Poverty and the welfare state
Poverty and the Welfare State Kerry McGillion Humanities A Defining poverty is an area of considerable controversy and on which there is a large academic debate. Debates tend to be informed by value judgements and the way we define poverty, to a large extent, depends on what we intend to do about it. Poverty has no common definition but numerous ones. It is said to be a state of want or of deprivation that gravely affects someone's life like those who want to work but cant, those who want to feed their families but can't, those whose lives are made similar by a lack of money. The UK government define poverty as "living on less than half the national average income after housing costs". Poverty can be measured in terms of absolute or relative poverty. Absolute poverty, which is sometimes used as a synonym for extreme poverty, refers to a set standard which is the same over time and between countries. An example of an absolute measurement would be the percentage of the population eating less food than is required to be healthy, which is roughly 2000-2500 calories per day for a male adult. An absolute standard of means is defined by reference to the actual needs of the poor and not by reference to the expenditure of those who are not poor. A measure of absolute poverty quantifies the number of people below a poverty threshold, and this poverty threshold is independent of time
Identify and explain three ways in which, according to Marxism, the education system is said to "mirror" the workplace.
Identify and explain three ways in which, according to Marxism, the education system is said to "mirror" the workplace. (12marks) Marxists claim that the education system "mirrors" the workplace. The school disciplines students to the demands of work. They teach them things self presentation, self-image and most importantly social class identification. This is to ensure that they are prepared for the working world. If someone has low self esteem at school they will probably be low-paid and will have a low status in the workplace. The relationships people form with one another in school also replicates the relationships that are formed at work. At school everyone is arranged in a hierarchy or importance. The head teacher has the most authority over anyone else in the school. At a workplace the manager has the most power over anyone else in the organisation. Teachers have authority over the students and older students are superior to younger ones. This is exactly like the workplace where head of departments have authority over workers with a lower status. Another major similarity is that the education of a boy is seen as more important than the education of a girl. This is replicated when a male worker is paid more and even respected more than a woman in a place of work. Even the basic things mirror the workplace; vocational and academic subjects mirror manual and non-manual
Studies of the effectiveness of punishments often use reconviction rates as a measurement of success or failure. According to fairly recent reports there are currently no real differences between reconviction rates for custodial and all community penalti
INTRODUCTION Studies of the effectiveness of punishments often use reconviction rates as a measurement of success or failure. According to fairly recent reports there are currently no real differences between reconviction rates for custodial and all community penalties (Home Affairs Committee, 1998, Home Office, 1998). However, there are many problems associated with the reliability of such data, and much caution is needed when using such measurements as a criteria for assessing the effectiveness of punishment. For instance, there is much disagreement about what reconviction should be counted. For community penalties the counting began on the date of sentence whereas for custodial sentences the counting begins on the date of release (May, 1994). therefore, does not take into account any offence committed whilst in prison. On the other hand, there is no way of knowing how far re-offending whilst serving a community sentence is due to the ineffectiveness of the punishment or an individuals social circumstance. The 1998 report by the Home Affairs Committee draws attention to even more concerns regarding reconviction rates. It is stated that: "Reconviction rates take any subsequent reconviction as an indication of failure and do not take into account changes in offence severity or a reduction in the frequency of offending;
The Pornography of fear
The Pornography of fear . The media's utilization of crime has increased fear of crime in society, but it may not be a precise interpretation. 2. The author first presents support for his thesis in the first sentence of paragraph two, he says, "Britain has one of the lowest crime rates in Europe, yet it has the highest fear of crime." This quote automatically informs the reader that the public's fear of crime is not justified. The author supports this further in the first line of paragraph three: "Fear of crime is not crime. It is fear." The author then starts to verify that the media takes advantage of fear by saying, in the third last sentence of paragraph three, "The politician plays on public...in his protection". He then begins to expand his point by conducting a survey, which is called the MORI poll. In paragraph four, second and third sentences he states "This is not some police...This is a measure of something real". The author clarifies a rational link connecting fear and crime in paragraph six, in the last sentence, where he finishes the thought by stating, "If crime falls, fear should fall." On the contrary the author says in the second last sentence of paragraph seven, "A feature of fear...by imagination." In this quote the author is explaining that the fear in media is derived from true facts, with exaggeration. 3. I think that there is a bias in this
Assess the Pluralist theory of the media and ownership
Wasim Mohammed 441588 Assess the Pluralist theory of the media and ownership The mass media is the means by which messages and images are communicated to a mass audience, it does this through its various Mass Communication Technologies (MCTs), for instance the Internet is a very powerful and influential MCT communicating worldwide. MCTs educate, persuade and inform as well as entertain their audience. Media is geographically dispersed and has no limits due to its global domination. It is also culturally diverse and socially mixed. Pluralists believe that the mass media is reflective of social reality, and acts as a 'mirror'. They state that it has a functional role in meeting the demands of its mass audience, and thus owes a duty to the people. Marxists on the other hand would argue that the media constructs desires and creates social reality. In other words it is a sculptor of a worldview and distorts social reality which is based on exploitation of a powerless majority, thus it is an ideological tool of the powerful bourgeoisie and reflects their interests. Over eighty percent of the media is owned by Trans National Corporations. But does ownership have any effect on the media coordinators? According to pluralists the answer is simply no. They back this by highlighting the fact that power is dispersed within society and that different pressure and interest groups
Is street crime or suite crime more harmful?
