Bsc (Hons) Social Policy Quiz (University Of Bristol)

Explanation
(a) Globally, 2% of all deaths among children under 5 are due to HIV/AIDS. However, in some parts of the world HIV/AIDs is responsible for a greater proportion of deaths among young children. For example in South Africa HIV/AIDs is responsible for 28% of deaths among under 5s.
(b) Diarrhea is responsible for 10% of deaths among children under 5 worldwide. This is a shocking figure - diarrhea is very treatable with simple rehydration therapy. In Somalia, in 2010, 16% of child deaths were due to diarrhea.
(c) Malaria is responsible for 7% of deaths among children under 5 worldwide. Children are a high-risk group for malaria, particularly in parts of the world where immunity is low. Malaria can be prevented, but it costs money to buy simple protection such as insecticide-treated mosquito nets and many households in poorer countries cannot afford this. In 2010 27% of deaths among children under 5 in Guinea, Africa, were from malaria.
(d) In 2010 17% of deaths among children under 5 were due to pre-term birth. Every year one in ten babies are born too soon, and worldwide over one million babies die each year as a result of complications due to early delivery. Pre-term births happen for a range of reasons, but there are stark differences in the chances of survival for babies born too early. In poorer countries, over 90% of babies born at 28 weeks or less die in the first few days, while in richer countries, less than 10% of such babies will die. One of the subjects we cover at Bristol focuses on global health inequalities and the role of international bodies like the World Health Organisation in addressing these differences.
We study the causes and consequences of matters such as these in our unit ‘Health policy in a global context’.

Explanation
More than 10 million people are held in penal custody throughout the world. Half of these are in just three countries (United States, Russia and China).
On the 'Punishment in Society Unit', we explain these trends towards mass imprisonment in the US by looking at theories focusing on exclusion, the growing role of corporations, changing cultural and political sensibilities, as well as legislative developments. We also make comparisons with England and Wales.
Source: Walmsley, R. (2011) World Prison Population List (9th Ed)

Explanation
The correct answer is false.
Despite the media’s fascination with crime and violence, pollution poses a bigger public health risk. Whereas there are around 600-800 homicides in England and Wales each year, there are 20,000 deaths related to pollution in the UK. The ‘Criminology’ unit takes a unique approach to the study of crime by focusing on crimes in the context of other harms such as pollution, road-traffic accidents, and workplace injuries and deaths. The intention is to reach a more objective assessment of the harms that individuals are likely to experience throughout their life-course, because only then can we develop appropriate policies to prevent harm.
Source: Hillyard, P. Pantazis, C., Tombs, S. and Gordon, D. (2004) Beyond Criminology: Taking Harm Seriously, Sage: London

Explanation
Social policies can play a positive role in mitigating the effects of the market to make a very big difference to a country’s poverty rate. In some countries (e.g. Ireland and Hungary), child poverty rates are reduced by two-thirds via social security payments and taxation policies.
Source: UNICEF (2010) The Children Left Behind, Innocenti Research Centre: Florence

Explanation
Despite things like winter fuel payments and measures to increase energy efficiency of homes, many people are still unable to heat their homes properly, with fatal consequences. About 2700 people per year die through inadequate heating, the main factors being low incomes, poor efficiency of heating systems and home insulation, high fuel prices, and belonging to an 'at risk' group (the elderly, infants, long term sick, or people with a disability). About 27,000 is the amount of 'excess winter deaths' caused by cold winter weather.
Fuel poverty is a serious issue that may get worse with increased fuel prices and concerns over energy security. We study fuel poverty in ‘Social Policy and the Environment’, a unit that examines the links between human well being and environmental factors.
Source: Hills, J. (2011) Fuel Poverty: the problem and its measurement. CASE report 69. DECC: London

Explanation
More lives of women aged between 15 and 44 are lost to domestic violence and other forms of gender based violence than cancer, malaria or war. The Centre for Gender and Violence Research in the School for Policy Studies is a key UK site for the study of gender based violence. Incorporating the Violence Against Women Research Group (VAWRG), the Centre has a long history of researching violence against women and gender based violence, feeding this into policy and practice nationally, internationally and at a local level.

