime responsibility for social development planning in the developing countries. But this suggestion is unrealistic. Social workers are not likely to be asked to participate in national social policy formulation and planning until they have legitimized their claim to professional status and public recognition and demonstrated their ability to deal with the pressing problems of poverty in the third world through direct service.
From Poor Law to Positive Discrimination
Authors: Batley Richard
Published: January 2009

The principle of positive discrimination in favour of the poor has emerged out of a tangled history of social welfare debate about universalism and selectivity. Positive discrimination, based on the idea of ‘inclusive’ selectivity, represents something of a hybrid of the two concepts. The ‘rediscovery of poverty’ and the recognition that universal benefits were not adequate or reaching intended beneficiaries contributed to the general case for specially channelled services. But the government's response has tended to be piecemeal, responding to specific pressures and criticisms with a wide array of small and separate programmes of positive discrimination. This article traces the particular pressures, in race relations, which contributed to the emergence of the Urban Aid Programme and shows what lessons were learned from the experience of the American poverty programmes.
Towards a Methodology of Action Research
Authors: Powley Terry , Evans Dave
Published: January 2009

Action research has emerged as a particular form of applied social science investigation in attempts to develop useful ways of trying out and evaluating social policy innovations. Despite a variety of contributions to the debate about its methodology, action research remains a term that is employed very vaguely to describe all kinds of design that include some combination of the two elements of action and research. This paper outlines the methods that were adopted in the National Children's Bureau series of action research studies, where the research team attempted to evaluate experiments in which they also actively intervened. The three elements of the field-work setting – programme, process and product – were all important aspects of the research. The inevitable tensions between the demands of evaluation and those of close involvement raise difficult questions of research design. A model of action research is presented as a constructive way of reconciling the search for objectivity and reliability with the advantages of involvement in the definition of objectives and methods.
The Dissemination of Research Findings with Particular Reference to Housing
Authors: Tinker Anthea , Brion Marion
Published: January 2009

The authors suggest that the importance of the dissemination of research findings in social policy has been greatly underestimated. The nature of the different agencies involved and the relationship between those who sponsor and those who ‘receive’ research are examined. This shows that the problems of dissemination are of two classes – those of principle and those of practice. Having discussed the principles, the authors suggest changes needed to improve practice so that more effective use may be made of research findings. Most of the examples are chosen from the field of housing but, where relevant, other fields of social policy are compared and contrasted.
Social administration digest
Authors: Slack Kathleen M.
Published: January 2009

News about social security and income maintenance opened with a special insertion on pensions in The Times of 11 May. This consisted of articles on various aspects of the new earnings-related pension scheme which came into force on 6 April. The accounts included funded schemes; private pension schemes; employers' and employees' participation; age flexibility in retirement; insurance funds; the property market and investment; the problem of size; the position of widows; trade unions and pensions; the exclusion of the self-employed and the position after the 1980s. The opening article said that the important achievement of getting the scheme into operation was diminished by the sheer weight of ignorance about it – ‘All the evidence to date indicates that the vast majority of people cannot or will not understand the new State pension scheme.’ This may be regrettable but it is not surprising in view of the scheme's complexity. How far the govermnent's efforts to overcome widespread ignorance will be successful remains to be seen (28 – 7/4 – 1.7). women was raised once again in a discussion document on the role of the elderly in society published on 27 June, A Happier Old Age. The numbers and circumstances of elderly people and public expenditure on services to help them were presented in the document which was concerned not only with pensions but with family life, recreation, mobility and other aspects of later life. Comments were invited by the Secretary of State for the Social Services by the end of October. The publication of a White Paper on the elderly in 1979 was foreshadowed. The problems of retirement age and the difference between men and women were presented and discussed in August 1976 (22 – 6/z – 1.8) and in February 1977 (24 – 6/4 – 1.10).
Pricing, Insurance and the National Health Service
Authors: Maynard Alan
Published: January 2009

