Social Policy Studies Research Articles

A comparative social policy study on determinants of work of old adults

A comparative social policy study on determinants of work of old adults

Robert Pinker, the Idea of Welfare and the Study of Social Policy: On Unitarism and Pluralism

AbstractThis article reappraises the distinction upon which Robert Pinker has insisted since the 1970s between the heuristic and the normative dimensions of concepts and theories associated with ‘welfare’ in social policy studies, a distinction prompted by, for instance, the writings of Richard Titmuss. It discusses Pinker's differentiation of forms of study which seek to account for the likenesses and unlikenesses within and between the welfare systems of different countries from forms of study aiming to establish moral criteria by which one system of welfare can be deemed superior to another. In particular, it highlights his emphasis on the need for social policy as a subject to attend to: (a) the reality of everyday ideas of social welfare and ‘faring well’ in general; (b) how everyday ideas of ‘faring well’ are exhibited in what he has called ‘conditional altruism’, whether exercised within families, towards strangers or across nations; (c) the practices undertaken by individuals and families to attain freedom and security as well as to meet those of their needs commonly taken within social policy studies to be the components of ‘welfare’; (d) the difficulties, moral, political, social and economic, associated with Titmussian welfare unitarism, in contrast to welfare pluralism. The article thus provides a review of aspects of Pinker's many published papers as well as his influentialSocial Theory and Social PolicyandThe Idea of Welfare.

Deliberative governance in the European Higher Education Area. The Bologna Process as a case of alternative governance architecture in Europe

Designing political institutions is a balancing act between upholding democratic ideals and accommodating constraints. Advocates of deliberative governance in the European Union live this tension in a particularly polarized manner, torn between the deliberative ideal of consensual decision-making and the reality of power politics. To which extent does deliberative governance provide a suitable conceptual framework as well as a mode of governance in its own right for European policy-making? This paper applies five features of deliberative governance suggested by Teague (2001) in his study of European social policy to the genesis of the Bologna Process and subsequent domestic reforms. The Bologna Process has, since the Sorbonne declaration of 25 May 1998, aimed at creating a European Higher Education Area. This study concludes that deliberative governance has the potential to start a long-term process of progressive domestic policy change and therefore deserves further investigation.

Pensions, poverty and wellbeing in later life: Comparative research from South Africa and Brazil

This paper draws on two linked studies of social policy and wellbeing in later life. The studies make comparisons between distinct groups of older people at the national and sub-national levels, as well as over time. The paper reflects on some of the main challenges for operationalising this complex design, as well as for interpreting findings and identifies lessons for other studies. The first study, conducted in 2002, included a questionnaire survey of around 2000 households containing at least one older person in South Africa and Brazil, supplemented by a set of in-depth qualitative interviews. Intriguingly, these countries had remarkably similar pension programmes, providing the majority of older people a reliable payment of roughly US$3 a day. This offered the prospect of exploring the effects of similar interventions in distinct developmental and cultural settings. In both countries, we found that these pensions had a substantial impact on the prevalence and depth of poverty in the study households, and were usually shared between older people and other family members. The second survey took place in 2008/9 and involved revisiting the households included in the 2002 survey, along with a separate set of in-depth interviews. This provided an opportunity for dynamic analysis of economic and wellbeing effects, against a backdrop of increased divergence in the wider national settings. Among other things, this revealed high and increasing levels of life satisfaction across all the study groups, although the extent to which this was directly related to generous pension provision cannot be ascertained.

The Initiative to extend Medicare into Mexico: a case study in changing U.S. Health Care Policy

This study examines the geo-political activities of interest groups, governments and multinational corporations involved in an initiative to extend Medicare to U.S. retirees residing in Mexico. If the initiative to change the current Medicare policy succeeds, the relocation of Medicare-eligible populations from the U.S. to Mexico is likely to increase; the U.S. is expected to gain cost-savings for taxpayers on Medicare; Mexico can develop senior-housing and options for long-term care it currently lacks; and foreign-led multinational corporations will increase their profits and dominance, fostering even more privatization in Mexico’s health care sector. By exploring new issues about retirement migration and health this study seeks to gain knowledge about the phenomena in a number of areas. First, the retirement migration of North Americans to Latin America is an under-studied phenomenon in the fields of social gerontology, migration research, and health policy studies. Second, the Medicare in Mexico initiative is even less well-known among health policy scholars than the retirement migration phenomenon into Mexico. Yet this initiative is inherently international in scope and involves a number of US-based institutions and interest groups actively promoting the project from within Mexico. Thus, the initiative has important geo-political and socio-economic implications for reforming health care systems in the U.S. and Mexico.

