Shaping Of Social Policy By Political And Ideological Viewpoints

The making of social policy is shaped by different political and ideological viewpoints. It is often an ideological viewpoint, rather than a genuine identified social need and/or evidence-based research, which informs social policy decision making.

Discuss this statement, using a current social policy issue.
Aims of the assessment
To develop research skills in the location and retrieval of policy documentation and commentary.
To encourage critical evaluation of social policy theory and commentary.
To enhance the student’s knowledge of social policy.
To develop professional analysis and literacy skills.

A genuine social need identified by evidence based research 200 words
Political and Ideological view points on the social need 1000 words
How politics has informed (influenced) social policy on the issue 1000 words

Demonstrate the capacity to answer the essay statement.
Demonstrate an understanding of social policy theory.
Provide evidence of good research skills indicating that the student has canvassed a variety of diverse and appropriate current source material, academic publications, documentation and opinion on the topic.

Political and Ideological Viewpoints on Social Need

Social policy is understood as the formulation of a welfare strategy by the government which is meant for social protection. It thus forms the guideline for the government in its approach to develop the social services which ensure social justice and equality. The formation of a social policy follows a political process hence the policy is influenced by various political and ideological viewpoints (Birkland, 2014). Ideology refers to attitudes, opinions, and beliefs which when amalgamated constitute a set of ideas. Ideology can thus be religious or political.

These political or ideological ideals have the power to influence the content, objective, and the implementation of social policy. The objective of this expose, therefore, is to discuss how the making of social policy is shaped by different political and/or ideological viewpoint, rather than genuine identified social need and evidence-based research, which inform informs social policy decision making. The objective of the essay will be demonstrated by analyzing the Australian Child protection policy 2017.      

1. Genuine Social Need to be Evidenced by Research

Australia has a history of child abuse since the colonial time. However, the reported cases of children abuse have been on the increase. Though, some school of thought argues that the cases seem to be on the increase due to much awareness hence cases are reported more. A report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2000, indicated that notifications and the report for the child abuse cases have increased from 92,000 cases in 1995/96 to more than 115,000 in 2000/01. Furthermore, the report attested that child abuse has permanent damage to the child which include; physical, intellectual, psychological and social damage (Hansen & Ainsworth, 2013). These consequences of child abuse thus incur a tremendous damage to the society. To curb this menace, the Australian federal government crafted a child protection policy to safeguard the welfare of the Australian children.

According to research by Professor Kim Oates who is the Chief Executive of the New Children's Hospital in Sydney, children who are abused are characterized by low self-esteem, high level of anxiety, and depression. Other children are marked by behavioral problems, suicidal thoughts, and anti-social behaviors. He thus recommends that government should design and implement a policy to protect children from all background from internal and external threats (Mendes, 2013).      

1. Political and Ideological Viewpoint on the Social Need

In Australia, more than 95% of the children are brought up in a family set-up and not in an orphanage or a care institute. Hence, it is prudent to state that most the child abuses cases occur in a family situation or a home setting. What is surprising is the allegation by the children protection advocates who argue that every family has a potential child abuser. However, these campaigners state that the number of the potential child abuser is not known. As a result, they table unreliable statistics thus causing anxiety and panic over child abuse.

Some of the viewpoints propagated are biased and unfounded (Smith, 2015). For example, some feminists present men as the congenital abusers. It is clear that such a viewpoint has its background in women politics; hence, a strategy to mobilize a political response to all accusations against children and women abuse. This viewpoint thus has its foundation on the Marxist ideology of class struggle where the class is substituted for women and children.

Influence of Politics on Social Policy in Australia

Furthermore, the authoritarian left and the liberals view children as docile victims of abuse, hence, in dire need of protection, counseling and medical aid. As a consequence of this perspective children should not be subjected to stressful situations because they may suffer from trauma. This political ideology thus advocates for serious legal repercussion for an act that is contrary to children rights and privileges. Similarly, any form of child strain or struggle is defined as trauma which is a medical case which needs therapeutic interventions.

This perception of society also has its roots in the women’s health politics. The right wing, on the other hand, presents the family of the abused child as the victim. This political ideology aims at safeguarding the traditional family values. As a result, its perspective is not friendly to the home workers, nannies, single mothers, and social workers. All these categories of people are thus perceived as potential child abusers within this viewpoint. It further argues that most cases of child abuse are found in care homes and not in a family set up (Baradat, 2015).

