Research Topics: Social Policy

FIVE MYTHS ABOUT IMMIGRATION

Five Myths about Immigration   Throughout history, immigrants in the United States have been perceived by U.S citizens negatively and these perceptions have obscured reason and fairness. The five myths about immigration explain the misinformation of people regarding the immigrants in America who they blame for the problems in the society. These preconceived notions do not have clear basis and are often unfounded.  explained the five common myths regarding immigrants who enter the United States. These myths distort public debate and government policies related to immigrants. Immigrants overrun America, take available jobs and drain the resources of the country. Aside from this, immigrants are alleged of taking away the cultural and political unity of America and that they are not entitled of constitutional rights.             These myths are proven untrue by  in his article. First is the myth that America is being overrun with immigrants. At some point, this is true. Aside from real Native Americans, America has been a nation of immigrants. However the myth about the growing population of the first generation immigrant is untrue.  In 1990, eight percent of the population constitutes the immigrants. Most of these proportions are refugees or immediate relatives of U.S citizens. Contrary to popular beliefs, these immigrants do not enter the country illegally and remains in the country until their visa expires.             The second myth about the immigrants is that they take the jobs from the U.S citizens. Such view is not supported by evidences and it probably emerged as a wide spread misunderstanding of the immigrants. In fact, numerous studies have shown that immigrants actually create more jobs than those they fill. While they take jobs, they are also highly productive with running their own businesses and employ both immigrants and citizens.             Studies have shown consistently that immigrant workers do not hurt the U.S born workers instead they stimulate the growth of the economy by spending in consumer goods, starting their own businesses and investing capital. The idea that immigrants take jobs away from U.S citizens is a persistent fallacy about immigration. This thought is based form the belief that there is a limited number of jobs in the economy.             Third is the myth that immigrants drain the society’s resources. This claim ahs led to the effort of the government to cut off some of the benefits of immigrants. Although some studies showed that the immigrants are net benefits to the economy because they generate significant taxes paid than the cost of the services they received. In addition to this, immigrants are found to have favorable effects on the overall standard of living. Anti immigrant advocates cite studies that focus only on the taxes and services at the local and state levels.  They fail to explain that most of the taxes generated actually go to the federal government.             In addition to this, the U.S has plenty of wealth to spend. As of 2001, it has the third largest per capita Gross domestic Product in the world. It is also relatively uncrowded and constitutes only 4.9% of the world’s population in 2003. Aside from this, most of the population growth occurs in less developed countries while the growth in developed countries is relatively low.             Fourth is the refusal of the immigrants to assimilate and the deprivation of cultural and political unity. This claim has emerged with the arrival of the new group of immigrants in the U.S. Even so, this may be proven untrue. Take for example the Chinese immigrants who remained in the country as separate people. They retain their distinctiveness in dressing, manners, habits and modes of living marked by their complexion and language.  The same claim is made with Catholics, Jews, Italians, Eastern Europeans and Latin Americans.             According to , these claims are simply unfounded since the American Culture has been shaped by people who descended from immigrants that are once regarded as anti-assimilationist. Today, it has been accepted that these people are important players in defining the country’s culture. American culture has been created and influenced by the diversity of people that came form different backgrounds and traditions.             The last myth is that non citizen immigrants are not entitled to constitutional rights.  argued that the Bills of Rights protect all people only reserving the right to vote and run federal positions to citizens. He pointed out that in 1983, the executive branch defended a statute requiring Chinese laborers to establish their prior residency with the testimony of at least one credible white witness. This law was ruled as constitutional by the Supreme Court because it presumed that nonwhite witnesses cannot be trusted. Today, the Supreme Court ruled that every person in the country irrespective of their immigrant status is entitled to fundamental rights although the federal government sometimes fails to uphold such principles. Reference: Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

FIVE MYTHS ABOUT IMMIGRATION

Five Myths about Immigration Throughout history, immigrants in the United States have been perceived by U.S citizens negatively and th...