A Search for Meaning: Recognizing the Potential of Narrative Research in Social Policy-Making Efforts

In recent decades, narrative research has gained increasing prominence in social and health sciences. However, the role that narrative research has played in social policy-making efforts has been small compared to that of quantitative research. This paper highlights the ways in which theoretical stances, questions, methods, and findings from narrative research can be useful in social policy-making arenas. Particular attention is paid to research conducted in the narrative study of lives tradition in psychology, gerontology, and related social sciences. Narrative research that seeks to understand individual lives in all their complexity and in the contexts in which they are lived can be particularly useful in informing sexuality-related policy concerns given the complex nature of sexuality. By focusing on the current policy concern of same-sex relationship recognition, this paper demonstrates that (a) narrative research offers much to the study of social policy and social justice via its ability to illuminate the complex interplay between everyday lived experience and social structures and (b) there is a need to redefine what counts as research evidence in policy-making efforts to be more inclusive of narrative work. In making these arguments, examples of recent narrative research are highlighted regarding their direct relevance to sexuality-related social policy. The paper concludes with suggestions by which researchers and policy makers can productively incorporate narrative research into their work by focusing on the complimentary potential for findings from quantitative and narrative research.

Interventions in the political geography of ‘libertarian paternalism’

Contributions from political, health and economic geography, social policy and environmental policy studies are brought together here in order to examine the implications of a ‘libertarian paternalist’ political ‘project’ which seeks to react in pragmatic and ideological terms to the excesses and limitations of neoliberalism in liberal democratic contexts. The authors explore the contemporary relevance and historical antecedents of so-called ‘nudge’ tactics of governing, and draw attention to the political geographies encountered in this popular political programme in specific cases.

Teaching & Learning Guide for: ‘I mak Bould to Wrigt’: First-person Narratives in the History of Poverty in England, c. 1750-1900

Teaching & Learning Guide for: ‘I mak Bould to Wrigt’: First-person Narratives in the History of Poverty in England, c. 1750-1900

Reconceiving Social Exclusion

Several ambiguities in the social exclusion literature - in both the fields of social policy and development studies - fuel the common criticism that the concept is redundant with respect to already existing poverty approaches, particularly more multidimensional and processual approaches, such as relative or capability poverty. In order to resolve these ambiguities and to derive value-added from the concept, social exclusion needs to be reconceptualised in a way that decisively opts for a processual definition, without reference to norms and/or poverty. Accordingly, a working definition of social exclusion is proposed as structural, institutional or agentive processes of repulsion or obstruction. This definition gives attention to processes occurring vertically throughout social hierarchies and opens up applications of the social exclusion approach to analyses of stratification, segregation and subordination in development studies, especially within contexts of high or rising inequality. Three strengths and applications include situations where exclusions lead to stratifying or impoverishing trajectories without any short-term poverty outcomes; where upward mobility of poor people is hindered by exclusions occurring among the nonpoor; and situations of inequality-induced conflict.

A Critical Review of Poverty Studies in Social Policy

A Critical Review of Poverty Studies in Social Policy

Childhood in a Global Perspective

Book synopsis: This compelling new book offers a unique global perspective on children's lives throughout the world. It shows how the notion of childhood is being radically re-shaped, in part as a consequence of globalization. Taking an engaging historical and comparative approach, the book discusses wide-ranging issues such as children and war, child labour and young people's activism around the globe. Important themes considered include: How children are constituted as raced, classed and gendered subjects; How family policy results in some kinds of family being labelled as normal and others as deviant, and how this impacts in children; How children’s involvement in war is connected to the globalization of capitalism and organised crime; How school and work operate as sites for the governing of childhood. This book will be of great value to students and scholars in the fields of sociology, social policy and development studies. It will also be a valuable companion to practitioners of international development and social work, as well as to anyone interested in childhood in the contemporary world. * How children are constituted as raced, classed and gendered subjects; * How family policy results in some kinds of family being labelled as normal and others as deviant, and how this impacts in children; * How children's involvement in war is connected to the globalization of capitalism and organised crime; * How school and work operate as sites for the governing of childhood. This book will be of great value to students and scholars in the fields of sociology, social policy and development studies. It will also be a valuable companion to practitioners of international development and social work, as well as to anyone interested in childhood in the contemporary world.