The moderate groups are of the view that maximum care must be taken to guard the children. In their argument, they articulate that sometimes it is necessary to jail an innocent person, to ensure the welfare of the children is protected. Other categories within this group argue that people who are convicted wrongly for child abuse do not deserve any support. Another section argues that all people accused of child abuse should be proved guilty beyond any reasonable doubt. These two political viewpoints are explicit that the principles of democratic liberties and principles of justice are sacrificed in the name of child protection (Cooter, 2013).

This is well demonstrated by the conviction that, people are viewed as the potential child abusers should be attacked. Similarly, people who are of are unbelievable and are of questionable character should be vetted before they are allowed to interact with children. It is thus clear that formulation of child protection policy in Australia was influenced by all these political function groups (Warner, 2015).       

           Other ideological viewpoints view child abuse as a social issue where bad mothering is a major concern. Some of the child abuse are thus attributed to the mother hence the ability to define who us a good mother and a bad mother. This perception thus advocate for society to make a distinction between a woman and a mother because for a wrong a time woman has been equated to a mother. This school of thought, on the other hand, perceives child abuse not as a challenge which emanates from society but from inadequate motherhood (Oates, 2013).

Similarly, other ideologies as gender and transgender ideologies are viewed as form a major perspective that affects the content of the child protection policy. Gender and transgender movements and NGO are on the move to indoctrinate children on how to choose their genders conventionally rather than from nature. Other ideological viewpoints include the religious conservatism which advocates for children to respect those senior to them and to receive physical punishment when in the wrong.

Demonstrating Understanding of Social Policy Theory and Evaluation

However, those of the opposing view perceive physical punishment of a child as a form of abuse. Those who advocate for children to be punished by their parent and parents or guardians anchor their conviction in the Bible. They, thus argue that parent has the right to control and regulate all children under their roof. As such parent enjoy the right to physically punish their children with an intention to moderate, curb or form their behavior (Harding, 2014).

Other ideologies associate child abuse with poverty, substance abuse, and neglect. This viewpoint argues that children from low-income families or families where parents are victims of substance abuse to be vulnerable to abuse. This category of child campaigners are propelled by the belief that poor, drugged, and drunken people has no ability to care for their children. As a consequence, they advocate for government to offer support to families and to guard the right of all children vigorously. Similarly, other ideologies are propelled by a philosophical understanding of childhood as a critical stage in development. During the childhood stage, a child is acknowledged as a rational being that is socially and emotionally reliant on their families for protection. As a result, the state has the responsibility to preserve the family as the smallest unit of the society (Hannan, 2013).

Relying on the political and the ideological viewpoint in social policy crafting is inadequate.  Crafting of social policy demand well integrated research-based evidence; hence ideally the political and the ideological viewpoints should only be assimilated in the research-based evidence (Anderson, 2014). Social needs which demand social policy should not be subjected to attitudes or set of beliefs for interpretations. Recognizing the challenges presented by the research-based evidence should not thwart policymakers from designing a policy which is informed by that research. Equally, policymakers should be cognizant of the intentions and the false illusions of varied different political and ideological viewpoints. Hence, policymakers must be vigilant to ensure political and ideological viewpoints do not lead wrong and costly policies (Pawson & Wong, 2013).           

1. How Politics Influenced Social Policy on the Issue

According to the Australian Constitution, it is the responsibility of the territory and the state government to enhance child protection. Within the two governments, there are also some departments that are responsible for child protection. These departments provide help to the vulnerable children. The group of the vulnerable children includes the neglected or harmed children, abused or children without care givers. For decades, the issue of child abuse has spanned contentious debates on how to bring the practice to an end in Australia. The abolishment of child abuse and exploitation is thus a central focus of the Australian public, the legislative and the policy makers. Nonetheless, politics also play a significant role in the implementation of the child protection policy in Australia (Parton, 2014).

 The influence of politics in the child protection policy in Australia can well be understood from the context of the social worker. The social work and child protection are almost two inseparable facets. Thus, the two are closely linked to the changing political atmosphere.  Politics have played a big role in the transformation of child protection approach from what seemed as punitive measures. The influence is tremendous such that more emphasis is put on early intervention strategies and children education strategies as opposed to the punitive measures. As a result, there is a substantial increase in recognition of the primary or the predisposing factors to child abuse (Dingwall, Eekelaar & Murray, 2014).

Research Analysis Support by Appropriate Source Material

Similarly, there has been a great influence on addressing child abuse prior to its occurrence instead of waiting to deal with it after it has happened. Notably, also in the war against child abuse and ensuring efficient implementation of the child protection policy, politicians also advocate for a more diverse framework of protecting child abuse issues. The framework entails holistic approach to factors such as children accessibility to health, education, employment as well as enhancing proper and beneficial family relations (Piper, 2013).