Social Policy and Social Problem

Social Policy and Social Problem     Francis Galton and Eugenics                 Francis Galton, Charles Darwin’s cousin was the founder of the pseudo-science of eugenics, which provided the intellectual infrastructure for the advocates of sterilization and related measures of social control.  wrote about the genetics of human characteristics and the possibility of improving the genetic qualities of human populations first in an article published in 1865 and later in his book Hereditary Genius (1869). It was in his 1883 book, Inquiries into Human Faculty, that Galton proposed the term eugenics for these ideas, the word being constructed from the Greek to mean “good breeding.”  (1883) wrote, “We greatly want a brief word to express the science of improving stock which takes cognizance of all influences that tend in however remote a degree to give the more suitable races or strains of blood a better chance of prevailing speedily over the less suitable, than they would otherwise have had. The word eugenics would sufficiently express the idea – Eugenics was to be the study of agencies under social control that may improve or repair the racial qualities of future generations, physically or mentally” ().  wrote about eugenics in a series of books and articles over a period of 45 years, from his first essay of 1865 until the year of his death, 1911. During these years he considered virtually all the ramifications of the concept. He discussed the characteristics that eugenics would seek to improve, the genetic determination of these characteristics, the genetic deterioration taking place in modern populations that eugenics would seek to reverse, and the policies that might be implemented to promote eugenics. It is with Galton’s ideas on these issues that an assessment of the concept of eugenics has to start ( 2001). Galton proposed that the objective of eugenics should be the improvement of the genetic qualities of the population with respect to three characteristics: (1) health, (2) intelligence, and (3) what he called “moral character.” He employed the concept of health broadly to include not only the absence of disease, but also the presence of energy, vigor, and what he sometimes called “physique.”  (1909) believed there would be a widespread consensus on the desirability of health in this broad sense, writing of the discussions he had had with a number of people that “some qualities such as health and vigor are thought by all to be desirable and the opposite undesirable” (). One of the most articulate and effective promoters of positive and negative eugenics is The Eugenics Society, founded in 1907. From the outset, sterilization was seen by the British eugenists as a main plank in their negative eugenics program. Galton’s negative eugenics was to be directed at curtailing the fertility of the undesirables. This social group broadly approximates to what was to become known in the last quarter of the twentieth century as the “underclass” and is characterized by low intelligence and a serious deficiency of moral sense. The eugenists inclined to root all social and physical deviance in genetic defect. Sterilization was promoted as a cheap and easy means of controlling the birth rate of offending groups. These groups range from such obvious targets as insane to any class of defectives or even more widely to what eugenists called the “social problem group”.   Eugenics and the concept of Underclass:               In the nineteenth century images of an inferior breed of humanity that were viewed as a race of men, small, ill-formed, disease-stricken and hard to kill struck the heart of the secure and respectable population. This fueled the fire of the eugenics movement. By the turn of the eighteenth century in England, the lower classes seemed to be breeding more quickly than their social and moral superiors, and this would have a deleterious effect on society as a whole. Eugenics became a means to preserve and increase the middle classes and restrict the reproduction of the lower classes. The onset of the First World War arguably demonstrated that the casual poor were a social not a biological creation. The hard core of the group of social ineffecients was considered to be constituted by the mental defectives. The Wood Report on Mental Deficiency ( 1929) states: ‘If we are to deal with the racial disaster of mental deficiency, we must deal not merely with mentally defective persons, but with the whole subnormal group from which the majority of them come.’ It was also argued that if empirically investigated, this group would be found to include:   A much larger proportion of insane persons, epileptics, paupers, criminals (especially recidivists), unemployables, habitual slum dwellers, prostitutes, inebriates and other social inefficients than would a group of families not containing mental defectives. The overwhelming majority of the families thus collected will belong to that section of the community, which we propose to term the ‘social problem’ or ‘subnormal group’. This group comprises approximately the lowest 10 per cent of the social scale of most communities. The Eugenics Society believed that the social problem group falls into two types. One is the medico-psychological, defined in terms of mental defect, and the sociological, defined in terms of poverty and slum dwelling. Falling somewhere between the two are the recidivists, unemployables, inebriates and prostitutes. According to  (2001), the underclass is a new term for an old phenomenon. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this class was known in the United States and Britain as the “undeserving poor” (). These were people who were physically healthy and able to work, but who were work-shy, feckless, criminal, and violent and whose poverty was a consequence of their personal inadequacies. A distinction was drawn between these and the deserving poor who worked and were poor because they earned low wages and had large families to support. The general view was that only the deserving poor should be given charitable help; the undeserving poor needed to be discouraged and contained by social disapproval and stigma. Society provided those regarded as the undeserving poor with the essentials of accommodation and food in workhouses, which were deliberately designed to be spartan to discourage their use. The Victorians understood with a clarity that became lost in the second half of the twentieth century that rigorous social control was necessary to contain the growth of a subclass of undeserving poor. The contemporary concept of the underclass is a sanitized term for the undeserving poor and was first used by (1962). Sterilization:             In 1934, the Brock Committee recommended voluntary sterilization as a means of avoiding the decline of the society. The recommendation aimed to restrict the social problem group to reproduce. The Eugenics Society considered voluntary sterilization an instrument with which significantly to address the problems posed by the presence of the social problem group. Eugenists argued that the member of the social problem group required sterilization because they were unfit to care for their children and because they were said to have an increased fertility. The target for sterilization included not only ‘the recognizably defective, but also the apparently normal but actually defective’; indeed, the obviously ‘defective’—helpless ‘idiots’ or schizophrenics—were viewed as less of a threat to the human race than the numerically larger, socially more threatening Lumpenproletariat which constituted the social problem group. The Committee concluded that there was a population of a quarter of a million who were potentially candidates for sterilization. It believed this group both personally unhappy and a source of malaise for the rest of society. In a memorable phrase, the Committee was excited by the ‘dead weight of social inefficiency and individual misery’ implied by the ‘existence in our midst of over a quarter of a million mental defectives and of a far larger number of persons who without being certifiably defective is mentally subnormal’. This language is hardly neutral, though it is consistent with extant eugenic assumptions.       Alternative Anti Poverty Policies                        Historically, the closest approximation to a clear set of policy ideas and administrative practices that dealt with poverty is in the thinking underlying the Victorian Poor Law. Able-bodied adults were expected to earn their maintenance through the wages they earned from their employment. If they were unwilling to seek or accept work on the open labour market, then they, and their dependants, would be maintained in the institutional setting of a local workhouse, in conditions that were orderly and regulated, but were intended to be stigmatising to the inmate and a deterrent to others ( 1998). Social Security              (1942) hoped that his ideas would provide a complete and acceptable alternative to the traditions of the Poor Law. He recommended the development of a social security system, based upon social insurance, to which everyone would belong; the payment of regular National Insurance contributions, deducted at source from wages, would earn an entitlement to a range of benefits without the need for stigmatising and administratively costly tests of individual need, merit or means. The deterrent principles of the Poor Law would be replaced by rights of citizenship, earned through membership of, and contribution to, the state system of social security. The social security system that has developed since the 1940s includes income-replacement measures, some long-term, (such as pensions for the elderly), others with short-term interruptions in earning power, (because of, for example, sickness or temporary unemployment). It also includes income-enhancement measures, such as family credit (which supplements the wages of those with family responsibilities but with very low earnings), and child benefit (paid to all mothers with dependent children). There is also a range of other contingency benefits paid to those with identified special needs, such as disabled people. The very existence of this system has given millions of people a modicum of income security (1998). Full Employment             Most people keep themselves and their families out of poverty through working and earning. Most people want to work, not only for the money they can earn, but also because of the satisfactions they gain from shared activity, and from the social networks that work opens up. This is true even when the job itself is arduous, or where working conditions are hard, even dangerous. Indeed it is precisely in these working environments that social solidarity is most marked. For many people their own sense of worth and self-esteem is bound up with their jobs, and with the social contribution they are thus able to make, as well as with the financial rewards they may receive (1998). Redistribution of Wealth             If it is clear that the unregulated operation of the market leads inter alia to intolerable inequalities that, for the victims, are positively harmful, even life-threatening, and for everyone are socially disfiguring and ultimately destructive, then consideration must be given to finding more effective ways to reduce poverty and inequality. Internationally, this will require economic and trading relationships that are not one-sided, but that bring benefits to all. This means international co-operation to reduce the risks of war between nations, and long-term strategic international collaboration to attack epidemic disease, and to enhance the living standards and quality of life of the most impoverished populations of the world. Nationally there needs to be serious discussion of both the creation and the distribution of wealth and well-being. Currently unfashionable themes, such as wages and income policy, must be reconsidered, even if only to be rejected as undesirable or unworkable, as must a coherent taxation policy. The aim must be to enable the largest number of people to become self-supporting through their own adequately paid work, with protection for those too young, too old or too ill to hold down jobs (1998).   Social Welfare and the Poor Law:             The Poor law is considered as the foundation of Social Work in Britain. The Poor Law was the system for the provision of social security in operation in England and the rest of the United Kingdom from the 16th century until the Welfare State’s establishment in the 20th century. The Poor Law classified the poor in three groups. The impotent poor have no capacity to look after themselves or go to work. They included the sick, the infirm, the elderly, and orphans. The able-bodied poor are people who were unable to find work either because of long-term unemployment in the area or lack of skills. The vagrants or beggars, also called the idle poor, were considered those who could go to work but had refused to. They were seen as potential criminals and apt to do mischief. Several Provisions were made during the Liberal Government to provide social services without the stigma of the Poor Law. Part of the amendments of the Poor Law was Social Welfare Provision. Social Welfare provision refers to any government program that seeks to provide a minimum level of income or other support for disadvantaged groups such as the poor.                                                  Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Social Policy and Social Problem

Social Policy and Social Problem Francis Galton and Eugenics Francis Galton, Charles Darwin’s cousin was the found...

Social Policy Themes and Issues

Social Policy Themes and Issues   It has been reported that the idea of the “welfare state” usually refers to an ideal model of provision, where the state accepts responsibility for the provision of comprehensive and universal welfare for its citizens (2006). In addition, identified three principal elements on the British welfare state, namely, a guarantee of minimum standards, including a minimum income; social protection in the event of insecurity; and the provision of services at the best level possible (2006). In practice, social welfare in the United Kingdom is very different from this ideal, for in the United Kingdom, coverage is extensive, but benefits and services are delivered at a low level (2006). Moreover, the social protection provided is patchy, and services are tightly rationed ( 2006).             In essence, the welfare state in the United Kingdom offers much more than the concept of welfare state being suggested. The services being offered by the government of the United Kingdom is much better compared to other countries, making living conditions in the country much higher. However, some services are not met by the government, and despite the high income of this country, still there are impoverished citizens in the UK, who are unemployed. In addition, some citizens suffer much from racial discrimination and human rights violations. The concept of the welfare state in the UK may be the perfect example of standard living conditions. However, due to the neglect and mismanagement of officials, services provided may be minimal.               Despite our high regard for the economy, society, history and culture of the United Kingdom, there are still some other aspects in its government, which are considered unacceptable. Nowadays, more and more anti-racist movements are being established to fight for the rights of many citizens, whose human rights are being violated. With the presence of different races in the United Kingdom, the domination of the white race persists, leaving other races in the country under their mercy. Some of these races present in the United Kingdom are the Muslims, Pakistanis, Arabians, Asians, and Africans. Most of them suffer from discrimination and violation of human rights, such as racist attacks, housing discrimination, violence, poverty, religion discrimination, and unemployment. Due to these, the concept of the British welfare state is being distorted, for the government of the United Kingdom cannot provide protection and equality among all races present in their country. The presence of anti-racist movements in the United Kingdom contributes to the government’s pressure of meeting the expectations of their citizens for better services. The presence of anti-racist movements also serves as a warning to the government of the existing injustices and inequality in the British society. Furthermore, the government can strive to improve their laws and regulations, and further analyze the country’s situation to prevent the incidence of social chaos and destabilization of the government.             Welfare States of rich Western countries are not essentially the same. These differences are being examined and evaluated using five main approaches. The five approaches include the Comparison of Policy, the Comparison of Inputs, Comparing Production, Comparing Operations, and Comparing Outcomes (2006). Comparison of Policy is done by comparing and examining the overt terms, to arouse actions by the government. A study was made with the historical development of welfare in Europe and America, and states that the welfare in different countries often develops on similar lines (2006). In Comparison of Inputs, inputs are defined as the resources, which go into welfare provision (2006). One study suggests that welfare spending shows that the main determinants are the age of the system and the structure of the population (2006). Comparing Production is also one approach, showing that different states operate different kinds of rules and structures (2006). With this observation, one study uses evidence on the organization and delivery of specific services to define positions adopted by different welfare states ( 2006). Comparing Operations is done by considering the detailed operation of benefits and services, such as what the state does, how the states are paid for, and who runs them ( 2006). The last approach is Comparing Outcomes. It has been reported that the case can be made that what matters about welfare is not what is intended, nor what the process is, but whether or not people benefit from it (2006). In stating these approaches, it can be deduced that no Western countries are alike in terms of Welfare States, as these approaches serve as basis for their differences.               The concept of Neoliberalism or capitalism affects and determines the concept of globalization today. Its idea also influences the concept of social policy in the United Kingdom and other countries as well. Neoliberal thinking aims to reduce taxation, especially on wealth and high earners, which leads to providing incentives by the government. It also aims to reduce public social expenditure and promote private social expenditure such as in healthcare, pension and higher education. The concept of neoliberalism can also result to permanent mass unemployment, and somehow preventing the increase in inflation, and thus affect the British economy and its output. Neoliberalism also leads to the change in the benefits, pensions and public services in the British society, thus providing better opportunities for investment of private sectors. This gives the economy of United Kingdom the opportunity to earn more and profit from the trade. The concept of neoliberalism also supports free trade and welfare reform, promotes privatization and minimal intervention of the government. Social policy can be adversely affected by this concept, by improving the economy of United Kingdom in terms of better provision of social services, such as in healthcare, housing and education, and can promote the delivery of welfare of the citizens. This concept offers great opportunities, given the advocacy of the government to the good of its citizens. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Social Policy Themes and Issues

