The Contribution of Sociology To Social Security

Abstract

To date only a few sociological studies have been devoted to the study of social security, in spite of the fact that this major social institution increasingly finds itself at the centre of controversy in the political and economic arenas. However, in recent years there have been several international conferences at which the question of the potential contribution of a sociological approach to social security has been discussed. In this article the latest developments in this sociological perspective on social seeunty will be presented, as will the origins of this approach to social security. Attention will also be paid to various fields bordering on social security to which sociology has contributed through research, i.e. health, aging, the family, poverty. They will serve to illustrate the extent of potential sociological research in this area and its importance for social security. The evaluation of social welfare programmes is another field in which sociology may contribute to the effect of social policies on the reduction of social inequality. Finally, an analysis of the relationship between the institution of social security and society is sketched out with a view to a greater understanding of the role of this social institution at a time when the concept of Welfare State is being challenged.