CRIMINOLOGY 2002/2003 MODULE COORDINATOR PADDY HILLYARD ASSIGNMENT Is street crime or suite crime more harmful? Each time a newspaper is opened or a television is turned on, graphic stories of robbery, murder and mayhem appear. It is common crimes, like these, that fill the world with fear and that become the centre of attention. The focus on street crime creates the myth of the fear of crime and although crime statistics indicate that crime may be on the decrease, to residents of particular areas this decrease may not be so apparent. So with the saturation of the minds of those in society about the dangers of street crime, whether it be through media, television programmes, games or even toys, it is hardly surprising that street crime is viewed as more harmful than corporate crime. Wilson (1975) considers predatory street crime to be a far more serious matter than consumer fraud, anti trust violations ...because predatory crime.makes difficult or impossible the maintenance of meaningful human communities. The lack of focus on corporate crime adds to the myth that the young, economically disadvantaged male perpetrates the majority of crime and it is this type of crime that society fixates upon. It is understandable that the public are unaware or ignorant of the harm created by corporate crime, especially if the focus is on the more conventional street crime and they
Match Girls Sources Questions
The Matchgirls' strike Question 1: Study Source A What can you learn from Source A about the grievances of the Match Girls in 1888? Source A is taken from a newspaper article written by Annie Besant. It was published in 'The Link'; a magazine, which campaigned for better working conditions. The article gives an insight into the working conditions in factories. To get first-hand information, she interviewed matchgirls at the Fairfeild Works (The factory). The employees' complaints were based in four areas; physical and verbal abuse, dangerous working conditions, low wages and fines. Their grievances about low wages and fines was the fact that the matchgirls were earning 4 to 8 shillings a week; this is the equivalent to 20 to 40p. Fines were deducted from their wages if the girls have dirty feet or were late for work. There was one employee who was fined 5 shillings, which was about 5 hours of piece-work, for letting a piece of material twist around a machine to save her fingers being cut. The abuse they received was awful; the foreman would hit the girls when he was having a bad day or 'when he was mad'. The girls, as mentioned previously, complained about dangerous conditions in the working environment. The health and Safety standards were shocking, the employees had to dip matches in phosphorous, which is a highly dangerous chemical. They were also force to eat
As an inner city area Spinney Hill will have a higher crime rate than the Suburb of Knighton
Conclusion and Evaluation I have gathered a great deal of information, conducted surveys and questionnaires, completed statistical tests and created illustrated maps to help me establish whether crime is higher in an inner city area like Spinney Hill when compared to a suburban area like Knighton. At the very start of this project I created an aim. This aim provided a starting point to this project and thus a goal to achieve. In my opinion I believe that I have achieved this aim as I have collected a substantial amount of evidence to aid me in approving or disproving my main hypothesis. This coursework was centred on my main hypothesis which I was to test to see whether it was an accurate or inaccurate statement. In order to test this main hypothesis I created five sub-hypotheses to analyse and see whether they were true and thus provide further evidence and support that the above main hypothesis was correct or incorrect. These sub-hypotheses were as follows: - Fear of crime will be higher in Spinney Hill 2- Security measures will be lower in Knighton 3- Unemployment breeds crime in Spinney Hill 4- Spinney Hill has a higher population so thus a higher crime rate. 5- Environmental quality will be higher in Knighton My first hypothesis was carried out by conducting a fear of crime questionnaire in both wards. I gathered a great deal of information from this
Using material from Item A and elsewhere assess the contribution of functionalist sociology to an understanding of the role of education in society.
F) Using material from Item A and elsewhere assess the contribution of functionalist sociology to an understanding of the role of education in society. Functionalists have constructed two questions to help them research education. The first question is. "What are the functions of education for society as a whole?" and the second question is. "What are the functional relationships between the education system and other parts of the social system". Firstly, Functionalism is a theory. A theory based on "value consensus". Functionalism is based on the view that society is a system of interdependent parts held together by a shared culture or value consensus (an agreement amongst society's members about what values are important). Functionalist theories assume the different parts of a society each have their own role to play (their own "function"), and work together smoothly in order to form a harmonious whole (macro). The metaphor often used to describe functionalism is that it views society as a body, with the different socialisation agents -government, media, religion, the family, etc., and, of course, education-being like the different organs in a body, each contributing in a different way to keeping the entire body healthy. Emile Durkhiem writing at the turn of the last century found that the major function of schools was the transmission of society's norms and
Examine the patterns of, and reasons for, domestic violence in society.
Examine the patterns of, and reasons for, domestic violence in society. Domestic violence is any intimidating and/or controlling behaviour, violence or abuse between adults who are, or have been, in a relationship, be it family or an intimate partner. It can affect anybody, regardless of their gender or sexuality. Domestic violence can be psychological, physical, sexual or financial. This is often described as the act of a few disturbed 'sick' individuals. However sociologists have questioned this, saying that it is too widespread to be the offence of just a few. Almost a sixth of all violent crimes and it is estimated that 6.6 million domestic assaults occur every year, half of which result in physical injury. Domestic violence follows certain social patterns and these patterns have social causes. Most shocking of which is that violent abuse is mainly commented by men against women. Catriona Mirrlees-Blacks survey in 1999 found that 99% of violent domestic crimes were against women, with roughly 1/4 women having been assaulted by a partner at one point in her life and 1/8 continually assaulted compared to 1/7 men that are assaulted by women, 1/20 repeatedly. This is supported by the Dobash and Dobash (1979) research based on official records and interviews with women's refuge residents. They recounted incidents where husbands abused their wives. A pattern arose showing
![Outline and evaluate the functionalist view of the role of the family in society [33 marks]](https://mbt-essays-prod-public.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/1211066/listing/1211066_1.jpg)