Social Policy Themes and Issues It has been reported that the idea of the “welfare state” usually refers to an ideal model of provis...

SOCIAL POLICIES IN UNITED KINGDOM

Social Policies in United Kingdom               The social policies of countries, while having some similarities on the implementation of regulations, also have their own uniqueness. These do not only refer to the differences regarding the implementation, but also with regards to the views that accompany these and therefore the motivation behind their execution. As such, the culture of the people are also considered as important factors for these social policies, and it is through these changes that the country is able to hold their abilities into different accounts. Such of these play important roles in the formulation of the regulations and the laws.             The welfare states and social policies within the United Kingdom can be based on their own culture and specific events that have contributed to the ideas that allows for the care given to the citizens. With the government’s primary concern to the safety of their people, there are several limitations as well as responsibilities that need to be addressed in the part of the government officials, the service workers, and—of course—the citizens themselves, in order for them to avail these services. It should also be remembered that these services are greatly derived from the economic performance of the country, especially as the corporation can provide the basic needs of their citizens. The inclusion of this factor can also give a general overview of the current social welfare regulations that are being implemented.             This essay aims to assess the social policies and welfare state of the United Kingdom with emphasis on its ties to Keynesianism and Neoliberalism theories. Such focus gives a more elaborate assessment on the current designs of the UK social policies and also the different reactions that citizens are having on them. Moreover, the focus of this study is to assess how these theories are proving the implemented changes on the regulations and therefore following the ideas that were provided as adjustments for the government.   Welfare State and Social Policy in Specific Areas             The current state of the country is highly dependent on its economy and therefore also constitutes the various businesses and companies that are within the country. Even considering these, there is also a need to identify the culture of the people and include practical ideas that will also involve beliefs from various parts of the country while also including the ideas that will generally be helpful for the rest of the citizens. Such considerations take some time to work, and there is always the decision to focus on the possible ways so these can be achieved. The government, being a public figure, has the responsibility of specifying the definitions that should be included in the regulations.             The welfare state is provided by the government to the public as per their rights for living and for survival. This responsibility stems from the idea that the country should righteously provide their citizens their basic needs and some of their requirements. This does not necessarily mean, however, that everything should be given, rather some specific needs—such as health services and rights to live and for protection—should also be considered. These benefits being offered to the people are part of what the government may be able to offer according to the economy that they have and how they can seriously provide the needs of the people. One of the greater reasons for this is to avoid the possibility of poverty overrunning the country and also immobilizing the state ( 2000)             The United Kingdom has a very serious regard for the welfare states and for their citizens. The social policies include the needs and advantages that the citizens will be able to gather as per their rights. The responsibility on providing them is based on the government, yet an exchange is also expected. Insurances for the people have been made, and thus has also been one of the priorities of many countries, including the United Kingdom. However, despite the idea that the benefits are actually provided only by the government, there is also the idea of exchange between the citizens and the government itself, in order to give each other their own advantages and benefits.             These services can vary according to the countries. In United Kingdom, there are several aspects to the living condition that requires the government to provide for the needs of the people and also to give them the service that they are in need of. Because of the regions within the country, however, each of them are given their own context to work, although this is made easier because of the differences of their culture and also makes it easier to provide information that can be given to the citizens. There are various ways that these can be provided for the people, and the amount of benefits that can be given to the people need to be sorted out. This, however, can fall on the various departments of the United Kingdom depending on the services that can be given; yet with the country, there are only specific departments that can provide for these services ( 2003). Aside from medical attention, there are also provisions for unemployed people to have a work, as well as pensions for honored citizens after some time, thus becoming more inclined to work even after retirement to release them from this burden. Finally, there is also the need to offer education and other various skills including sports and knowledge that will help in building the rapport of the younger people.             From this, it can be gathered that the welfare state focuses on providing the various needs of the people as based on the economic provisions of the country. However, monetary matters for the people are required to be based on a specific budget and can only be provided on a particular provision. When they come to be a part of the department, they must also look into the heads of the state. Moreover, there is also a question of who will be the people to be given the benefits. Competition between these sectors can be based on the quality of the service that they offer to their clients and thus intimately involve the management that each of the sectors may provide. Provisions on the standards that the organization must adhere should also be examined.  (1999) has provided a comprehensive method of policy implementation that the government-based health system may be able to follow. Here, the author discussed that there are several ways for implementations to be followed, either through the various decisions of the members, through peer consideration, and even through the influence of private sections. Globalization was also discussed in relation to the approaches that the organization may take, especially as it allows the expansion of information that they will be able to gather for the improvement of their services. Communication has also played a vital part in the determination of the direction of the decisions concerning the health services as well as the ideas that they may establish for their practice. Changes on the policies may be brought about by different methods, some of which include the changes on the outcome of beliefs, activities within the country, the development of their knowledge, and even through the changes with the ones in power within the organization as well as the people within the government. At the same time, the author has also pointed out that health should not only be defined as the medical abilities and facilities that can be provided for the patients but also the establishment of other factors that may also affect their condition. As such, continued evaluation of the definitions and the methods for judging the rest of the people are mentioned.   Labour Movements within the Corporations             Because of the involvement of the benefits and the advantages that can be given to the people, there is also the question on whether these benefits are actually equal to their achievement. Such exchange is what keeps the strategy alive and continues to improve the methods used by the departments. At the same time, the changes ongoing in many parts of the world, including the economic and the cultural changes, have also contributed with the supposed eventual direction that the working employment have been going to. Not only with regards to the working condition, the lifestyles and living conditions of the people have also been affected, thus in turn, also affecting their decisions and also the ways in which they view specific ideas and cultures.             The practices all around in the past 50 years can be seen by the prevailing paradigms that have persisted and have eventually evolved, and one of the greatest change is through the advantages that can be given to the workers. Capitalism has also contributed to the economic changes within the country, which involves the interrelationships between the private and public sectors. Such interaction are contributive to the different ideas that can be done and also provides for new economic relations from which both are also contributive to the future of the community and also provide the needs of the people. Fundamental changes have also brought changes to the contemporary British social policies with the perceptions that are being used by the government. As provided by  (1987) the outline for the aims and benefits of the government and the economy when it comes on providing the society, shows that more or less the society is now more provided especially as the departments now have their own insight on the direction of the they are taking.             These changes are not only limited to the economy, yet it is also one of the greatest changes in the government as the public and private sectors are now also focusing on their economy and involving different projects consider as their continuation. Moreover, as was given, the paradigms of the people have also become changed. The relationships between the organizations come from the current cultural changes that the people have, and thus works on the capitalist notions are being considered by many (, 2001). Unions are one of the primary indications of these changes, contributing to the nation as they include the citizens. Health Services as Organizational Direction             As was discussed in the previous sections, health services can be offered through several means in different countries mostly provided through either the government or the private provisions. This can be based on several accounts, one of which is the continued development of culture thus helping the services have a direction. Health care can be based on different decisions of the people and may also be based on the training that the service-worker may have. The changes that they have may also be reflective on the decisions of the person himself, thus putting the individual’s cognitive behaviour into the study. Income (therefore the economy of the country) is also a major factor for the decisions that a person may have regarding on the decisions to take advantage of health services (, 1991).             At the same time, other factors may also contribute to the development of the services that the people receive. Besides the established factors, which are economics, culture, and individual cognition, as based on the assessment of the current outcome of the society, there is also the changes that have undergone the facilities, technologies, and thus resulting to the changes with the service that the patients are receiving. It should be remembered that technology is one of the contributing factors that has also allowed for changes, transformation, and development of the health service. ’s study on the relationship of income and health service (1999) has yielded some other results that focused on the use of technology on the health service as based on the choices of the worker. It managed to showcase some of the changes within the department of scientific medicine including dentistry, pharmaceutical products, and even optometry. Information on the effects of certain surgeries and traditional methods of healing were also analyzed based on the needs of the patient, thus showing the methods that these current researches will be affected.              and  (1991) meanwhile included the perspective of using communication in improving the organizational system, especially in offering health service. Here, the authors also considered that communication is an important part on the development of ways to improve ideas over the years despite the geographical constraints and other hindrances as well as focusing on the availability of records and information which will give the health workers the data that they may need in record time which will effectively help the patient in gaining the needed help in time. The authors pointed out that formal organization may be helpful in the mindset of the people in attempting to transform their services over time; while behaviour and decisions are undoubtedly part of the development of the corporation, the use of technology can also be helpful for the methods in which the workers will be able to easily store and retrieve their findings.             The availability of technology is also viewed as a method of extending the life of a person and also gives the means for finding ways of the cause of the problem. Indeed, technology has continued to escalate over the years and almost every month, new studies and information are being distributed concerning the development of technology as a beneficial use for the maintenance of health. Highlighted in a chapter by  and  (1941), the development of technology during such time shows that there has been considerable change in how society manages, accepts, and possibly even rejects the idea of artificial means being a contributing factor for the survival of people. Education and experimentation has developed since then and now has become a regular fixture in the offers that health services may be able to provide. The question on their use, however, may be based on the decisions of the people, the national health organization, and even the clinic and hospitals themselves. Technology has become a fixed practice in health care that  and  (1997) pointed out that this now contributes to the changes with regards to social status and expectations, especially regarding on the infant mortality rates and regarding them as the social mirror of societies’ socioeconomic standing (). Such development continues to remain as a question of either the reflection of medical societies’ has development in study or contribute to the fall of social consciousness.     Reference   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

