Search results for ‘Subject term:"social policy"’ Sort:
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The impact of devolution on social policy
- Author:
- BIRRELL Derek
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 234p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Bristol
This book seeks to assess the impact of devolution upon social policy and provide a comparative framework between the four countries of the UK. Devolution in the United Kingdom (UK) in now operational in Scotland Northern Ireland and Wales. Initially, the nature of devolved powers, public expectations and early policy outputs tended to be dominated by the social policy areas of health, social care, education and housing and by the social agendas of child poverty, children’s services, equality, fuel poverty, regeneration of local communities and social exclusion. Ten chapters discuss the nature and scope of social policy, ranging from major innovations and policy distinctiveness, to differences in implementation, policy convergence and areas of overlap with UK policies. The author’s concluding comments address some wider consequences of devolution such as the UK citizenship debate, devolved models of social policy and the future development of devolution and devolved social policy.
Understanding social welfare movements
- Authors:
- ANNETTS Jason, et al
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 294p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Bristol
This is the first text to bring together social policy and social movement studies. Introdcutory chapters examine the historical and theoretical relationship between state welfare and social movement studies. Subsequent ones outline the contribution of social movements to the creation of the welfare state relating to Beveridge's "five giants". The book then examines the contemporary challenges posed by new social movements in relation to the family, discrimination, the environment and global social justice.
Social policy review 21: analysis and debate in social policy, 2009
- Editors:
- RUMMERY Kirstein, GREENER Ian, HOLDEN Chris, (eds.)
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 322p.
- Place of publication:
- Bristol
This work provides critical analyses of progress and change in areas of major interest during the last year. The six papers in Part one discuss tackling Beveridge's "five evils" 60 years on; the four in Part two are on contemporary childcare policy; and the three in Part three are about rescaling social policy.
The Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit 2003-08: a critical analysis
- Authors:
- GODWIN Michael, LAWSON Colin
- Journal article citation:
- Benefits, 17(1), February 2009, pp.3-14.
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
This article examines the policy, administrative and compliance issues that have arisen with the UK Working Tax Credit (WTC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC). It provides a critical commentary on overpayments; underpayments; error and fraud; take-up; and employer compliance costs. From a social policy perspective, these problems have damaged the effectiveness of tax credits, and from public policy and public finance viewpoints, they have damaged the reputation of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and HM Treasury. There is a strong case for a re-examination of the programme and its administration, to see if realistic reforms could deliver a more effective system.
Radical youth work: developing critical perspectives and professional judgement
- Author:
- BELTON Brian
- Publisher:
- Russell House
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 144p.
- Place of publication:
- Lyme Regis
This book is concerned with the development of professional judgement and political perspective within the youth and community work profession. It argues that youth work has become increasingly eroded by attempts to make professional interaction with young people outside school more effective in terms of the implementation of government policy and the resulting organisational aims, shifting focus from individuals and groups of young people and their personal and collective perspectives to functional economic requirements at a national level. This book has been written to promote challenge and argument in the face of this increasing conformity, homogeneity and predictability within youth work theory. Writing from a tradition of informed and radical dissent, the author asks those working with young people to reassess their role and motivation and, on the basis of the radical traditions of youth work, critique the imposed forms of 'protection' (surveillance), 'welfare' (child care), 'management' (administrative fire-fighting) and formalised (didactic) instruction and advice giving. The concluding chapter encourages youth workers to constantly question their own actions and interventions, and to help young people to forsake ready-made ideas and products and reawaken their own imaginations, sense of wonder, and faith in dynamic possibilities.
Dementia studies: a social science perspective
- Author:
- INNES Anthea
- Publisher:
- Sage
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 195p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Los Angeles, CA
There has been a tendency in dementia studies to focus on individual psychosocial dynamics. Here the author takes a wider view and approaches the subject from a social science perspective. The book critically examines the main approaches to understanding dementia (bio-medical, social-psychological and socio-gerontological) and the main principles and ideologies of care, drawing widely on the research literature in these and related fields, such as disability studies and politics. The author provides an historical and critical evaluation of where and why the study of dementia began, how it has developed in the areas of research, practice, and policy and what needs to be done with this knowledge in order to create social change that improves the lives of people with dementia and their families. The gap between the utopian aspirations of care and the reality of care are discussed, opening up a series of questions about knowledge and treatment of dementia. The book argues for a transition from an emphasis upon the individual or particular care services to the wider social, cultural and economic context. It is expected to be of value to students of nursing, sociology of health and illness, social work and social gerontology, as well as academics and those personally affected by the dementia.
