Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice Research Collection
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- PublicationPhilosophy and the Morality of AbortionAbortion is a philosophically interesting issue because both sides seem so certain of their conclusions, yet the issue is at the same time clearly a derivative one. It is also highly political, and needs to be seen within the context of the growth of the women's movement. A philosophical overview of the issue in section 1 construes the central claims of the pro-choice and anti-abortion positions as moral and conceptual constructions, which extend everyday moral thinking into the area of abortion. It notes the interesting relation between such constructions and other arguments about abortion, and how this is responsible for their social and historical specificity. Section 2 defends the pro-choice position as a victory of moral sensitivity over linguistic guile. Section 3 situates the argument within the politics of feminism, and recognises the limited contribution which philosophy is able to make.
490 - PublicationThe distribution of social security transfers in the UKThe distributional impact of different transfer programmes is one of the basic criteria on which decisions such as those on resource allocation may be based. This paper examines the spread over the UK size distribution of different transfers, using data from the Family Expenditure Survey (FES). In addition to analysing the distribution of current transfer receipts by actual current income, estimates are developed which allow the spread of annual receipts by annual income to be examined. The results show that the short-term unemployment and sickness benefits have a considerably greater degree of concentration towards the bottom of the distribution than some previous studies have indicated. This is particularly true for current income, but even for annual receipts and income the degree of concentration is greater than might have been expected. The impression that these benefits have a very low redistributive effect may have had a major influence on recent policy decisions. This is shown to be particularly misleading in the case of unemployment benefit.
302 - PublicationAn egalitarian case for basic incomeIn section 1, I set out a general perspective on the nature of egalitarianism and relate it to some familiar conceptions of economic equality. In section 2, I argue in keeping with the popular notion of equality that it makes sense to think of equal income as a baseline against which departures need to be justified. Section 3 discusses some problems which arise concerning departures from equal income justified by different needs, and argues for a particular approach based on what I shall call a 'background agreement' on need. Section 4 looks at the issue of relating income to work, and tries to construct and defend an interpretation of the idea that income inequalities should compensate people for differences in their work. I argue for a system of 'compensating differentials' based on a background agreement regarding the benefits and burdens of different kinds and amounts of work. Section 5 considers the principles of free choice of occupation and of the right not to work, with particular reference to their role in a system of compensating differentials. In section 6, I show how the case for a basic income follows from the conception of economic equality I have put forward.
966 - PublicationResources deprivation and the measurement of povertyRingen has advocated the use of both income and deprivation criteria in identifying those excluded from society due to lack of resources, a widely accepted definition of poverty. We illustrate with Irish data how this might be done, paying particular attention to how appropriate indicators of deprivation are to be selected. The results show that employing both income and deprivation criteria rather than income alone can make a substantial difference to both the extent and composition of measured poverty. This highlights the restrictive nature of poverty conceived in terms of exclusion rather than minimum rights to resources.
3197Scopus© Citations 137 - PublicationA framework for equality proofing(University College Dublin. Equality Studies Centre, 1995-04)
; ; ; Paper prepared for the National Economic and Social Forum755 - PublicationRelative foster care : an untapped placement alternative for children in the care system? A discussion of the central issuesRelative foster care (kinship care) offers a placement option in addition to residential and foster care, for children in need of alternative care. Historically, care by members of the extended family was viewed predominantly as an informal care arrangement within families, and in the main was not interfered with or financed by the state. Relative foster care could offer a more “child centred” option for many children unable to live with their own birth parents, as they would face less disruption through a move within their family networks. Recent years have seen a growing trend towards use of this option for children in care. The central issues for the participants involved in relative foster care are identified and discussed. Discussions needs to continue if this care option is to be utilised and developed to its optimum into the future.
820 - PublicationAre married women more deprived than their husbands?Conventional methods of analysis of poverty assume resources are shared so that each individual in a household/family has the same standard of living. This paper measures differences between spouses in a large sample in indicators of deprivation of the type used in recent studies of poverty at household level. The quite limited overall imbalance in measured deprivation in favour of husbands suggests that applying such indicators to individuals will not reveal a substantial reservoir of hidden poverty among wives in non-poor households, nor much greater deprivation among women than men in poor households. This points to the need to develop more sensitive indicators of deprivation designed to measure individual living standards and poverty status, which can fit within the framework of traditional poverty research using large samples. It also highlights the need for clarification of the underlying poverty concept.
275 - PublicationFair representation and the concept of proportionalityThe idea of proportionality, which compares votes cast to seats won, is a common test of fair representation. But fair representation is a relation between electoral aims and electoral outcomes. The proportionality test falsely presupposes that each voter aims to support a political party. It therefore tells us nothing about fair representation. We need to construct a deeper criterion of fair representation which takes account of citizens' multiple political concerns.
472Scopus© Citations 6 - PublicationStudying equalityHow should we now construct the intellectual project of the left? In this paper, I argue for one answer to this question, by setting out the case for the field of equality studies as it has developed in the Equality Studies Centre at University College Dublin. In the first section, I argue that equality is an appropriate focus for leftist enquiry. In the second section, I characterize equality studies in terms of its central questions and emancipatory research paradigm. The third section compares equality studies with some other progressive and interdisciplinary projects. I finish by returning to the relationship between equality studies and egalitarian politics. My overall aim is to encourage progressives to look at their own work from an equality studies perspective and thereby to encourage them to develop their own forms of interdisciplinary cooperation along similar lines.
277 - PublicationRelative foster care : practice implications arising from the 1995 Relative and Foster Care RegulationsThis paper examines the history that led to two separate sets of kinship and foster care regulations, the difference and similarity between the regulations, and the implications arising out of the changed framework for kinship placements. It focusses particularly on the practice implications arising from emergency placement of children with relatives, and the process of conducting assessments when the child is already placed in the home. The article is drawn from the author’s PhD research study, which examines the evolution of relative care networks / placements, and the characteristics of the families and children involved in relative care in the Eastern Health Board.
243 - PublicationRelative foster care : a family state discourseIn this paper, preliminary analysis of research by the author in the area of relative care is presented. Four main areas relevant to the family : state discourse with respect to relative foster care are examined : The historical evolution of state care within which relative care is located, The changes in family : state relationships arising out of the increased use of relative foster care, The systemic ideas used in my research, and showing how these ideas assist in understanding the evolving relationships between family and state, The issues concerning the orientation of future development of this care option.
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