SOCIAL POLICIES IN UNITED KINGDOM

Social Policies in United Kingdom The social policies of countries, while having some similarities on the implementation o...

Ethical Policy to Moderate Institutional Racism

Ethical Policy to Moderate Institutional Racism               Race, culture, heritage and origin are among the moral issues still being tackled and emphasized in the contemporary American society. Despite the laws and rules regarding the issue of discrimination, it still remains to be the primary dilemma or problem of ethnic minorities in the United States. Such dilemmas are in relevance to institutional racism and affirmative action of the government, which instead of giving the ethnic minorities in the United States a sense of freedom and equality provides them with further issues in relation to employment, individual rights and education. There is much debate about dealing with the lingering effects of past racial discrimination, which is related to the use of affirmative action as an answer to past cases of discrimination (). With this issue, this paper will give an argument of the flaws of affirmative action as a remedy for institutional racism, in accordance to specific cases and government acts and propositions.              It has been reported that institutional racism or systematic racism is a theoretical form of racism, which happens in private or public institutions including public bodies, corporations and academic institutions (Institutional Racism). In addition, it can also be defined as “the collective failure of any organization to provide an appropriate and professional service to individuals due to their color, culture or ethnic origin” (Institutional Racism). With this important social issue, it can be understood that because of institutional racism, many individuals are not given the proper opportunity to avail and enjoy their rights as rightful individuals in the American society. Given the many communication and technological advances and development in the society of the United States, the occurrence and chances of encountering a variety of individuals has a higher rate. Due also to the concept of globalization and internationalization, many individuals belonging to different countries desire to pursue their education and employment in First World nations, such as the United States, to become successful. However, despite the concepts of globalization and internationalization, the rate of discrimination is still high in the American society, especially in terms of education, employment and equality. Because of this, it can be argued that instead of focusing on the implementation of affirmative action as a solution to institutional racism and discrimination, instead, education and open-mindedness must be promoted and encouraged in academic systems and in the homes of Americans to be able to alter the practice of ethnocentrism and inequality among individuals in the society. With the practice of cultural relativism in the homes and academic systems of the United States, it would somehow help the society, especially the minority groups to overcome discrimination and racism, with the support of not only the government, but the entire society as well.             In relation to institutional racism and discrimination, the solution being given by the American government was the affirmative action, which is a complex policy, designed to end discrimination in hiring, college admissions, and the awarding of contracts (). It was initially conceived as a temporary measure to compensate for the years of slavery and it was hoped that it would lead to equal opportunity for all, thus, it serves to increase equity and opportunity to permit race and gender to become a factor in hiring, contracting, admissions, and financial aid (qtd. in Stein). Moreover, it justified using unequal means to achieve greater equality among diverse groups of people, which would contribute to the “public welfare because it reduces poverty and inequalities” (). However, although affirmative action is a plausible answer for discrimination, it still practices inequality and injustice, thus, removing the rights of many individuals in the society. A related example of institutional racism occurred in 1935, when the United States Congress passed the Social Security Act, which guaranteed an income for millions of workers after retirement, but excluding domestic and agricultural workers (Institutional Racism). These workers were Mexican-American, African-American and Asian-American, who were not guaranteed an income after retirement and had fewer chances to save, accumulate and pass wealth on to their future generations (Institutional Racism). With this problem relative to poverty, affirmative action is not a solution because it does not challenge the roots of inequality, and redistributive measures such as affirmative action are only a compromise with and concession from the caretakers of American prosperity (). From this, it can be seen that the implementation of affirmative action cannot answer the problems of ethnic minorities regarding poverty, unless the U.S. government will decide to discriminate whites in relation to providing them with employment and properties. With this, it can be seen that the problem regarding discrimination is still not addressed.             A specific example of an attack to the implementation of affirmative action occurred in 1976 when Allan Bakke sued the University of California Medial School at Davis for denying him admission in favor of Black candidates who he alleged were less qualified academically ( ). He argued that this violated his Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection, thus, this was reverse racism, where white men were being discriminated against and minorities were given preferential treatment (). In relation to this, in July 1995, the National Conference of State Legislatures counted at least ten other states in the process of introducing legislation or organizing ballot measures to ban “preferential treatment” based on race, color, ethnicity, gender, or sexual preference (), thus weakening the implementation of affirmative action. With this specific example, it can be understood that because of such a flaw, affirmative action would not be as effective in addressing the problems of discrimination, as thought of. The use of such an action worsens the situation regarding discrimination, and limits the opportunities of not only the individuals belonging to ethnic minorities, but of other individuals, such as the whites.             In addressing such issues regarding institutional racism and discrimination, it must be argued that the issue that must be emphasized here is the ethnocentrism of many individuals living the society of the United States. Ethnocentrism is the view of many White Americans that their culture, race and color are superior to other cultures. If this mentality will be primarily addressed through appropriate education and practice, such as in their homes and in academic institutions, then the problems regarding discrimination would not be as worse as today. Because ever since, the mentality of ethnocentrism has been instilled in the systems of many Americans, it would be difficult now to erase such a mentality in the contemporary society. However, if cultural relativism would be instilled and reinforced to the individuals of today, then somehow, more people will become open-minded in tackling the issues of racism and discrimination of society. If cultural relativism would be given emphasis, many individuals would have the mentality of giving an equal chance and opportunity to others, thus, becoming more open to different cultures and races in the American society. Therefore, the problem regarding discrimination may become dependent on the practices, education and mentality of many individuals in the society, thus, not anymore needing the implementation of affirmative action.             In addition, because affirmative action contributes more to the discrimination and inequality in the American society, its implementation would be make it more difficult for many to accept unjust decisions, especially in terms of education and employment, which are the most important aspects of living. If its use will be reduced, and the education and correction of ethnocentrism mentality would be given more emphasis, then more individuals would be able to benefit and enjoy the opportunities given to them. Lessening the use of affirmative action would also reduce conflicts in relation to race and color, thus, encouraging and promoting effective cultural interrelations among races, cultures and colors in the American society, thus, reducing discrimination and inequality. Moreover, encouraging emphasis on cultural relativism would make the society more conducive to living of different cultures, thus, promoting growth of many. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Ethical Policy to Moderate Institutional Racism

