Ian Cummins – författare

The Criminal Justice System is becoming a de facto provider of mental health care, according to a series of recent prison inspections and reports on policing and mental illness which have highlighted the crisis in mental health services. However, the pressures on prisons and other areas of the CJS mean that the needs of those with mental health problems are often overlooked.This book examines the experiences of people with mental health problems across all stages of the CJS and across all the points of contact – police, Courts and prisons between the CJS and people with mental health problems. Providing a clearly written, comprehensive introduction to the main themes in this field, it also has a clear critical edge highlighting the failings in the areas of penal and social policy that have resulted in increasing numbers of people with mental health problems being criminalised.Highlighting a very important social issue, Mental Health and the Criminal Justice System provides a thorough introduction to this subject for social work students and practitioners.

While their attempts to understand the workings of capitalism led them to the conclusion that the advanced societies of Western Europe were those most likely to be the setting for a successful socialist revolution, Marx and Engels by no means ignored developments outside this region. Indeed, given the configurations of international politics in their time, plus their conception of capitalism as a universalising system, they believed that some of the forces working for change in less advanced regions could even affect the prospects of a proletarian revolution in Western Europe itself. This book, first published in 1980, traces the development of Marx and Engels’ attitudes towards, and relations with, the principal national movements of their time. It deals with their responses to such movements in areas as diverse as Ireland and India, Poland and China, and Russia and the United States, as well as in many other regions. Many of Max and Engels’ most significant statements on the national question were made in their journalism, occasional addresses and private correspondence – sources not always readily accessible to, or even known by, some of their more immediate successors. Subsequent publication of this previously-dispersed material has enabled a more coherent picture of their ideas on the subject to be drawn. Marx and Engels believed that national aspirations and the cause of socialism did not always go hand in hand and each national struggle had to be examined on its merits and judged according to whether its success would retard or enhance the prospects of a socialist revolution. Based on a wide range of sources, this study examines an important, yet neglected, area of Marx and Engels’ ideas and activities, and indicates the criteria by which they determined their attitudes at different times to a variety of national movements at work in four continents.

While their attempts to understand the workings of capitalism led them to the conclusion that the advanced societies of Western Europe were those most likely to be the setting for a successful socialist revolution, Marx and Engels by no means ignored developments outside this region. Indeed, given the configurations of international politics in their time, plus their conception of capitalism as a universalising system, they believed that some of the forces working for change in less advanced regions could even affect the prospects of a proletarian revolution in Western Europe itself. This book, first published in 1980, traces the development of Marx and Engels’ attitudes towards, and relations with, the principal national movements of their time. It deals with their responses to such movements in areas as diverse as Ireland and India, Poland and China, and Russia and the United States, as well as in many other regions. Many of Max and Engels’ most significant statements on the national question were made in their journalism, occasional addresses and private correspondence – sources not always readily accessible to, or even known by, some of their more immediate successors. Subsequent publication of this previously-dispersed material has enabled a more coherent picture of their ideas on the subject to be drawn. Marx and Engels believed that national aspirations and the cause of socialism did not always go hand in hand and each national struggle had to be examined on its merits and judged according to whether its success would retard or enhance the prospects of a socialist revolution. Based on a wide range of sources, this study examines an important, yet neglected, area of Marx and Engels’ ideas and activities, and indicates the criteria by which they determined their attitudes at different times to a variety of national movements at work in four continents.

This book offers a critical, sociological analysis of the domino effect of neoliberalism and austerity politics on the role of social work and wider welfare provision.It argues that social work should move away from the resultant emphasis on risk management and bureaucracy, and return to a focus on relational and community approaches as the cornerstone of practice.Applying theoretical frameworks to practice, including those of Bourdieu and the recent work of Wacquant, the book examines the development of neoliberal ideas and their impact on social welfare. It explores the implications of this across a range of areas of social work practice, including work with children and families, working with asylum seekers and refugees and mental health social work.

This book offers a critical, sociological analysis of the domino effect of neoliberalism and austerity politics on the role of social work and wider welfare provision.It argues that social work should move away from the resultant emphasis on risk management and bureaucracy, and return to a focus on relational and community approaches as the cornerstone of practice.Applying theoretical frameworks to practice, including those of Bourdieu and the recent work of Wacquant, the book examines the development of neoliberal ideas and their impact on social welfare. It explores the implications of this across a range of areas of social work practice, including work with children and families, working with asylum seekers and refugees and mental health social work.

Taking a critical and radical approach, this book calls for a return to mental health social work that has personal relationships and an emotional connection between workers and those experiencing distress at its core.The optimism that underpinned the development of community care policies has dissipated to be replaced by a form of bleak managerialism. Neoliberalism has added stress to services already under great pressure and created a danger that we could revert to institutional forms of care. This much-needed book argues that the original progressive values of community care policies need to be rediscovered, updated and reinvigorated to provide a basis for a mental health social work that returns to fundamental notions of dignity and citizenship.

Taking a critical and radical approach, this book calls for a return to mental health social work that has personal relationships and an emotional connection between workers and those experiencing distress at its core.The optimism that underpinned the development of community care policies has dissipated to be replaced by a form of bleak managerialism. Neoliberalism has added stress to services already under great pressure and created a danger that we could revert to institutional forms of care. This much-needed book argues that the original progressive values of community care policies need to be rediscovered, updated and reinvigorated to provide a basis for a mental health social work that returns to fundamental notions of dignity and citizenship.