Partnerships for Gender Equity in Nigerian Universities: The Case of the Gender Equity Project of Obafemi Awolowo University

The growing salience of gender in African political and intellectual landscapes has had impacts in the education sector. Education, identified as one most important single factor, for closing the wide gender gap, has been targeted to it political and socio-economic benefits. Higher education institutions, which experience the widest gender equity gaps in education programming have drawn grave attention and various responses being developed to mitigate the situation. This paper discusses the response of one institution, the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), to bridge gender equity gaps through a partnership with the Carnegie Corporation of New York. In the process, OAU – Carnegie Gender Equity Initiative was put in place to tackle the specific problem of the under-presentation of women in OAU. This paper examines the initiative for its impact on the University and constituent communities. Secondary data was collected from Centre for Gender and Social Policy Studies and Planning and Budgeting Unit of the University. Analysis of various conceptual and empirical sources reveals that the Gender Equity Project has made tremendous impact on all spheres of the University. The Project, through its fellowships to women academics, specific junior faculty to complete their Ph. Ds, and strengthened the capacities of administrative staff. The extension of scholarships to women indigent undergraduate and postgraduate students helped in the retention of the awardees and the completion of their programmes and the University Community has become more gender sensitive. Moreover, OAU now operates a Gender Policy which is expected to help institutionalize gender issues into all facets of the University. In conclusion, OAU is making progress in institutionalizing gender into all aspects of the University life thus moving towards achieving gender equality and gender mainstreaming.KEYWORDS: Gender Equality, Institutional Partnerships, Gender Mainstreaming, Higher Education, Staff Development.

Devolution, Diversity and Welfare Reform: Long‐term Care in the ‘Latin Rim’

AbstractUnderstanding long‐term care (LTC) reform is at the core of the study of European social policy. Particularly important are the effects of regional devolution on the development of LTC services, being one of the few areas only subject to limited welfare retrenchment. One important question is the extent to which a devolved system of welfare governance influences the process of welfare reform as well as the degree of diversity in the provision and financing of LTC. The article draws upon evidence from Italy and Spain, two ‘Latin Rim’ countries, both of which have faced similar demands over the last twenty years for reform of systems with limited entitlement to long‐term care. It argues that when there is a latent demand for reform, welfare devolution does not inhibit reform when fiscal blame‐avoidance opportunities arise at the central government level. Furthermore, we examine the extent to which devolution leads to increasing fragmentation and diversity. The article's findings indicate that by diffusing policy responsibilities, devolution has enhanced LTC reform and reduced pre‐existing welfare fragmentation in Spain. In contrast, the lack of countrywide reform in Italy is explained by the absence of political opportunities for the diffusion of the fiscal blame that has frustrated attempts to reform the existing national cash allowance.

Improving social welfare chain using optimal planning model

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to introduce the concept of social welfare chain and address the challenges in decision making through the development of an optimal planning model for a nongovernmental organization (NGO). The distinctive properties of the social welfare chain and its relationship with the humanitarian relief chain in the context of supply chain management are also discussed. The paper presents a real decision problem and analyzes the managerial impacts of the proposed solution.Design/methodology/approachThe study of social welfare policy and the review of the humanitarian literature has necessitated the introduction of the social welfare chain. Based on its definition, an optimal facility location distribution model that consolidates the non‐integrated style of logistics functions with a cost minimizing approach is developed. The General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) is used in order to optimize the coal distribution model of an NGO. Data is obtained from an NGO that aims to help vulnerable people through distributing coal and basic food such as rice and sugar.FindingsBesides laying the foundations of social welfare chain, an analytical tool for decision support systems of the NGOs can be considered as the major finding of the research. Despite the increased number of stages in the proposed network configuration, the optimal solution resulted in significant cost reduction and distribution efficiency due to the availability of temporary distribution center locations at no extra cost. Furthermore, this study brings out the advantages of using intermodal transportation in the distribution process of cost‐sensitive networks.Practical implicationsThis paper provides a detailed analysis that contributes to the efficiency and the effectiveness of social welfare chains. Moreover, it represents a cooperation established between university and NGOs.Originality/valueThe planning efforts of nongovernmental organizations targeting at the periodical aids to improve the social welfare level have received little attention in the literature. This paper is the first to propose the concept of “Social Welfare Chain”, at the same time addressing the distribution planning for the NGO.