Since the birth of the National Health Service in 1948 there have been periodic discussions of the potential role of pricing and insurance in the United Kingdom health care system. This article is concerned with discussing the problems inherent in these mechanisms and it advocates more careful articulation of the cost and benefits of such policies. The first section gives a description of some quite recent proposals to extend the role of the pricing and insurance mechanisms which have been made by the British Medical Association and the McKinsey consultancy company. The second section uses economic analysis to show that both the pricing and the insurance mechanisms have inherent problems which may vitiate their efficiency in many western health care markets. The third section is concerned with the mechanisms by which the efficiency of the health care system can be improved, and radical experimentation is advocated. Without radical experimentation and the implementation of suitable incentive systems, inefficiency and inequality will continue in the National Health Service.
A Study of the BMA–TUC Joint Committee on Medical Questions, 1935–1939
Authors: Earwicker Ray
Published: January 2009

The BMA (British Medical Association)–TUC (Trades Union Congress) Joint Committee on Medical Questions, established in 1936, was an experiment in consensus. It was the first attempt to cross the barriers in medical politics. In the 1930s the strategy of ‘administration rather than advocacy’ prompted the co-operation of the TUC with the BMA on medical questions of mutual interest. The operation of the partnership is explored here in the formulation of a scheme for a national maternity service acceptable to both parties. However, the reality of co-operation at the level of specific proposals was an insistence by the BMA on its own point of view. The TUC had to decide whether a joint scheme was worth the price. Although a scheme was eventually produced, as an experiment in consensus the committee had failed. To some extent the war obscured this failure, but the consensus itself was wrecked by the intransigence of the BMA and the hostility of the Labour movement, which was angry at the extent of the concessions which the TUC had made for a national maternity scheme.
Representing the Interests of the Public?: The Case of the Local Health Council in Scotland
Authors: Bochel Dorothy , MacLaran Morag
Published: January 2009

The statutory function of local health councils in Scotland (and of community health councils in England and Wales) is to represent the interests of the public in the health service. This article, based on data from a fouryear research project financed by the Scottish Office, examines official and participants' assumptions and claims about the legitimacy of health councils, as at present constituted, to carry out this function. Clarification of the basis of their legitimacy would assist, it is argued, in the resolution of a central dilemma: How are councils to represent the interests of the public? The conclusion is reached that inadequate thought was given to developing theoretically sustainable arrangements. Several interpretations of representation are admixed in the rationale for the present system and they cannot be aggregated to produce a coherent defence of it.
The Origins of the Disabled Persons Employment Quota and its Symbolic Significance
Authors: Bolderson Helen
Published: January 2009

This article explores why some of the arrangements for the employment of disabled people are so resistant to change despite their evident shortcomings. From historical data it is argued that the negotiations which shaped the Disabled Persons Employment Act 1944 were motivated by sectional concerns which were detrimental to the interests of disabled people but that the legislation subsequently became symbolic of deeply felt and widely shared values. The implications of this for current policy options are discussed. An attempt is made to show how an analysis of the relationships between motives, actions and values in the policy-formation process can help to explain why some policies are both more ineffective and more persistent than others.
The Welfare Exchange Reconsidered
Authors: Uttley Stephen
Published: January 2009

The objective of this article is to explore aspects of the nature and process of exchange in welfare systems. The welfare exchange was the focus of much discussion in the early 1970s stemming from the writings of Titmuss, Pinker and Pruger, and this article starts with a review of that debate. In searching for a more adequate theoretical framework it argues that Gouldner's work on reciprocity, beneficence and complementarity provides that framework. A model of exchange on an interpersonal level is put forward in which welfare exchanges are viewed as lying along a continuum reflecting the notions of reciprocity and beneficence, with exchanges at each end of the continuum being represented by the two types of complementarity. Dependency, power and disequilibrium are seen as crucial factors in the exchange process, and the total pattern of exchanges is shown to be strongly influenced by the pattern of resource generation and availability within which all exchanges occur. Different types of social services are located at various points along the exchange continuum, and these are seen as reflecting differing relationships between service donors and individual service recipients. The final section of the article is concerned with discussing the influence of the interaction between ‘servers’ employed by agencies and service recipients.
Territorial Need Indicators: A New Approach Part II
Authors: Bebbington A. C. , Davies Bleddyn
Published: January 2009