It is essential that social work students understand the lasting impact political decision making can have on service users, yet little guidance exists on this subject. This valuable book provides a comprehensive introduction to politics in social work, unifying the themes of political ideology and social construction across several areas of social work practice, including emerging areas of practice. The book: •Introduces the dominant political ideologies in the UK; •Examines the impact of these ideological perspectives on different demographic groups;•Explores emerging areas of growing political interest such as radicalisation; •Employs case studies and examples from practice to aid student understanding.Including helpful key points to guide reading at the beginning of each chapter, as well as exercises for seminars and further reading recommendations, this text will be an invaluable resource to all students in social work.

This critical interdisciplinary study charts the modern history of mental health services, reflects upon the evolution of care in communities, and considers the most effective policies and practices for the future. Starting with the development of community care in the 1960s, Cummins explores the political, economic, and bureaucratic factors behind the changes and crises in mental health social care, returning to those roots to identify progressive principles that can pave a sustainable pathway forward. This is a groundbreaking contribution to debates about the role, values, and future of community care, and is vital reading for students, teachers, and researchers in the field of social work and mental health.

Police officers deal with mental illness-related incidents on an almost daily basis. Ian Cummins explores how factors such as deinstitutionalisation, community care failings and, more recently, welfare retrenchment policies have led to this situation. He then considers how police officers should be supported by community mental health agencies to make confident and correct decisions, and to ensure that the individuals they encounter receive support from the most appropriate services.Of interest to police researchers and students of criminology and the social sciences, the book examines police officers’ views on mental health work and includes a chapter by a service user.

Police officers deal with mental illness-related incidents on an almost daily basis. Ian Cummins explores how factors such as deinstitutionalisation, community care failings and, more recently, welfare retrenchment policies have led to this situation. He then considers how police officers should be supported by community mental health agencies to make confident and correct decisions, and to ensure that the individuals they encounter receive support from the most appropriate services.Of interest to police researchers and students of criminology and the social sciences, the book examines police officers’ views on mental health work and includes a chapter by a service user.

What does it mean for social work to truly uphold human rights in an era marked by economic austerity, political polarisation and global crises? Human Rights in Social Work offers a powerful and timely response, calling for a fundamental rethinking of practice rooted in relational, dignity-driven approaches. Grounded in critical theory and real-world issues, this book interrogates the limitations of current approaches and offers a compelling vision for a more just, relational and accountable social work in which intersectionality and cultures play a central role.Bringing together leading voices in theory, practice and research, the book examines how social workers can move beyond rhetoric – confronting the profession’s own historic and ongoing failings – to embed a deeper, more intersectional understanding of human rights into social work’s core.

In this enlightening study, Ian Cummins traces changing attitudes to penal and welfare systems. From Margaret Thatcher’s first cabinet, to austerity politics via New Labour, the book reveals the ideological shifts that have led successive governments to reinforce their penal powers. It shows how ‘tough on crime’ messages have spread to other areas of social policy, fostering the neoliberal political economy, encouraging hostile approaches to the social state and creating stigma for those living in poverty. This is an important addition to the debate around the complex and interconnected issues of welfare and punishment.

In this enlightening study, Ian Cummins traces changing attitudes to penal and welfare systems. From Margaret Thatcher’s first cabinet, to austerity politics via New Labour, the book reveals the ideological shifts that have led successive governments to reinforce their penal powers. It shows how ‘tough on crime’ messages have spread to other areas of social policy, fostering the neoliberal political economy, encouraging hostile approaches to the social state and creating stigma for those living in poverty. This is an important addition to the debate around the complex and interconnected issues of welfare and punishment.

True crime is a huge cultural industry: media organisations use crime stories to push sales and clicks. Yet behind this phenomenon lies the real-life victims and a disconnect between the representation of violent crime and its reality.This book is a go-to guide for students and researchers in understanding the development of this phenomenon and its social and cultural impacts. Through case studies including Lucy Letby, the Yorkshire Ripper and Fred and Rosemary West, the book considers true crime’s ethical implications and its wider influence on crime and punishment.

True crime is a huge cultural industry: media organisations use crime stories to push sales and clicks. Yet behind this phenomenon lies the real-life victims and a disconnect between the representation of violent crime and its reality.This book is a go-to guide for students and researchers in understanding the development of this phenomenon and its social and cultural impacts. Through case studies including Lucy Letby, the Yorkshire Ripper and Fred and Rosemary West, the book considers true crime’s ethical implications and its wider influence on crime and punishment.

Critical Psychiatry outlines the history of a group of thinkers that has come to be known as the anti-psychiatry movement. Though it has been called a movement, the individual thinkers’ and authors’ ideas were often in conflict but what they share is a critical perspective on psychiatry as a discipline and institutionalised modes of care. The current crisis in mental health services means that it is time to examine once again the key themes of critical psychiatry. The excesses of the 1960s radicalism have meant that these themes - with an emphasis on the individual dignity of all those involved in mental health services - have been lost. These need to be rediscovered as part of a solution to current difficulties but also as the starting point for a new model of service provision. Critical Psychiatry is a history of ideas. It provides a critical evaluation of key thinkers and the application of their work to contemporary mental health service settings.