The Future of Social Policy

Any assessment of the future development of social policy in Britain, both as a feature of social structure and as an academic discipline, must focus first on the boundaries between social policy and other aspects of the social world and academic discourse. As we discussed in Chapter 1, the history of the implementation of social policy has been one of changing boundaries and of changing relationships. In particular there have been changes in the economic contexts and social structures within which policies have been developed and applied; and the academic boundaries between social policy and economic policy and sociology have been both blurred and shifting. In Chapter 1 we suggested that some of these changes could be encapsulated in the change of title which the discipline has seen from social administration to social policy . This is seen by some as a broadening out of the concern of the discipline to include a concern with the context, as well as the content, of policy development. In general terms such a broadening of outlook is to be welcomed — it is also likely to continue to develop.