Social Policy The modern era Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Social Policy The modern era - Essay Example This will entail use of the functionalist approach which views social welfare development as a response to emerging needs and the conflict approach that views the development as a result of labour movements. First, a brief history of social welfare will be given in order to understand origins and the workings of the old Elizabethan poor law which is the basis of welfare state in Britain. Next, the 19th and 20th century approaches to provision of poverty and public health will be outlined. This is to provide an illustration of early welfare provision and the key themes which have dominated this field for decades. The effect of political, economic and social influences on government intervention will be discussed especially the influence of industrial revolution on society and resulting social problems. The role of the liberal party which came into power in 1906 and labour movements in extending welfare provision will be explained. The effect of the great depression on welfare provisio n is also of great importance to understanding the increased state intervention during inter-war years. Lastly, a summary of the main points discussed will be given. In order to understand the development of the social welfare in Britain it is essential to understand its history. Much of Britain’s welfare policies emanated from the Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601. It established parishes which were responsible for providing relief for the poor (Alcock, Erskine & May, 2003). It also established workhouses where those in need could be assisted and work in return. One could only get relief at his parish of birth and it mostly targeted men as women and children were regarded as dependents. According to Ritter (1986) the workhouses were meant to reduce the eligibility of men to social welfare provision by limiting relief to those in workhouses although out-relief was still being offered to the poor. This was also the origin of the dreaded term ‘pauperism.’ Those receivin g relief were stigmatised and viewed as lazy members of the society who did not want to work (Dean, 2006). As revealed by poverty surveys, the Elizabethan Poor law did not alleviate poverty and was repealed in 1834. The Pre-war social welfare in Britain was dominated by the laissez-faire ideology and according to Walsh, Stephens and Moore (2000) increased state intervention in welfare provision. One of the factors attributed to this is the efficiency of the German welfare system in promoting economic competitiveness that prompted many nations to emulate the system (Dean, 2006). Thane (1996; 2011) argues that it was the industrial revolution in Britain in 18th century continuing into the 20th century that sparked reforms in welfare provision before WWI. The role of the liberal party which came into power in 1906 cannot be overemphasised as well as the philosophy of social liberalism prevalent at the time. Industrial revolution began in the 18th century and with it brought many econom ic and social changes that influenced the development of social welfare in Britain (Walsh et al. 2000). Before then, Britain was an agricultural country but thereafter transformed into a factory-based economy. The domestic system had been the prevalent system in 18th century and workers worked at own homes producing food for subsistence. They could work at their own pace and control their working conditions but due to industrialisation this system was replaced by the factory

ARGUMENTITIVE PAPER Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

ARGUMENTITIVE PAPER - Essay Example The continued cloning of animals is essential because this method will provide a more substantial and beneficial food source for a growing world population as does the cloning of plants. However, the cloning of humans is not in societies or an individual’s best interest, at least not yet. On February 23, 1997 Ian Wilmut, a Scottish scientist, with his colleagues at the Roslin Institute announced the successful cloning of a sheep by a new method. The technique concerned transplanting the genetic material of an adult sheep into an egg from which the nucleus had been removed. The resulting birth of the sheep, Dolly, was another landmark in mankind’s ability to rule over nature. The birth of Dolly and â€Å"the fact that humans might someday be cloned, created from a single somatic cell without sexual reproduction, moved further away from science fiction and closer to a genuine scientific possibility† (Wilmut, 1997). The sheep experiment was different from prior endeavors in that it produced an animal that was a genetic twin of one adult sheep instead of being the identical offspring from a pair of adults. Dolly was the first successful clone of a mammal as the sheep contained the genetic material of just one parent. For more than 40 years, the practice of transferring a nucleus from a somatic cell into an egg using nuclei derivative from non-human embryonic and fetal cells continued. Evidence suggested genetic material contained in differentiated somatic cells may retain the potential to direct the development of healthy fertile adult animals. Biologists had examined whether, once cellular differentiation transpires, this process is reversible. However, until Dolly was born, the capacity to do so remained unproved. â€Å"The demonstration that nuclei from cells derived from an adult animal could be reprogrammed, or that the full genetic complement of such a cell could be