Ethical Policy to Moderate Institutional Racism Race, culture, heritage and origin are among the moral issues still being...

Social Policy in Education

Introduction             Looking at the context of education as central to policy-making is critical. Education is primarily associated with schooling though the scope of education extends to a ‘lifelong learning’ process. Such process concerns the intellectual development and the social development as well. The need for social policy in education imbued education as an instrument of policing intended for the general welfare and policing that dealt with the structure of the society. The purposes of education include liberal education, socialisation, support mechanism and social change. Education aimed at the individual development, spread of social norms and values, provision of childminding services for posterity’s sake and as agent of significant social changes. The challenge for policy-makers, however, conforms to widening the access; educational inequality; poor and falling standards in UK education; participation and examination achievement, more particularly on basic skills acquisition in both numeracy and literacy and school leavers in exchange for labour market participation ( 2006).             In attempt to raise educational standards, the United Kingdom (UK) had introduced a number of important educational interventions through policy reforms. The most recent reforms to the education system are innovative market-oriented reforms that directly deal with parental choice about the school attended by their children, nationally-prescribed curriculum, elevation of post-schooling participation and introduction of tuition fees for higher education (2006). Going back in the 1970s, the conservative critiques of the education system argued that the abandonment of selection had been disparaging, discipline in schools had been worn and new teaching methods had been disastrous. The schools inspectorate observed, in addition, that comprehensives imitated grammar schools instead of setting-up own curriculum, curriculum had been flooded by unreasonable examinations and the dissention of less able pupils in practically all schools.   Factors that Influence the Development of Social Policy in Education             Education change strategies are based on two significant trends the need for consolidation and strengthening the structural changes that took place at the higher level of hierarchy through elections, for example and the need for a serious paradigm from extensive and centralized developments to intensive and decentralized developments. The concept of comprehensive change cycle dealt with comprehensive systemic change cycle in all relevant sub-sectors of education system. The factors that could affect developments in social education policies are the present education policy itself and its limitations, governance or the political structure, change in demographics or population and mortality rates, the needs for skills and knowledge, curriculum, general knowledge changes, teacher training needs and many more. Design and implementation of changes in educational policies in UK also takes into focus the coherent conceptual framework, central and local structures and short/medium/long term strategies ( 2000). The overall ideological analysis of New Labour’s education policy intensifies the neo-liberalism but subordinated both neo-conservative and social democratic policy. The social democratic principles from 1945-1979 were redistributive polices, extensions of provisions and financing through agency of local and national state, traditional equal opportunities through proactive approach, professionalism and qualifications and regulation of government agencies for equal opportunities of these professionals. In lieu to these principles, social democracy and (Old) Labour education policy included: comprehensive schooling; expansion and extension of educational opportunities towards hitherto exclusions or semi-exclusion of the population as expansion of secondary education via the 1944 Education  Act, expansion of higher education and the Open University system; local community involvement in schooling and higher education, local community control over schooling and higher education through democratically-elected and accountable Local Education Authorities (LEAs); a degree of positive discrimination and redistribution of resources within and between the schools and universities by means of the 1970s Educational Priority Areas through targeted spending or plussages by LEAs; commitment to policies of equal opportunites; curriculum and education system that recognizes the issues of social justice while producing technically efficient and fair capitalist society; developing teachers as authoritative but relatively democratic and anti-authoritarian approach; a contextual type of teacher reflection compared to a technical reflection, or a moral/ethical social justice type of critical reflection; and flourishing the collective economy and society as well as flourishing the individual (2001). Changes in the traditional Labour party rhetoric followed in 1994 upon Tony Blair’s victory. The New Labour changes provoked widespread opposition to what was perceived likely as an adaption and/or extension of the Conservative Party policies. Opponents came from the Old Left and Marxists and from former social democrats. With respect to education, the parties attacked the new administration’s policies over issues of selection and comprehensivisation including the renewal of Opted-Out schools and selective Grammar school, a practice salient during the 1970s. Hierarchical diversity in schooling overshadowed the choice of schools to be attended by the students. The existence and strengthening of social class-based selection in secondary schooling through ‘choice’ mechanism was rehabilitated (2001).                   In 1997, the New Labour general election manifesto related their premise wherein class size would be cut down to 30 or under for 5-7 year-old students; provide nursery places for all four years old, attack low standards in schools, provide access to computer technology, provide lifelong learning through new University for Industry and spend more on education as the cost of unemployment falls. In particular, the changes are: ‘teacher training’, ‘modernising’ comprehensive education or ‘encouraging selection and diversity’, ‘creating new partnerships’, standards, racialised social class and ‘increased public expenditure’ ( 2001).             Schools improvement calls for a time and overarching goals to place education at the service of an inclusive society where everyone could have an equal chance to achieve his or her full potential. In 1998, the government set-out a vision of a knowledge-based economy through increasing the access, most specially from groups that are represented in higher education, that includes disabled people and people from low-income households; providing educational opportunities for those people who misses out the formal education and using technology which will make courses more easily accessible. Policy-makers realized with the growing applications of technology that lifelong learning does not necessarily conform to locations. ‘Perpetual students’ could study from their home, from a local library or even shopping malls. The ultimate goals of the policy-makers in this period are to assist people plan and manage their own learning experience and to enable them to make apt transitions between education and working life or as when the needs arises (2000).  Implications of Social Policies These are the positive aspects of social policy reforms in education – acceptable consideration on the equality, demographic changes, transformation on the university and educators role, distributive, responsive and proactive participation of the people, internationalization and technological deliberation.  As Michael Courville puts it, ‘the equalizing effects of schooling has been integral to any nations’ ideological legacy whether education invoked an upward mobility and stable employment’ (2003). The Beveridge Report proved that UK is not an exception. Taking this stance in reflection, the question would be: What are the evidences that social policy in education and the subsequent reforms through changes in government genuinely sustains equality? To what extent? Many economists argued that educational policy reforms benefits only those that have inherent access, facilities, resources and mobilities. Curriculum changes are evidences of creation of hegemony of ideas from school and the future citizens. Curriculums are basically manipulated by prime ministerial and ministerial command.  The recommendations to include the social effects of Science, to study history since the last twenty years and a considerable concern for creative writing were rejected by the education ministers; an aspect of Thatcherism. This implicates a non-consensus or a non-participation of disadvent groups such as the working class and minority ethnic groups; thus, educational participation proved to be unequal and would probably result to poverty in the long run since participation is limited and so as the access. The implicit ‘peer group’ effect or pressure could further reinforce socio-economic disadvantages. From a social context, inequality are disadvantages specifically in class, gender, race, income and wealthy. This are directly related to education and schooling and its treatment, opportunities provided and outcomes as well as access. Taking a journey back in history, education lapses widened during the 1980s. The staying on rate at age 16, the compulsory school leaving age in UK, had been increasing during for over a number of years. There was a growing concern that academic achievement of both individual students and schools had stagnated and remains low by international standards. Most students are laving with no qualifications and two-third of the cohorts did not achieve examination success at age 16. The introduction of ‘quasi-market’ policies as Education Reform Act of 1998 and National Curriculum increased the parental choice and improve the accountability of state-funded schools. While also, such policies provide complete autonomy for the schools to increase competition and decentralize school financing; thus raising inequality because only richer parents could take advantage of the market-oriented educational system. The productivity cost associated with it demonstrates that students from poor economic and social backgrounds are being deprived (2006). Income distribution, largely, identified the educational background of an individual. This has a ‘succession’ effect that lead to further income inequality at large. Inequality in terms of access certainly reduces the increase in the length of school education wherein performance, attainment, allocation and a relative access to labour market are apparent. For example, societies, including UK, had concerns on the rapid progress of technology and future facilitation of such in many areas including education. The integration of computers and technology in schools are expensive and complex process. The use of computers requires necessary equipment and competency. Though advantages are in existence, it may likely to apply onto families who can afford. In addition, as children of educated or non-educated parents are proven disparity enhancers ( 2004). Conclusion             Evaluating the present social policies on education takes into consideration understanding the elements that shape the development of such. The origin of social policy on education and its explanation kowtow three main constructs: economic, political and social. Policy-makers believed that the UK’s economic progress and social cohesion are dependent on the knowledge, skills and values of the workforce as Walsh and company related. They look to the educational systems and institutions in enhancing such attributes. The scope of educational polices are broadened and is now applied to non-formal settings. However, the policy mix gave way for the mergence of poverty, inequality and social exclusion qualitatively and quantitatively. The reproduction of social inequality demonstrates the dominance of socio-economic basis of inequalities at school.               The emergence of policy-making in education stemmed from the idea that experiences of educational system directly points to sources of power and authority. In the sphere of education, policy-makers are inevitably widening the gap between the rich and the poor. In a society like UK changes in the education are dictated by the relative changes in observable social, economic and most significantly politics movement. Since the movements regarding the internal and external demands of education industry in addressing the current challenges such as accommodation, school leaving, rates of dropped-outs and others are changing; then the monitoring and evaluating schemas must be also changed. The educational policy reforms are cyclical and could conform to continuity. Aside from this, addressing the more relevant social issue of providing access and continuum in educational ladder among the deprived group, choices and relative compliances to technological changes conform to, again, significant social policing on education. In sum, the growing or limiting demands necessitates modification on educational policies that could purport equality on education as a right of every individual. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Social Policy in Education

