The Analysis of Social Benefits in Turkey Based on the Structural Functional Approach

Social benefits are one of the instruments whereby countries implement their social policies in the struggle against poverty. In Turkey, a lot of institutions and organizations provide social benefits, directly or indirectly, to accomplish certain goals. The Directorate General of Social Assistances one of the principal institutions that should be noted in this matter because of its historical background. In this sense, the purpose of this study is to explain the concepts of social policy, poverty, and social benefit within the context of social work and to analyze the budget incidences of the Directorate General of Social Assistance affiliated with the Ministry of Family and Social Policies in the offering of social policies through the structural functional approach. To this end, necessary theoretical definitions were provided first. Based on the definitions, the budgets of the social benefits provided by the Directorate General of Social Assistance between 2011 and 2015 (after the General Directorate of Social Assistance and Solidarity, which was formerly affiliated with the Prime Ministry, was made affiliated with the Ministry of Family and Social Policies) were brought together on the basis of main groups of benefits. Finally, an evaluation was made by associating the reasons underlying the changes between the years with the concepts of the structural functional approach