Value Base of Social Welfare

Values are assumptions, convictions, or beliefs about what is good and desirable or the way things ought to be. A person’s values are shaped by his or her socialization experiences. Many values are dominant and supported by the majority of the population. For example, most people agree that life is sacred. Nearly everyone believes that killing another person with wanton disregard for that person’s life is a criminal offense.
Other values related to the sanctity of life, however, are not shared so readily.
The development of social welfare over time reflects differences in values as they relate to social responsibility for those in need. Values alone, however, do not determine social policy. Availability of resources, coupled with economic, religious, and political influences, results in ever evolving policies of social responsibility for vulnerable members of a society.