Introduction Looking at the context of education as central to policy-making is critical. Education is primarily associated...

SOCIAL POLICY THEMES AND ISSUES

SOCIAL POLICY THEMES AND ISSUES   The welfare state defines as a provision of welfare services by the state, an ideal model in which the states assumes primary responsibility for the welfare of its citizens and the provision of welfare in society. The British welfare state was imitated by other western countries in order for them to form a federalism government which is a political system that divides two powers: a power between the national and state governments which is good. But the British government has failed to pursue their imitated welfare state because it resulted to an adequate territorial foundation for the development of social policy. The development of the welfare state was prevented by federalism because it only implies a higher level of social spending. The advantage of federalism was to ensure that the government was close to the people. It was a political structure that supported worldwide because it enables the nation to be the best of everything from sharing one rule to self-rule. If the government of Great Britain uses federalism intelligently and enthusiastically then the welfare state would be more coordinated by the people and its national government and there will be a wide range for everybody to feel that they belong to a one nation.             The British social policy was a public policy which interpreted as a public welfare and a public access to social programs. It was related to nationalization and citizenship. Since there was a political devolution it relatively creates a pressure to the social policy of Great Britain. There are many arguments about the social policy in Britain, like there will be a retrenchment in a welfare state’s growth if federalism sabotage the government’s social policy. But if the British government was aiming for the good of its people a substantial diversity in social policy should be made. Social policy was imposed to every country so that there will be a uniformity of the rules and benefits which are great factors for mankind and its environment.             The labour movement’s contribution to the welfare state of Britain was very encouraging especially to the people who are not skilled and not able to go to college. This movement depicts the indifference between the skilled ones and the unskilled. Because of this movement the British government realized that not only the skilled people are productive and competitive but also the unskilled people too. And because of that realization from the government, the unskilled ones finally enjoyed the degree of representation and influence and it opens more opportunities for them. The womenѕ movement was formed because of not letting the women to take place in political position. The discrimination of women is everywhere, although they have the right to vote like men. Still the government did not give opportunities to the women to get involved in politics. The purpose of this movement is to change the impression of the British government towards women. It contributes the awakening of the British government to let the women do what they wanted if the society can benefit from it. And they see to it that there will be no more discrimination and that equality should prevail for the welfare of the state. The anti-racist movement was formed when the other races noticed that there is a racial discrimination in British government. Mistrust and suspicion arose in the British government. The movement’s contribution in the welfare state of Britain is very significant. Because of it the British government welcomes and considers whatever races are present in their country. Through that, the communication and the exportation of ideas are made, it expanded the trade and industry of the country and it gives opportunities of the different races to come, to live, and to work. (2002, November 1). A critical anti-racist interrogation of voluntary/forced repatriation theory.             The welfare states in rich countries are not essentially the same. There are some countries involved in graft and corruption resulting to the degrading of a welfare state of a certain country. Rich countries, that had a good system of governance is not also an assurance of having a stable economy and a healthy atmosphere. A country that had poor governance and engaged in graft and corruption depends only on the aids given by them. Thus the situation of the welfare state would cause a disillusionment of the people towards the government, mistrust and disrespect of policies occurs. It encourages violence and uprising which is not healthy for a government to rule, worst the foreign investors will withdraw their investments. It also welcomes economic crisis. There had been a study that shows that rich countries who give aid to the third world country can worsen the country receiving it. In the sense that it can encourage them to be dependent and graft and corruption will be present if a certain country has a selfish leader or had a poor system of government. However, there are also some evidence that the aids given to the poor countries had help increase the growth and other relevant variables of poverty.  (2005, July 10). Are the world’s rich countries turning Africa into the biggest welfare dependant history?. The Welfare State We’re In.             Keynesianism’s significance basing on the economic thought aims to establish the increased in productivity and a reference point in order to measure the balance of a surplus and a necessary labor. Keynesianism it is a branch of economic theory and doctrines associated by Keynes. It tends to support the aggregating demands of a decisive role in determining the real level of the output or result. Through it, the economies can settle a position with a high employment rates.. (2000). Keynesianism, Social Conflict and Political Economy. The Theoretical Features Of Post-war Keynesianism.             Neo-liberalism is an economic policy, a strategy made in order to prevent a social conflict. It was presented to the poor and to the people who work to be more progressive. Neo-liberalism was not that ideal though because the effect of this is the poor grow poorer while the rich become richer. It has no restrictions on producing goods and no barriers to commerce. In short, there is no sense of control. The main points of neo-liberalism includes the rule of the public market, cutting public expenditure for social services, deregulation, privatization and eliminating the concept of the public good or community.  (1996, August 03). A brief definition for activists. What Is Neoliberalism?   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

SOCIAL POLICY THEMES AND ISSUES

SOCIAL POLICY THEMES AND ISSUES The welfare state defines as a provision of welfare services by the state, an ideal model in which th...

