Human Services Describe the Five Different Models

Human Services

Describe the five different models of policy-making process and apply them to various policies: The Rational Model (also called the Synoptic approach) is reportedly the "purest of the models" because of the quality of scientific methods it embraces, and the way it advocates objectivity, and occasionally doing it dogmatically, according to Unit 5. Author R.K. Sapru explains that the rational policy-making approach is to "choose the one best option," the option that will maximize the "net value achievement" (Sapru, 2010, p. 83). In other words, the more efficient the policy is, the more rational it is.

Any rational person -- whether a politician, a policy-maker or administrator -- must first clarify his goals and values, or his objectives, and then organizes those goals, prioritizing them in his mind, Sapru writes on page 84. There are no "ideal" decisions to be made, as Herbert Simon argued (referenced by Sapru on page 84), but there are always decisions that best suits the situation and helps to "avoid unnecessary uncertainty" (Sapru).

The Incrementalism or muddling through model is often employed in order to refine an existing policy, therefore reducing problem issues that came into existence during the implementation of a policy-related decision (Unit 5). Basically the authors explain that little corrections and improvements made over time (in increments) add up to "muddling through" because the clear implication is that the policy wasn't well thought out to begin with.

The value criteria model asks policy makers to dig deep into their own values on any given issue, and make decisions with those values in mind. The Unit 5 narrative suggests that using value criteria forces an agency and its directors to more clearly define their core values.

The mixed scanning model allows those policy makers involved to try out their most highly regarded method "as a pilot project" and if it doesn't work out as expected, the policy people can return to the "drawing board" and re-think the process (Unit 5). As to the garbage in-garbage out model, the consensus of opinion on this model is that humans' decision-making or policy-making is prone to flaws going into the analysis, and hence, the results coming out are also flawed. As Unit 5 explains, what goes into the garbage can "can remain mysterious until some of the policy ingredients are identified and examined";

Evaluate particular models to determine their usefulness in situations that practitioners encounter: Author Sapru explains that there are four requirements that must be met in order for political policy-making practitioners to make a rational analysis: a) there must be an identification with the goals; b) the goals must be ranked in order of their value and importance; c) the best possible policy alternatives to achieve the stated goals must be identified; and d) there is always a "cost-benefit" analysis (84). Certainly the rational model is useful, but there are limits to its usefulness. For example, Herbert Simon is quoted saying that "It is impossible for the behavior of a single, isolated individual to reach any high degree of rationality" however there are applications that show the usefulness of rational model. For example, knowing that all citizens will benefit from clean air, it is then rational to posit that citizens should all have anti-pollution emission control devices on their cars. However, not all citizens are willing to pay the extra cost of having the devices installed.

Discuss the extent to which these approaches encourage the participation both of practitioners and recipients of social services: The Incrementalism or muddling through model would seem ideal for involving both the recipients and social service workers since this model develops through a system of trial and error, and the recipients' responses to the social workers' policies help decide of a given policy is working or not.

Identify the 5 stages of the policy-making process: Those five stages include: a) the definition / framing of the problem, or the initiation stage based on perceived needs; needs are what people believe they need b) formulation, the stage of the process in which several alternatives are considered during brainstorming sessions, and feasibility is taken into consideration as well; c) the execution stage is when the policy actually takes form, either through legislation, rule-making, and the actions needed to meet the goals are put into place; d) the fourth stage is implementation and intervention; and e) evaluation is self-explanatory, in that after decisions and actions are made, the policy must be carefully evaluated to determine its value and effectiveness (Chapter Four).