Concepts Of Social Policy Essay

Theories and Concepts of Social Policy Essay-
Aisling McNeill- 14437988

“What is Social Policy?”

The question “what is social policy?” is an extremely difficult one to answer in a mere one thousand words. I decided to try and give a broad answer to this by covering three aspects of social policy. I looked at defining “social policy” and some academics thoughts on this subject. I then looked into a small part of the history of social policy by referring to the start of social policy in Ireland and the entry of some of the major milestones, in education and health. I finished the essay by looking at one of the concepts that is used in social policy, the mixed economy of welfare.

Alcock et al. (2004) describes social policy as something that is extremely challenging to define. The definition they use in their book is that social policy is:
“the theoretical pursuit of norms about how we think society “ought” to behave, but also the practical application and implementation of those policies that we consider to be “social”. (Alcock et al. p.1 (2004)
This describes social policy in the way that there are both theoretical aspects to social policy and practical aspects to social policy. The theoretical aspects are what people want and expect from society and what should be there. The practical aspects define the enacting

These include things like welfare and the mixed economy of welfare. The mixed economy of welfare is used in Ireland. It refers to the fact that the government are not the only people to look after those in need of care and welfare. This is also done by voluntary agencies, private agencies and informal sectors, Fanning et al. (1999). This shows that the welfare of the people is an issue not just of the state but societies as other parts of society contribute, however, the government is needed to oversee this. Bryan Fanning defines it by