In Part I of this article a typology of existing need indicators was developed. For the ‘meaning’ of a need indicator to be clear, the indicator must be theoretically based. More specifically, it should be rooted in theoretical conclusions about the policy of welfare interventions. In Part II, the theory of the need judgement as a cost-benefit decision is used to provide a basis for a need indicator. This method is then explicated with regard to social services provision for the elderly, so as to provide an indicator which is in fact a standard level of expenditure for social services departments in England and Wales.
Policies Into Practice: Intermediate Treatment and Community Service Compared
Authors: James Adrian L.
Published: January 2009

The philosophy and the policies for dealing with both juvenile and adult offenders in England and Wales have undergone a marked change in the last decade with the introduction of both the Children and Young Persons Act, 1969, and the Criminal Justice Act, 1972. The spirit behind the policies embodied in the first of these was intended to move juvenile offenders even further towards the provisions for children and young people in general and away from identification with adult offenders and the criminal process. In spite of this, many similarities remain between the two major innovations which emerged from these two pieces of legislation, which were intermediate treatment and community service. In terms of implementing these policies, however, wide differences have emerged in the speed, ease, and uniformity with which the different provisions have been introduced. Intermediate treatment, after a long struggle, is only just beginning to establish itself as a practical provision for juveniles whilst community service, introduced some years later, has now been fully implemented. This difference raises fundamental issues related to the implementation of certain areas of social policy. Although the failure of the 1969 Act to achieve the impact envisaged by its proponents has been attributed to its being only partially implemented and to lack of finance, amongst other things, comparison with the relatively successful introduction of community service suggests that there may also be important administrative factors underlying this failure which have been hitherto ignored.
The Public Finance of Medical and Dental Care in Newfoundland — Some Historical and Economic Considerations
Authors: Brown Malcolm C.
Published: January 2009

The article discusses the evolution of Newfoundland's health care system from the turn of the century to the present. During this time there were considerable changes in social conditions, political arrangements and the availability of public monies, all of which influenced the structure of the health care sector. In general terms, Newfoundland's health care system shifted from one involving low expenditures and many British type institutions to one involving high expenditures and American type institutions. The evidence suggests that the changes have been particularly beneficial for Newfoundland's merchant class, including the doctors and dentists, although some benefits have also accrued to patients and fishermen.
Employment Policies for Youth in Britain and the USA
Authors: Cohen Gaynor , Nicon Jaqi
Published: January 2009

In both Britain and the USA a young person leaving school with few or no qualifications faces great difficulties in obtaining employment. A number of policies have been developed in both countries to help counter some of the problems to which an increasing proportion of young unemployed gives rise. This article examines some of these policies and their underlying assumptions about the causes of youth unemployment. It attempts to identify the strengths and weaknesses of programmes developed by both the training and education services and to see what relevance the more extensive youth policies in the USA may have for the problems and policies nurtured in Britain.
Theorising the Welfare State: The Case of Unemployment Insurance in Britain
Authors: Disney Richard
Published: January 2009

This article examines state provision of unemployment insurance (UI) in Britain. State intervention in insurance is normally perceived as stemming from the failure of private markets to meet socially expressed needs, but an examination of the historical development of state provision, and present practice, of UI in Britain suggest that this was not a central concern of state intervention. It is argued that an alternative explanation must stem from a theoretical model of the actions of the state, and various models primarily within a Marxist framework are described. The problems inherent in approaches which emphasize the relation between the needs of capitalist accumulation and the actions of the state are discussed, and it is argued that a more realistic account must take note of the heterogenous nature of the labour market in capitalist society and how, in such a society, the ideology which underpins social welfare policy is constructed. The article briefly examines recent political developments and argues that proposals for reform of UI must be located within a broader political strategy for economic and political transformation.
Freedom and the Redistribution of Resources
Authors: Jones Peter
Published: January 2009

Much of social policy involves a redistribution of resources. Such redistributive interferences with the market are often said to sacrifice freedom for the sake of competing goods such as humanity or social justice. The thesis of this paper is that this simple opposition of freedom and redistribution is mistaken. If freedom is defined empirically, redistributive transfers cannot simply remove freedom but must either transfer freedom from some to others or leave it unaffected. If freedom is defined normatively, it may be opposed to redistribution but that opposition then rests upon the value that gives freedom its meaning and not upon freedom as an autonomous value.
Inter-Sectoral Cost Comparisons: Day Care for the Elderly
Authors: Knapp Martin , Missiakoulis Spyros
Published: January 2009