The remarkable political influence in the child protection policy was first witnessed in 2004. There was an outrage concerning the abuse of a child under the state foster care system an inquiry conducted by the Crime and Misconduct Commission. It is argued that Premier Beattie engineered the child protection reform and was majorly driven by his re-election bid. Nevertheless, Premier Beattie reign saw the formation of an independent department that provided children protection services (Lang & Hartill, 2014).

The 2007 federal election was also another major political era that also brought reformation in the child protection policy. Barely a few months to the election, there was the formation of the Northern Territory National Emergency Response. This was an initiative by Howard, the Prime Minister. According to Howard, the Northern Territory National Emergency Response was formed to address the heightening number of the sexual abuse children as well as the disintegration of the Aboriginal communities in Australia. Nevertheless, politics played a role in opposing the initiative. As such, the initiative was rejected by the Northern Territory Government although it was supported by the bi-partisan. The Northern Territory Government maintained that the intervention portrayed significant dependence on the exclusions from the Racial Discrimination Act (Hayes & Higgins, 2014).

Another dramatic move was also seen in 2008, this time led by Premier Bligh who succeeded Premier Beattie. The policy undertaken was different from the previous one in that she reintegrated the agency (child protection agency) into the community or what was referred to as the department of community services. The chief reason for the reintegration was to ensure that the child protection services were efficient and accessible to the affected families and children. Additionally, her decision to devolve the services was informed by other factors such as the cost of sustaining a different child protection authority (Fernandez & Atwool, 2013).

As seen above, the issue of child protection policy in Australia assumes the central role in the politics and government campaigns. It is an area of focus when it comes to election or re-election at both state and federal governments. Although some of these policies and interventions proof essential to the child protection, the politically and sensibly ill driven interventions divert the attention of policy makers from focusing on the economic and social aspects that also affect the welfare of the susceptible families and children. Consequently, there is always the development of blame game whereby the administrative and political leaders shift the blame to the child protection service providers. The child protection service providers are expected to act accountably by observing the stipulated leadership rules and procedures. The results for such blame game have been low job satisfaction and employees’ turnover among the child protection workforce in Australia (Beker & Robin, 2014).

 In spite of these shortcomings, the role of politics in shaping the child protection policy in Australia cannot be taken for granted. However, there is the need to look into the matter not only regarding political gain or interest. Whereas the role of politics is essential, it is arguable that the issue of child protection policy requires a holistic approach (Bulmer, 2015). In this sense, therefore, by looking at the current situation of the child protection system and by focusing in the future, it is paramount to ensure that the address of the problem is far reaching. In other words, there is the need to also deal with both social and political aspects including inequality, unemployment, poverty and class differentiation.

1. Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clear from the essay that designing and crafting of the child protection policy is the work of the State and the Territory governments in the Australia. Therefore, it is important to understand how decision makers and the policy designers are influenced by differing political and ideological viewpoint of a social need. Political and ideological viewpoints are thus illustrated in this article as a critical conceptual tool and an influence in the understanding of the social need and in crafting of the policy to address the identified need. This treatise thus demonstrates that political and ideological viewpoint can propel a right or a wrong move in addressing a social need through a social policy.

Further, it illustrates that adequate understanding of the political and ideological viewpoints is necessary, lest it replaces the research-based research in designing, ratifying, and implementing of a social policy. The primary objective of the article has been to discuss how making of social policy is shaped by different political and ideological viewpoint, rather than genuine identified social need and/or evidence-based research, which inform informs social policy decision making.

References

Anderson, J. E. (2014). Public policymaking. Cengage Learning.

Baradat, L. P. (2015). Political ideologies. Routledge.

Beker, J., & Robin, M. (2014). Assessing child maltreatment reports: The problem of false allegations. Routledge.

Birkland, T. A. (2014). An introduction to the policy process: Theories, concepts and models of public policy making. Routledge.

Bulmer, M. (2015). The Uses of Social Research (Routledge Revivals): Social Investigation in Public Policy-Making. Routledge.Cooter, R. (Ed.). (2013). In the Name of the Child. Routledge.Dingwall, R., Eekelaar, J., & Murray, T. (2014). The protection of children: State intervention and family life (Vol. 16). Quid Pro Books.

Fernandez, E., & Atwool, N. (2013). Child protection and out of home care: Policy, practice, and research connections Australia and New Zealand. Psychosocial Intervention, 22(3), 175-184.

Hannan, J. (2013). Child protection in Family Relationship Centres: Innovations in Western Australia. Family Court Review, 51(2), 268-277.

Hansen, P., & Ainsworth, F. (2013). Australian child protection services: A game without end.International Journal of Social Welfare, 22(1), 104-110.