Social policy as an academic discipline
In its infancy, social policy traditionally analysed the role of national governments and the services and support they fund. These include child maintenance support, state education, social housing, unemployment benefit, statutory healthcare and state pensions. The scope of the subject has grown, but a focus on need remains fundamental.
At its most practical level, social policy examines the ways in which societies distribute resources and develop services to meet individual and social needs. It employs a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to improve our understanding of how societies organise resources to meetthese needsand how they measureprogress in these areas.
The study of social policy is closely concerned with issues of inequality in access to services. Students examine the ways in which access is affected by socio-economic status, gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, disability status and relationship to the justice system.
The scope of the subject has expanded greatly throughout the course of the twentieth century. No longer confined to a narrow focus on state services, social policy also examines the roles of other actors in the provision of social services, such as the third sector, civil society, non-government organisations and the market.
At its most practical level, social policy examines the ways in which societies distribute resources and develop services to meet individual and social needs.
