There are three main problems with this concept. In the first place,
Maslow's order of priority is very arguable - is love really subordinate to safety? Secondly, it
is not clear that basic needs can be ordered in a 'hierarchy' at all. In some cases, the value
of measures to look after a person's physiological needs is clearly reduced if other needs are
not met; many people would prefer to be malnourished and free rather than to be well-fed
in prison. This implies that people are affected, not so much by a hierarchy, as by a whole
set of interdependent needs. Thirdly, it is difficult to apply the approach directly to the
provision of welfare. Education is almost certainly of less importance than a person's
emotional needs, but education is largely organised as a social service, and provision for
emotional needs is not.