The contribution of evidence-based policy to the output-oriented legitimacy of the state
- Author:
- WIDMER Thomas
- Journal article citation:
- Evidence and Policy, 5(4), November 2009, pp.351-372.
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
This article explores the degree to which evidence-based policy can contribute to the output–orientated legitimacy of a political system: essentially its capacity to make collectively binding decisions in order to solve political problems. Promoters of evidence-based policy making assume that such practices will contribute to an improvement in public policies and therefore to social betterment and state legitimacy. However, scholars in democracy research rarely include practices of evidence-based policy making in their analyses of the legitimacy of the state. The aim of the article is to link these two distinct streams of research. The author outlines the potential of these linkages and shows that only some of them have the potential to contribute to state legitimacy whereas others are very restricted in this respect.
The global social policy reader
- Editors:
- YEATES Nicola, HOLDEN Chris, (eds.)
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 520p.
- Place of publication:
- Bristol
The focus of this textbook is on the global and transnational dimensions of social policy and practice. It brings together a range of key texts published since the mid 1990s to shed light on different approaches, themes, issues and debates around the topic. This reader is deigned to be a companion volume to Understanding Global Social Policy (2008) which addresses key global social policy issues across a number of sectors. This text covers the emergence of global social policy as a dynamic and expanding field of study and practice, the transformation of welfare from predominately national to a global field of action, and the impact of globalisation on key welfare discourse and mechanisms for governance. Commentaries at the start of each chapter help to put the subsequent discussion into context. The book is expected to be of interest to students in a wide range of disciplines, as well as to political activists, policy makers at all levels and those involved in the planning and delivery of social welfare.
Teenage pregnancy: the making and unmaking of a problem
- Author:
- ARAI Lisa
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 177p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Bristol
The aim of this book is to consider the depiction of teenager pregnancy as a social and public health problem and to explore the ways in which policy makers, academics and the media have responded to the issue. The problematisation of early pregnancy has been contested; teenage mothers may have been made scapegoats for wider, social and demographic changes. The author focuses on the late 1990s to the present and largely covers the English experience. The book is written in two parts. The first, making the problem, describes the background to, and factors associated with, everyday representations of and policy on teenage pregnancy. In the second part, unmaking the problem, the depiction of teenager pregnancy as a problem is discussed in terms of the consequences of early motherhood, its presentation without context and an exploration of the reasons why teenage pregnancy emerged as a problem, when it did and what its depiction as a problem might mean (if anything). The author argues that society’s negative attitude to young mothers is likely to marginalise an already excluded group and that efforts should be focussed primarily on supporting young mothers and their children.
Human rights inquiry: report of the Equality and Human Rights Commission
- Author:
- EQUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
- Publisher:
- Equality and Human Rights Commission
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 198p.
- Place of publication:
- Manchester
The Human Rights Inquiry was undertaken by the Equality and Human Rights Commission under its statutory powers. Its terms of reference were to assess progress towards the effectiveness and enjoyment of a culture of respect for human rights in Great Britain and to consider how the current human rights framework might best be developed and used, to realise the vision of a society built on fairness and respect, confident in all aspects of its diversity. Evidence was gathered using commissioned research projects, a call for evidence from key organisations, service providers and individuals, a national survey on public perceptions of human rights, a series of focus groups with members of the public, and oral evidence from organisations, service providers and individuals to the Inquiry Panel. The report looks at human rights and the Human Rights Act, public perceptions of human rights, the impact of human rights on public services, barriers to assertion, provision and enjoyment of human rights, and making human rights effective. It sets out key findings and recommendations on the effectiveness of the Human Rights Act, leadership, improved service delivery, litigation, media, duties on public authorities and those who inspect them, and information and advice.