It is often argued that there are significant differences in the costs of providing public and non-public services. However, these arguments have almost invariably been based on crude comparisons of bald expenditure figures of rather dubious validity. In this paper we describe and apply a conceptual framework which attempts to place such inter-sectoral comparisons on a more reliable basis. Our application is to day care services for elderly people provided by local authority social services departments, area health authorities and voluntary organizations, although the framework has much wider relevance. Our results provide clear evidence to refute the oft-made assumption that voluntary services are universally cheaper than their statutory counterparts. Standardizing costs for the dependency characteristics of users and the activities of day units, we find that voluntary-statutory cost differences are dependent upon the scale of operation. Small voluntary units certainly enjoy a cost advantage, but larger voluntary units are unlikely to be cheaper, and are probably more expensive, than local authority units of a similar scale.
Social Need Revisited
Authors: Clayton Susan
Published: January 2009

Considerable debate has taken place as to the nature of social need and ways in which it can best be identified in individual people, but little attention has focussed on the way assessments of need are used in the process of policy formation. The article takes Jonathan Bradshaw's commonly quoted taxonomy of social need and assesses its strengths and weaknesses for use in a practical policy making setting, that of assessment of need for sheltered housing for elderly people by a district housing authority. Some fundamental problems associated with Bradshaw's approach are then discussed, together with those arising from use of a term such as need in the process of policy formation.
The Social Services Committee: a forum for policy review and policy reform
Authors: Nixon Jaqi , Nixon Nigel
Published: January 2009

In 1979 the House of Commons Select Committee system was reformed with a view to strengthening the powers of the Legislature over the Executive. The Social Services Committee is one of fourteen new Select Committees and has the responsibility to scrutinize the performance of the DHSS, to evaluate policies which are relevant to the Department and to publish the results of its investigatory enquiries. Thus, by reviewing policies and by making recommendations for reform, the Social Services Committee has the potential to play a significant role in the development of existing policies as well as in determining the shape of future ones. This article begins by providing a brief account of the reformed Select Committee structure in order to set in context the functions and performance of the Social Services Committee. It then examines the role and contributions of members, the chairman and the specialist advisers before proceeding to look at some of the Committee's activities. The article concludes by considering the impact of the Social Services Committee upon current DHSS policies and assessing its contribution to the wider policy making environment.
The Impact of Unemployment on the Living Standards of Families
Authors: Bradshaw Jonathan , Cooke Kenneth , Godfrey Christine
Published: January 2009

Social security for the unemployed was not designed to cope either with large-scale or long-term unemployment and recent developments in the structure of unemployment and in social security policy give rise to concern for the living standards of the unemployed, especially the long-term unemployed. This article draws on data from the Family Finances Survey to assess the living standards of the unemployed after various durations of unemployment and compare these with the living standards of families with low incomes from work. The measures of living standards used are income, expenditure and the availability of consumer durables. The implications of the findings for social security policy are discussed.
Making Reality Intelligible: the Relation Between Philosophical Analysis and the Study of Social Policies
Authors: Watson David
Published: January 2009

The academic study of social policies has long been characterized by sympathetic reception of descriptions of social policies which are the outcome of methods of analysis developed in the academic study of history, sociology, economics, philosophy, and so on. However, cosy as such sympathy may be, it is time to move on. We may all agree that each of these methods of analysis, and others, separately or in combination, has something to offer; it is remarkably difficult to say precisely what. Studies of the study of social policies are too rare. Culyer has offered an account of what the methods of economic analysis do and might further yield (1981). Here I discuss what might be expected from philosophical analysis. I describe the two main contending conceptions of philosophical analysis in the Western tradition, drawing out their implications for the relation between philosophical analysis and the study of social policies. The importance of such analysis of what may be called ‘the conceptual aspect’ of social policies is illustrated by reference to recent discussion of the welfare state and of social need.
The Mixed Economy of Day Care: Consumer Versus Professional Assessments
Authors: Browne Angela C.
Published: January 2009