Social Policy Study in Taiwan

Welfare development in Taiwan has been accompanied by a significant growth of postgraduate programs after the 1990s. Yet, few previous papers have explored the changing academic studies in relation to policy development. Degree theses as an indicator of academic output should show the overall picture of shifts in social policy studies. We adopt secondary data analysis, based on the Dissertation and Thesis Database, which contains 2,089 degree theses from all of the 20 social work and social policy institutes in Taiwan. A three-dimensional framework is constructed to highlight important changes of theses in 1990–2008 and the implications to welfare development.

A Historical Review of Educational Policy in Greece for Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Behavioral Difficulties and Other Special Educational Needs

This review aims to present the development of special education in Greece with regard to people with delinquent behaviour, pervasive developmental and/or other psychological disorders. It examines the establishment of the public education and health system and all subsequent major developments. It includes legislative framework, social ideology, institutions and all the social, economic and other developments that played an important role.The study of educational and social policy for people with delinquent behaviour and pervasive developmental and/or other psychological disorders constitutes a sociological model for a presentation of the impact of social change upon institutions and society. Individuals with psychological difficulties and pervasive developmental disorders first attracted the attention of the Greek state and the private sector in the late 1950s. Until this point, these people remained under the protection of their families or in institutions and asylums. Before the 1950s the state considered psychological disorders, behavioral problems and delinquency a threat to societal security, the measures in place at this time were of a suppresive nature and were not the responsibility of the Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs. A shift in the education of people with behavioural problems and pervasive developmental disorders occurred after the institution of Law 2817/2000 (Greek Official Governmental Gazette. Law 2817 14/3/2000 78). This law introduced the abolition of discriminating terminology, and also the promotion of respect to individual differences and its purpose was the educational and social integration of people characterized as ‘special’. Law 3699/2008 (Greek Official Governmental Gazette. Law 3699 2/10/2008 199) expands on this and encourages a policy of education and integration of those with special educational needs.

Impact of a Statewide Collaborative on Strengthening Families Through Early Care and Education

Research Findings: Research suggests that early care and education programs are most effective when they include strong components of family involvement. The Center for the Study of Social Policy recommended that early care and education programs build family-centered practices to strengthen families and reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect. This article summarizes a statewide effort to implement this strategy, called Strengthening Families through Early Care and Education. We analyzed program self-assessments submitted by 186 early care and education programs. Analyses revealed that Head Start programs had better support systems in place for families than did “mainstream” (non–Head Start, non-accredited) early care and education programs. Results also showed that a small amount of state and local funding provided enough incentive for programs to improve their family-strengthening practices. Commitment and collaboration at the state level led to a sustainable impact by infusing “strengthening families” concepts into the early care and education field statewide.

O princípio da desmercantilização nas políticas sociais

O presente artigo objetiva tecer discussões sobre um princípio inovador, denominado de desmercantilização, formulado recentemente por Esping-Andersen (1990, 1999, 2002) e incorporado ao estudo das políticas sociais. A principal proposição do autor, através deste termo desmercantilização, consiste em avaliar o grau de autonomia e independência dos indivíduos em relação ao mercado. As conclusões essenciais advindas da análise em tela evidenciam uma contribuição singular e inovadora, ao enfatizar a importância dos arranjos institucionais das políticas sociais, considerando não somente os direitos e garantias, mas, sobretudo, o entrelaçamento do Estado com o mercado e a família na provisão de políticas sociais.

The Limits of Europeanisation: EU Accession and Gender Equality in Bulgaria and Romania

The paper seeks to bridge the existing gap between three distinct strands of literature: scholarship on EU enlargement; studies of social policy in the European Union; and feminist theorising on equality between men and women. It explores the impact of the EU's conditionality on policies, legislation and institutions on gender equality in Bulgaria and Romania between 1990 and 2007 from a feminist perspective, uncovering the multifaceted process whereby Europeanisation and domestic determinants of change interact with each other in the formation and implementation of a new gender equality agenda.

In search of welfare, community and solidarity in 'Feelbad Britain'? Emotions in the study of social policy and community development

This paper starts by summarising recent challenges to neo-liberal assumptions about human motivation, rooted in economically rational individualism. This leads into the discussion of the increasing recognition of the role of emotions and alternative approaches to social policy and community development, including increasing interest in faiths and spirituality within civil society as well as amongst public policy makers. Finally, the paper focuses upon the emotional impact of neo-liberal policies upon public service professionals, their motivations and professional identities, together with the ways in which they identify and cope with the ethical dilemmas that they face, in the current policy context. This final section draws upon the findings from research carried out together with Paul Hoggett and Chris Miller, along with some more personal reflections on the possible implications for training and continuing professional development.