This paper attempts to examine recent concepts of social development and social policy, identifying the similarity of the two concepts in contemporary studies.
As is well known, the history of studies on social development is not long. They were start...
This paper attempts to examine recent concepts of social development and social policy, identifying the similarity of the two concepts in contemporary studies.
As is well known, the history of studies on social development is not long. They were started after the Second World War by the United Nations as a subordinate field of its efforts to help the economic development of under-developed countries. Since the 1960's, with the begining of "the Development Decade," the concept of social development has risen itself into one of two main notions of development, as a notion in balance, with that of economic development.
The concept of social development has a close connection with that of "the regional development" and "the community development." There were often some overlaps and confusions in defining those concepts. But the main differences among them can be said as follow; the regional and community development is basically directed at economic and material growth, and the social development is ultimately oriented to the welfare society making.
On the contrary, social policy has had a quite long history since the 19th century. Social policy has been usually defined in two ways of it; the first one is that so called "traditional definition." the second one may be called "a contemporary definition." While the former set up by German and Japanese scholars is a narrow definition focused on "how to control and preserve labor's situations effectively," the latter used by most Anglo-American scholars has a broad social program, social reform, or social planning", instead of social policy.
Recently, many scholars such as M.Macbeath, W.Hagenbuch, F.Lafitte, T.H. Marshall, M.Rein, F.H.Parker and so on have given it a very similar definition to that of social development.
In conclusion, in view of the observation, it may be argued that social policy should be conducted as a social development and its policy.