The Development Of The Welfare State And Social Policies

The development of the Welfare State and Social Policies have been based on assumptions about gender, race, ability/disability and age. Discuss this statement with reference to one of the highlighted issues and illustrate your discussion with at least one area of Social Policy Disability is an umbrella term used to cover impairments, activity limitation and participation restrictions. Disability is not just a health problem but a complex phenomenon (WHO 2015). Disability has been a neglected area of historical enquiry in Britain, studies have recognised significance of the past, physical impairment generated historical literature, mental impairment has none (Borsay, 2005). The last 100 years have been dominant constructions of education†¦show more content†¦Institutional living was a phenomenon between 1660 and 1800 which housed persons to be considered in poverty, incapacitated and unable to integrate in ‘normal society’ namely the sick, mad and handicapped were incarcerated. Development of the industrial society implemented processes towards aptitude for the industrial system which excluded many disabled people (Roulstone Prideaux, 2008). By 1834 the act defined the workhouse as a staging post for dangerous lunatics that were progr essed to specialist asylums. The eighteenth century ‘workhouses’ were institutional settings with the largest history of housing disabled people. The new poor law which was the amendment act of the Poor Law Act 1834, excluded inappropriate dependency, as a consequence it removed political rights from disabled people deeming them unfit for democracy or political citizenship (Borsay, 2005). The civil rights of disabled people detained in workhouses on grounds of mental impairment were defective, excluding them from mainstream society with little freedom of movement (Frazer, 2003). In 1942 Sir William Beveridge presented a report to parliament devoted to social insurance and allied services, the report was published in December 1942. Beveridge claimed that any sensible government should grant family allowances, create a health service to all and maintain employment. Many assumptions made by Beveridge