1 Learning Goals
In this module students will be able to examine and discuss:
The differences between social services delivered by the government (public sector), the voluntary sector (non-profit), and the private sector (for profit);
The programs delivered by each sector;
The strengths and weaknesses of each of these approaches to service delivery;
Ethical issues related to service delivery;
The significance of "informal helpers"; and,
The "consumer movement". The concepts of "informal helpers" and the "consumer movement" will be defined in the module.
2 Readings and Guiding Questions
Required Readings
While reading the lecture notes for this module, you will be instructed, at various points, to read certain chapters from your Turner and Turner textbook and/or to read resources found on the Internet. Below is a summary of the required readings found in this module? It is essential that you read these resources as you could be tested on the final exam.
Turner and Turner, Chapter 14: "Agencies in General"
Turner and Turner, Chapter 26: "Informal Helping and Mutual Aid"
Turner and Turner, Chapter 15: "Industries and the Provision of Social Services"
Part 1: Read Turner and Turner, Chapter 14: Agencies in General. (Note sections that address the issue of funding.) Then, based on your reading, answer the following questions in writing in your own private notes:
1. How does the voluntary sector find the money for its programming?
2. In chapter 14, page 215, the author states that "The recent policy objectives of fiscal restraint and privatization have made the purchase of services from commercial providers attractive to governments". What do you think of these policy objectives?
She goes on to give as one of the reasons for this attractiveness as "... increased efficiency through competition ..." What political ideology do you think this represents? Do you agree or disagree?
Issues related to privatization continue