One of the crucial issues in the evolution of the welfare state is the preferred means of funding and providing social services. In the absence of a federally-funded and centrally-administered child day care programme in the United States, a variety of services and programmes have evolved. Public policy which seeks to encourage service diversity must consider the ability of social service consumers to afford, select or utilize services of quality, or to demand quality from service providers. This study compares child day care services provided under different auspices — public (state and municipal), quasi-public (military), quasi-private (employer-sponsored), non-profit and private proprietary. Consumer ratings of the day care programmes provided under six different auspices are compared to a research assessment of the same six programmes. The data indicate a tendency among consumers to be inattentive regarding the basic elements of care and to overestimate the quality of care. If we accept the view that consumer choice is desirable on procedural grounds (a desirable freedom), then the findings of this study suggest that public policy should strive to enhance the effectiveness of consumer choice.
The Future Challenge to the Past: The Case of the American Welfare State
Authors: Morris Robert
Published: January 2009

This article and its commentaries examine some of the difficulties that confront supporters of the welfare state as they encounter critical opposition which has evolved in the US in recent years. Attention is directed to trends in popular attitudes which seem to produce a more narrow vision of welfare than that usually advanced by advocates and social policy makers, the changing nature of dependency and the unexpected consequences of universal benefit programmes. Different views are presented about how to approach welfare state developments in the US in the late twentieth century.
Private Rented Housing: Its Current Role
Authors: Bovaird A. , Harloe M. , Whitehead C.M.E.
Published: January 2009

In this article, the first of two, the recent developments and current situation in the private rented sector are examined. Four roles for the sector are identified: housing those who traditionally lived in the sector, housing the young and mobile, providing accommodation with employment and acting as a tenure of last resort for those unable to find accommodation in the majority tenures. The types of household to be found in each sub-sector are described and their reasons for being in the sector and what they obtain are analysed. Different types of landlord are identified and their reasons for letting examined. The problems encountered by tenants and landlords in each sub-sector are described, leading to the conclusion that the private rented sector urgently requires considered and effective attention from policy makers.
Prospects and Strategies for Housing in the Private Rented Sector
Authors: Whitehead C.M.E. , Harloe M. , Bovaird A.
Published: January 2009

This second article examines the future of the private rented sector in terms of the types of household that will continue to demand accommodation, the types of landlord that will be prepared to continue to let and the match between the requirements of the two groups. It is predicted that, under present policies, the sector will continue to decline but that the problems that will arise will come more from the mismatch between demand and supply than from the absolute size of the sector. The article then examines possible policies that might help to alleviate these problems. It argues that neither a completely free market system nor strengthening existing controls is likely to prove acceptable. Finally, it suggests a number of possible ways forward within a system of partial controls.
Economic Welfare and Social Justice
Authors: Barr Nicholas
Published: January 2009

Two results are established in this paper. First, economic efficiency is an appropriate aim of policy under most definitions of social justice, including those of libertarians, utilitarians, Rawls and socialists; an increase in efficiency, in other words, can raise social welfare under all these theories of social justice. Second, when production is fixed, no distribution can be socially just unless it is also efficient. Though the weight it is given will vary under different definitions of social justice, economic efficiency is therefore not simply a constituent aim of utilitarianism, but an important goal, whatever one's ideology. Considerations of efficiency are therefore of general relevance to the formulation of social policy.
Evaluation of the Post-War Increase in Social Welfare Spending
Authors: Lampman Robert
Published: January 2009

American social welfare spending, broadly defined, increased faster than GNP in the years 1950 to 1978. The extra spending was directed mainly at the traditional welfare population categories of the aged, disabled, and female family heads. The extra funds were provided chiefly by payroll taxes and wage diversions. The social benefits that flowed from the extra social welfare spending include improved economic security and reduction in income poverty. These benefits, which are non-quantifiable, are supplemented by the quantifiable addition to GNP which arises from a more highly-educated labour force. The quantifiable social costs associated with the extra social welfare spending include a loss of potential GNP due to induced reduction of hours at work and extra resources used up for education and health care. The reader's judgement of the worth of the non-quantifiable social benefits is critical to his or her overall evaluation.