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ScholarWorks > HHS > Social Work > JSSW > Vol. 4 > Iss. 8 (1977)

 

Abstract

The pervasive and often destructive effect of Ill-planned social policy (or the lack of effective social policy) is evident In terms of Increasing societal dysfunctionality and lowered quality of life for most people. Almost all social Interventions involve a variety of rights In conflict. Actions by the government to support or protect any one group must necessarily be at the expense of others. In the defense of the rights of individuals and groups the social objectives and social effects of such interventions have been generally Ignored. The problems of design of social policy derive from one-sided or parochial views of multi-dimensional Issues, based upon divergent value and social system orientations. The war of "all against each" is evident in the strains of social dilemma. The critical question of whether a society can deprive a person of life or liberty in the name of treatment, whether it can legitimately withdraw the liberty it has conferred for reasons of protecting Itself against social immaturity underlie much of the Ineffectiveness of social policy. The problem of how to deal with all equally despite the divergent levels of social maturity has, as yet, not been resolved by social planners. The true assignment of social policy, which is to balance the rights of the Individual with the rights of others has yet to be successfully undertaken. Yet any society regardless of the degree of Its operative components will eventually have to deal with the problems of limited resources, waste disposal, crowding and distribution of products and rewards in a manner which will not negate its own productivity.

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