WEL101A Introduction to community services
Week 2
Social policy, programs, legal framework
Week 2: Social policy
, WEL101A Introduction to community services
Week 2: Social policy
Week overview
This week‟s topic focuses on social policy, which is an important factor in community
services. Policy is defined in broad terms, while social policy is discussed in closer detail.
The welfare state is revisited, this time as the context for generating social policy, and the
more recent impact of neo-liberalism on social policy is outlined. The difference between
social policy and programs is highlighted. The former is a broad platform of principles on
what, to whom and how services are to be delivered, while the latter refers to specific
initiatives on service delivery.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
Define policy and social policy.
Explain how social policy shapes community services.
Outline the impact which the welfare state, and later the neo-liberal state, had on
social policy.
Explain the difference between social policy and programs.
Prescribed textbook reading
Chapter 6, pp. 163–193 from Chenoweth, L. & McAuliffe, D. (2015). The road to social
work & human service practice (4th ed.). Melbourne: Cengage Learning.
Week 2: Social policy
Week 2
Social policy, programs, legal framework
Week 2: Social policy
, WEL101A Introduction to community services
Week 2: Social policy
Week overview
This week‟s topic focuses on social policy, which is an important factor in community
services. Policy is defined in broad terms, while social policy is discussed in closer detail.
The welfare state is revisited, this time as the context for generating social policy, and the
more recent impact of neo-liberalism on social policy is outlined. The difference between
social policy and programs is highlighted. The former is a broad platform of principles on
what, to whom and how services are to be delivered, while the latter refers to specific
initiatives on service delivery.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
Define policy and social policy.
Explain how social policy shapes community services.
Outline the impact which the welfare state, and later the neo-liberal state, had on
social policy.
Explain the difference between social policy and programs.
Prescribed textbook reading
Chapter 6, pp. 163–193 from Chenoweth, L. & McAuliffe, D. (2015). The road to social
work & human service practice (4th ed.). Melbourne: Cengage Learning.
Week 2: Social policy