Minorities and National Trends

Overrepresentation of minorities in Texas and Arizona When performing their duties of protecting and defending the citizens of their communities, the police are expected to adhere to standards of equal protection, the rule of law, and due process, an expectation that should not vary according to a citizen’s color or place of residence. However, this is not always the case. Police use of violence when dealing with minorities in America has reinforced the idea that police are discriminatory in their deployment practices and use of force. Without question, race is a major factor in the administration of justice in America. Minorities, especially those of black racial identity, are disproportionately represented among persons being processed through the criminal justice system. In most regions of the country, blacks overwhelmingly constitute the population in secure correctional settings (Markowitz & Jones-Brown, 2000).   An overrepresentation of minorities in America’s poor, urban communities has been shown to contribute to disproportionately higher arrest rates for blacks in these areas (Markowitz & Jones-Brown, 2000).The states of Texas and Arizona both have cases of overrepresentation of minorities wherein the ethnic minorities have started to outnumber the so called majorities.  For Texas and Arizona the Mexicans who are supposed to be the minorities are increasing in number outnumbering the majority white Americans. The Hispanics in both the state of Arizona contribute to the notions that just like Texas; Arizona will be a Minority- Majority state.   National trends pertaining to overrepresentation of minorities The major immigrant countries in the West the United States, Australia, Canada pride themselves on their historical record in integrating immigrants. These countries now have over 150 years of experience with large-scale immigration, and have managed to integrate large numbers of immigrants from all over the world without any serious threat to unity, stability, or prosperity (Kymlicka, 2001). The immigrants have integrated into the existing political system, just as they have integrated economically and socially, and have contributed enormously to the economic, political, and cultural life of the larger society. This must be seen as an impressive achievement. Many people worry that this historic pattern of successful integration is in jeopardy (Kymlicka, 2001).   This is sometimes blamed on the immigrants themselves, who are said to be less able or willing to integrate than earlier waves of immigrants. But more often it is blamed, not on the immigrants themselves, but on changes in government policies towards immigrants. On this view, while multiculturalism policies may have noble and sincere intentions to create a more inclusive and just society they have had dire consequences in practice, encouraging ethnic separatism (Kymlicka, 2001). The major national trend in overrepresentation of minorities includes the surge in the number of immigrant and minorities. The minorities are slowly outnumbering the Major ethnic groups. This can be a big problem for the nation and its citizens for more years to come. More minorities means that the Nation is starting to slowly lose its power to run itself. States that stand out In areas such as Maine, Montana, West Virginia and Rhode Island, minority births were low. This means that these areas have lesser number of minorities and it does not necessarily provide immigration attraction.  These areas may not have the feature, sights, opportunities or laws that attracts immigrants and other minorities.  These areas do not offer geographical strategic locations that minorities can use to stay as they go to their different places of occupation.  Moreover these areas may have features that give some hard time to the minorities.   What should be done to reduce Texas Overrepresentation? Texas overrepresentation of minorities has created a concern not only from the government but from the citizens of the state. The overrepresentation of minorities creates problems on how to deal with increasing minorities. Overrepresentation in Texas and other states can be reduced through stricter immigration policies.  The local and national government can create additional policies that will prevent additional immigrants to stay in Texas.  These policies can be higher taxes for immigrants, limiting entry of immigrant entry and others. The local and national government can also impose more guards to the state boarders so that illegal immigrants will be persuaded to jump into the state of Texas. The governments should use various techniques to enrich the features of states that have low minorities, this would change the immigrant’s focus and desire on what state to migrate to.   References Kymlicka, W. (2001). Politics in the vernacular: nationalism, multiculturalism, and citizenship. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.   Markowitz, M.W. & Jones-Brown, D.D. (eds.) (2000). The system in black and white: Exploring the connections between race, crime, and justice. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Minorities and National Trends

Overrepresentation of minorities in Texas and Arizona When performing their duties of protecting and defending the citizens of their com...

