human resource management 6100 : Solution Essays

Policies are principles that guide decisions in organizations, governments, or other groups. Social policy, specifically, refers to those areas of policy that deal with human welfare and social services, such as education, health care, labor, civil rights, and economic welfare. For instance, social policy in the 19th and 20th centuries was designed to limit child labor in the United States. Unions, political organizations, and social workers advocated to end child slavery, reduce hours, and eventually achieve a complete ban on employment of children under 14 years of age with the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act (Child Labor Public Education Project, 2011). This change in child labor policy could not have been possible without sound reasoning and theoretical support. Consider that until the early 20th century, child labor—for children as young as 5—was seen as natural and acceptable for many people. Looked at through the theory of social constructionism (though this is not the only theoretical lens the issue could be viewed through), one could see that child labor was constructed, perceived as acceptable, and institutionalized by society collectively. As such, it became institutionalized and ingrained in the fabric of society and was difficult to dispel. It did not, however, represent a universal or natural truth.