Ted I. K. Youn - Böcker

Research in Social Problems and Public Policy (RSPPP) is a peer-reviewed series devoted to the sharpening and reshaping of scientific discourse involving the intersection of social problems and public policy. In particular, it is interested in the analysis of the potential failure of public institutions to fulfil their obligations to the broader society. Multidisciplinary in nature, Research in Social Problems and Public Policy presents important themes of: social/crime problems and their treatment; criminal justice; law and public policy; crime, deviance and social control; courts and diversion programs; therapeutic jurisprudence, restorative justice and alternative dispute resolution; law and society; substance use/abuse and treatment; health and society; and institutional interaction. The articles have a clear connection to the series’ main focus, lying at the confluence of social problems and public policy. The series emphasises the need to consider the organisationally - and institutionally - specific features, competencies and decision-making practices of social problems, whilst also providing a useful mix of theoretical, methodological, substantive and public policy issues. Additionally, it aids the establishment of working networks of academics and practitioners from across the globe.

From the de-institutionalization of psychiatric hospitals to the privatization of prisons, the dramatic public policy changes of the last three decades have been, to a large extent, changes in organization. The chapters in this volume examine these organizational changes. We learn how organizations shift strategies, create alliances, cross boundaries and react to incentives as they respond to changing environmental pressures. We learn about the complex relationships between organizations and their clients and how these relations can be altered in response to environmental change. Chapters in the first section focus primarily on inter-organizational relations among health care and community development organizations. Chapters in the second section focus primarily on relations between organizations and their clients, both in medical organizations and in the criminal justice system.

Even today, many people think of 'social problems' as involving poor and powerless individuals in society. "Research in Social Problems and Public Policy" seeks to improve the balance by adding a focus on important and powerful institutions. Such organizations often play key roles in managing, and mismanaging, the ways in which some of today's most important social problems are handled by the public policy system. The papers discuss policy sciences, public policy analysis and public management, addressing operations and design issues for government organizations.