Social Policy on Housing

Introduction Housing is now perceived everywhere as a commodity with an exchange value, rather than as a basic need with a use value allocated, as of right, outside the marketplace. The facts concerning the existence of housing markets and their critical role in the provision of housing are indisputable. Individual market transactions are also by their very nature relatively silent, and there is no a priori reason to believe that the housing market is always alive and well (Angel 2000). The housing market is a sensitive, complex, and largely unknowable entity, subject to fits and starts, unpredictable, merciless, unstable, and almost totally dependent on forces outside itself. Still, it is a valuable and irreplaceable social construct, one that needs to be handled with care; especially since it is the now the repository of vast personal wealth and this great wealth was largely in the hands of home-owning families. Fortunately, many of the housing policies which have ignored the market have been abandoned (Angel 2000).   Anyone interested in housing policy now has no choice but to confront the issue of housing market performance. A new vision and an effective voice for housing require dismantling the public institutions myopically engaged in the construction and management of public housing. New knowledge-rich government institutions must come into being, agencies that accumulate information about the workings of the housing sector as a key economic sector, monitor the pulse of the sector, understand the effects of the housing policy environment on the sector’s performance, and implement minimal corrective mechanisms to support it in the attainment of realistic social objectives (Angel 2000).There is no alternative to articulating market-sensitive housing policies that can better gauge, limit, or support housing activity, and campaigning for their acceptance. Individual actors and institutions in the housing arena be they political parties, government agencies, research institutions, international organizations, non government agencies, professional associations, nonprofit organizations, community groups, builders, financial institutions, landowners, land and housing developers, squatter movements, and dwellers themselves have now attained different degrees of understanding of how to formulate such market-sensitive policies and how to marshal their campaigns (Balchin 1996).   The social policy on social care is different from the policy on housing. The social policy on housing concentrates on affordable housing policy, supporting people framework and community care strategy. The housing policy concentrates on making sure that people will have housing facilities that is dependable and affordable.  It intends to make sure that there will be fairness and equality in public housing communities.  Housing policy changes depending on the situation in a certain environment.  It changes depending on the focus of a government and what priorities it wants to achieve first. The housing policy can affect the service given by a country to its citizen.  The paper will discuss about the government policy on the housing service and the experiences of a person on it. The paper will discuss about the housing policies of the government and Amy Wood’s experience on the policy   The government’s social policy A. Affordable housing policy The key players in housing include landowners, the construction industry, banks, building societies, the financial markets and homeowners, as well as a range of public and other agencies. While none of these has had a consistent influence on housing policy, there have been many examples of such interests influencing the direction of change. Housing policy will generally be implemented through the imposition or alteration of legally enforceable rules and regulations, so it is important to understand how the law affects whether a policy will be successful. Decent housing was recognized as essential to good health more than a century ago, and the concern about ill-health led to the development of housing policy (Conway 2000). As slum clearance and new build programs brought significant housing improvements, and the focus of health services shifted away from environmental effects towards a medical approach, housing and health policies gradually separated. However, there is now a renewed interest from both sides in the links between housing and health. Poor housing conditions such as damp, mould, condensation and cold persist and can cause poor health (Conway 2000).   Changes in housing policy were part of a new approach to public services in general, with the state becoming a purchaser rather than a provider, and competition between independent agencies to provide services under a contract. The complexity of housing issues also inhibits radical revision. Housing reflects and affects the economic and social framework in which it is located. Housing is influenced by demographic, economic, fiscal and social trends, while housing policy changes have their own impact on all of these aspects. Programs designed to deal with one issue often have unintended. The long-term political consensus on housing policy quickly evaporated in the early 1980s, for example, under a government prepared to question long-standing assumptions and goals (Conway 2000).Looking into the future is a hazardous exercise, in danger of being rapidly over-taken by events, but any wide-ranging analysis would be incomplete without an attempt to pull out some of the significant threads for the future. Housing debates are beginning to focus on several long-term questions which are predicted to challenge housing policy well into the twenty-first century (Hays 2001).   The government has a long tradition of affordable social rented housing. It has its own home ownership options wherein people can share the house’s ownership with the landlord. After some time the government introduced a scheme wherein the tenants have the right to buy the property with a discount of 60%.   Many housing facilities that were under the local government were transferred to new housing associations.  These housing associations have rents that are higher than the council housing.  This causes housing issues in the country. The government formed agencies that try to find solutions for the issues in the price of housing and the issues of what organization will have the responsibility for leasing a housing facility.   Supporting people framework The Information and transport revolutions have allowed production units to be de linked from design units, and allowed parts that are manufactured throughout the world to be delivered to assembly plants when and where they are needed. Depending on the need to achieve low-cost production or to tap a pool of human capital, firms are relocating production units all over the world. This requires a degree of coordination that was impossible just a few decades ago, when parts all needed to be made reasonably close to the final assembly point (Dunning 1999). Although these developments have not made firms indifferent to their location, they have greatly widened their choices to include most of the world. By reducing the importance of transport and coordination costs, the information revolution has increased the importance of other variables such as international relative wages, the skills of the labor force, and the friendliness of government policy. If endogenous technological change lies at the heart of economic growth, governments cannot avoid influencing growth, since almost every government policy, including those related to education, competition, and redistribution, will have some influence on the amount, location, and direction of technological change (Dunning 1999).   Some economists argue, however, that endogenous technological change should not be inserted into macro-growth models because this will encourage governments to engage in misguided technology-enhancing interventions. Concern about growth and international competitiveness in a rapidly globalizing world lies behind many current controversies concerning the government’s place in the economy (Dunning 1999). The background to these controversies is the realization of the failure of centrally planned economies to produce sustained growth combined with the new understanding that governments have played different roles in the growth process in different countries. Some of the close relationships between government and the private sector in the newly industrialized countries were more appropriate to, and possibly easier to manage, in catch-up rather than leading-edge situations. As a country undertaking a fundamental transformation of its position in the world, the successes and failures of government policy should be of considerable interest to other countries (VlieT 1990).   The supporting people framework focuses on preventing homelessness, make sure that the housing community will be safe and free of crimes; make sure that health is improved and there is lesser health inequalities; and make sure that there is support for independence.  The supporting people framework has services that include providing advices on rent and other money issues; assistance in security and safety in the housing community; assist in the prevention of any negative issues with the community; help to have sources of income to pay for rents and other financial matters; assistance when one member of the housing community wants to transfer to another place.  These services aims to make sure that any housing experience the private owners have will be experienced by social housing members.   Community care strategy Social policy-makers engage in a range of activities related to discovering and trying to solve social problems, or meeting an array of human needs. Yet the very idea that there are social problems out there waiting to be discovered is also controversial. Social policy addresses what are called social needs, such as the need for good education, health care or child care. There are equally interesting questions to be asked about how some needs are discovered and why others are not (Bessant et al., 2006). To discover and solve social problems or meet certain human needs, people engaged in social policy undertake research, evaluate programs, write speeches for politicians, draft legislation and make decisions to spend money in order to solve a wide range of social problems. One of the ways a social problem is discovered is by someone engaging in research. Many policy-makers do research in order to discover certain things about the world (Bessant et al., 2006).   They may want to know more about the scale and causes of social problems like poverty, homelessness, crime or unemployment, or they may want to know more about the needs of people with disabilities, or how single mothers do or don’t cope with the cost of house rental. Time is also given to research intended to evaluate the effectiveness of existing government policies and programs. Policy-makers also engage in advocacy. This involves putting forward arguments about why governments should do something new or better to fix a certain social problem. Advocacy is performed by people who work inside government bureaucracies as much as it is done by people working for welfare organizations, universities or advocacy groups (Bessant et al., 2006). Social policy refers to what governments do when they attempt to improve the quality of people’s lives by providing a range of income support, community services and support programs. Although social policy is an activity that governments do, it is not just confined to the realm of government, however. There has already been reference to the fact that some people do research or engage in advocacy for policy change. This is one way of recognizing that policy-making involves many other organizations besides government bureaucracies and departments. This is one reason for referring to the idea of a policy-making community (Zarembka 1990).   The community care strategy focuses on ensuring that there is equality in the access of housing facilities and no discrimination happens. The community care strategy helps in regenerating some public communities and promotes the inclusion of people who has community care needs.  The community care strategy has priorities on helping aging people; people with physical disability; people with learning disability; people with bouts on addictions; asylum seekers and refugees. The community care strategy takes a look at the situation in a certain community and creates changes in it so that it can accommodate the needs of different people needing community care. The community care strategy makes sure that the people who need assistance on housing will be given communities that fit their needs.   The experiences of Amy woods Services had to be performed in proximity to the consumer, and were therefore considered non-tradable for a long time. They also necessitate a close interaction between the supplier and the consumer, and the costs to the consumer include not only the price paid but also learning and other costs (Aharoni & Nachum 2000).  Some of these costs are incurred in the inter-action phase while others are incurred in isolation.  Services are also intangible and non-storable and therefore cannot be transferred across national borders. Instead, they have to be produced at the time and place in which they are consumed. Therefore, in most services delivery to foreign markets must be achieved by establishing a presence in that market, often by foreign direct investment (Aharoni & Nachum 2000).   A development is the flourishing of huge global firms offering services across many countries in services previously considered non-tradable. Indeed, technological developments have allowed increasing tradability of services. These firms seem to enjoy advantages derived from the ownership of intangible assets such as organizational skills, technological knowledge, organizational capabilities, or the unique ability to transfer knowledge horizontally. These advantages are transferred from one country to another within the firm, not between firms (Aharoni & Nachum 2000). Parallel to the increase in the importance of services interest has shifted from an analysis of the service sector in a national setting to an examination of international trade and investment in services. There has been a surge of interest in looking for a better understanding of the reasons firms expand into the international arena. Since the 1980s, there has been also a growing attention paid to questions such as the best and most effective ways of organizing, managing and transferring knowledge, as well as bench-marking best practices, within a multinational firm. Several notions held as axioms in the past have turned out to be obsolete. All in all, there has been a gradual shift from an economy of goods to an economy of services and to new products and services increasingly based on knowledge. These shifts have fundamental theoretical implications, as well as policy ramifications (Aharoni & Nachum 2000).   Amy Woods who is 21 years old is living in housing for those who have risk of creating offenses and have a history of offending behavior.  She was referred by the probation service and she was ordered to partake in community services as punishment for her offending behavior. She stayed within Gloucestershire area. What she prefers about the supported housing living is the joint risk assessment and management support plan that has to be agreed, which involves the service users and referral link project. The things she disliked in the housing were if she wants to get a job there was issues and barriers that surrounds the housing service. One issue is the rent for her stay in the housing facility. The rent would be to expensive due to the minimum wage that she would get because she lacks some skills. Another issue is the support given to her may cease because it does not give her the appropriate benefit.   Conclusion The housing policy concentrates on making sure that people will have housing facilities that is dependable and affordable.  It intends to make sure that there will be fairness and equality in public housing communities. The government has a long tradition of affordable social rented housing. It has its own home ownership options wherein people can share the house’s ownership with the landlord.  The supporting people framework policy focuses on preventing homelessness, make sure that the housing community will be safe and free of crimes; make sure that health is improved and there is lesser health inequalities; and make sure that there is support for independence. The community care strategy focuses on ensuring that there is equality in the access of housing facilities and no discrimination happens. The community care strategy helps in regenerating some public communities and promotes the inclusion of people who has community care needs. The partnership approach between referrer and the housing provider is easy to engage with and well planned putting the service user at focal point.   References   Aharoni, Y & Nachum, L (eds.) 2000, Globalization of services: some implications for theory and practice, Routledge, London.   Angel, S 2000, Housing policy matters: A global analysis, Oxford University Press, New York.   Balchin, P (ed.) 1996, Housing policy in Europe, Routledge, New York.   Ball, M 1983, Housing policy and economic power: the political economy of owner occupation, Methuen, London.   Bessant, J, Dalton, T, Smyth, P & Watts, R 2006, Talking policy: How social policy is made, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, N.S.W.   Conway, J 2000, Housing policy, Gildredge, Eastbourne, England.   Dunning, JH (ed.) 1999, Governments, globalization and international business, Oxford University Press, Oxford.   Hays, RA 2001, Who speaks for the poor: national interest groups and social policy, Routledge, New York.   Vliet, W (ed.) 1990, International handbook of housing policies and practices, Greenwood Press, New York.   Zarembka, A 1990, The urban housing crisis: social, economic, and legal issues and proposals, Greenwood Press, New York.     Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Social Policy on Housing

Introduction Housing is now perceived everywhere as a commodity with an exchange value, rather than as a basic need with a use value all...