Explanation
Even if we believe that the indicator reported in the league table provides a full description of each school’s performance (a heroic assumption in itself), it is not possible to explicitly rank all schools on the basis of any such indicator due to the inherent statistical uncertainty involved in its calculation.
For example, work carried out here in Bristol shows that over half of all secondary schools in England are not significantly different from average when ranked on the basis of their contextual value added (CVA) scores (a measure of pupil progress that takes account of social factors). While widely reported in the media, with consequences both for the schools and the parents and students choosing them, school league tables therefore comprise a large element of spurious ranking.
The unit ‘Markets, Government and Public Policy’ looks at the implications of public service reform measures such as targets, league tables, choice and completion for both providers and users of services such as health and education.

Explanation
While evidence based policy-making often appears to ‘take the politics out’ of policy-making, it is far from an impartial and value-free process. Policy makers can shape agendas so that certain matters are regarded as problems while others are ignored, can dictate the terms of government sponsored inquiries so that only a limited number of matters are considered, and choose which evidence to accept and reject. The unit ‘Understanding Public Policy’ explores how policies are made, considering matters such as how some ideas get on the agenda and others don’t, and how particular interests – inside and outside government - influence the policy-making process.

Explanation
In fact, according to surveys of schoolchildren carried out annually by the National Centre for Social Research, children between the ages of 10 and 15 are smoking less and using alcohol and illegal drugs less than their counterparts did ten years ago. In the Health Care Policies unit here at Bristol, we look at public health issues like smoking and alcohol use, and in the unit ‘Drugs and Society’ we look at the use and misuse of illegal drugs by young people and adults. Both units take a critical perspective on how societies respond to these issues.
2001 2010
All aged 10-15, drank alcohol in last week 26% 13%
All aged 10-15, ever smoked 44% 27%
‘Regular’ smoker by age 15 22% 12%
15 year olds, ever taken illegal drug 48% 32%
15 year olds, used illegal drug in last month 24% 14%
Fuller, E (2011) Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2010 NHS Information Centre
http://www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publications/003_Health_Lifestyles/Smoking%20drinking%20drug%20use%202010/Smoking_drinking_and_drug_use_among_young_people_in_England_2010_Full_report.pdf

Explanation
This is false in terms of overall patterns of use.
Since 1996 the British Crime Survey (BCS) (1) has asked adults aged 16-59 about use of illegal drugs within a self-completion module at the end of the main interview. This captures patterns and trends of drug use across the population, and not just among people presenting to services for help and treatment. What the BCS shows is that over that fifteen year period, overall rates of using illegal drugs rose and peaked at the turn of the century and have been falling fairly steadily ever since. Rates of cocaine use bucked this trend for a while, but since 2008, there have also been falls in the use of cocaine. A feature of the last few years has been the emergence of new drugs such as ketamine, but it remains to be seen what the trends for these will be.
Some interesting analysis of the 2010/11 data, using the ACORN classifications of neighbourhoods, showed that levels of use of any drugs (including Class A drugs) were highest in areas that are classified as ‘Urban Prosperity’ compared with all other areas. These are areas with a high proportion of well educated and mostly prosperous people living in our major towns and cities (see www.caci.co.uk/acorn-classification.aspx)
It also depends what you define as the ‘drugs problem’.
Against the falling overall rates, there are still relatively high numbers of people in the UK who experience serious problems because of their drug use. These numbers are going down, and in particular, fewer younger people seem to be getting into difficulties with those drugs that have most worried society in the past: heroin and cocaine in particular (2). However, against this, problem drug use has increasingly become intertwined with broader issues of social deprivation and inequality. A lot of policies start from drugs as the primary problem, but as we know from the British Crime Survey data, it is not just drug use that causes people problems. A lot depends on the resources people have to manage the problems that can follow – and this is about their broader social and economic position. In the ‘Drugs and Society’ unit we look at social responses to drug use and misuse, and take a critical perspective on issues such as the ‘drugs problem’.
(1) Smith, J and Flatley, K (2011) Drug Misuse Declared: Findings from the 2010/11 British Crime Survey England and Wales www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/crime-research/hosb1211/
(2) Hay,G., Gannon,M., Casey,J and Millar,T. (2011): National and regional estimates of the prevalence of opiate and/or crack cocaine use 2009-10: a summary of key findings National Treatment Agency www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/prevalencesummary0910.pdf