Broadening Perspectives in Social Policy – serie

Via a mutual concern with social exclusion, the agendas of criminology and social policy have begun to overlap far more in recent years. The two fields have always shared a common concern with class, and more recently with race and gender, but remained rigorously differentiated until crime prevention moved higher on political and academic agendas in the 1980s. This collection of papers explores aspects of social exclusion and the measures taken to reduce its impact from the perspective of both disciplines. The contributors write mainly, though not exclusively, from a British perspective, However the issues raised are of broader relevance to North America, Europe and elsewhere. Criminology in Britain has recently been examining the way in which political initiatives designed to contain and exclude dispossessed populations (seen to constitute major crime risks) have permeated all areas of criminal justice policy. In America this has led to an increased emphasis on the rhetoric of retribution, and the 'management' of criminal classes, shifting away from earlier emphasis on 'rehabilitating' individual offenders. Critics of this development increasingly recognise that more practical answers to crime involve not more penal repression but social policies designed to integrate and include the dispossessed, especially the young. It is in this connection that the experience of Singapore offers a different sort of warning.

This exceptional collection, the third in the Broadening Perspectives on Social Policy series, explores the profound changes currently underway which will have significant implications for the future of social policy. New Risks, New Welfare provides a look at the likely developments in social policy and welfare that will occur in the twenty-first century. Taking an historical as well as a speculative perspective, this book looks at social change, types of welfare systems and changes in work - including welfare work - to navigate a likely course in the new millennium.

The politics and practice of social research nowadays amount more to a form of business activity, than to a scholarly pursuit. This collection of specially commissioned papers offers an unrivalled introduction to the realities and pitfalls of undertaking funded research, with reference to a kaleidescopic range of projects and forms of project management.

This topical collection examines a wide variety of themes and topics which links the environment to social policy and welfare. Represents the best current work on the realignment of social policy to confront environmental issues. Presents a challenging socio-environmental agenda for social policy. Examines a wide range of themes and topics which link the environment and social policy and welfare.

Crime and Social Policy provides an invaluable examination of the relationship between social policy and crime. It draws on recent empirical research to offer important insights into the impact of current social policy trends on the lives of offenders. Provides an invaluable examination of the critical relationship between social policy and crime managementIncludes illuminating case studies on the impact of social policies on offendersReviews current social policy trends and their influence on crime causation, crime rates, and crime managementDiscusses the role for social policy in promoting more effective reintegration of offenders into the communityDraws on recent empirical research ranging from youth crime, anti-social behaviour, ‘problematic families’, and social security fraudThe collection offers important insights into the impact of current social policy trends on the lives of offenders

By examining the role of evidence in social policymaking and the extent of its influence, Evidence and Evaluation in Social Policy delves deeply into one of the central questions of the field for the last 20 years. Chronicles the trend towards evidence-based policy over the last decadeAssesses the ways in which scarce resources can best be used for the best care, particularly in times of austerityDescribes methodological innovation, the ways in which researchers and politicians are working together effectively, and suggestions for future improvementCovers topics such as the role of randomized controlled trials in shaping public policy; the pitfalls of evidence-based policy as a prescriptive ideal; the challenges of measuring public support for policy interventions; and the benefits of engaging local government decision-makers with evaluation research

Contracting-out Welfare Services focuses on the design and overhaul of welfare-to-work systems around the world in the light of the radical re-design of the welfare system; internationally based authors utilise a national/program case study, considering employment services policy and activation practices. International contributors bring a global comparative perspective to the subjectContributors are all experts in their field, who also draw on a much longer intellectual legacyUses employment services as a case study to advance understanding in relation to a host of broader principles and conceptsEach paper included within the text uses a national/program case study, and each considers employment services policy in general, and activation practices in particular

Bringing together researchers from the fields of social policy, economics, sociology and clinical psychology, this book offers new evidence on the inter-related problems faced by disability claimants, and identifies important lessons for policy. Explores how reducing the level of UK benefit claiming among those with health limitations has been a priority for successive governmentsArgues that current policy fails to reflect the evidence that people on long-term disability benefits face a complex combination of barriers to work and social inclusionDemonstrates that there is a need for continuing inter-disciplinary research on the nature of the ‘disability benefits problem’ and the efficacy of current policy solutions and public services

The critical role of food in contemporary policy, in the UK, Europe and internationally, is explored in a comprehensive and readable account of current issues, including food rights, patenting, safety, aid, choice and poverty. This landmark collection explores the critical role of food in contemporary national and international policy.The contributors represent different professional and academic perspectives.The contributions challenge state, institutional and agency structures and responses to food as a social policy issue.Most of the contributors write from an empirical research base.

This volume provides an up-to-date account of developments in Europe across a range of policy fields, from labour markets to disability and poverty to health care. An up-to-date account of a rapidly changing field. Covers developments across a range of policy fields, from labour markets to disability and poverty to health care. Situates debates about welfare convergence and divergence in a theoretical context. Draws on sociological, social policy, political science and economic theoretical perspectives. Written by acknowledged experts in the field. Uses case studies of particular policy areas and regional developments. Includes work on Southern and Eastern Europe, as well as on France and Germany.

Overstretched provides fresh perspectives on the reality of European family life where care and paid work need to be woven together on a daily basis, offering an opportunity to discuss and evaluate care policies in a new light. A collection of essays providing new perspectives on the reality of European family life where care and paid work need to be woven together on a daily basis.Focuses on families who live under strained conditions, such as lone parent families, immigrant families, and families who care simultaneously for both their children and an elderly family member.Based on interviews with families from Finland, France, Italy, Portugal and the UK.Develops methods for doing comparative qualitative analysis in practice.Offers new insights into the problems of gender balance in caring, and the significance of cultural notions and working hours.Offers an opportunity to discuss and evaluate care policies in a new light.

This thought-provoking and controversial collection tackles a subject of urgent international concern – migration, immigration and social policy. Presents forthright yet realistic analyses of key issues. Contributors are drawn from diverse academic and professional backgrounds, and bring a wide range of expertise to bear on the subject. Covers the case for a world-wide system of migration management, the quest for an EU asylum policy, and European countries’ treatment of asylum seekers. Considers particular aspects of policy in different European countries, including Britain, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, France, Germany and Italy. Gathers together a range of hitherto unreported material.

This book focuses attention upon rural social policy and welfare issues within selected areas in the US, Australia, continental Europe and Britain as well as in countrysides within less industrialised India and Mexico. This edited collection adds to the new genre of geopolitical and socio-economic rural transnational studies. Discusses the multi-dimensional factors affecting rural space, socio-political urban-rural power relations, conflicting urban-rural tensions and opposed values Adds to the existing studies of contemporary urban-rural dialogue, in respect of social policy and rural welfare in a changing global countryside

Gathering among the best European specialists of welfare state comparisons, this book organises comprehensive and up to date information on European welfare state reforms in an analytical framework which allows a new approach to social policy changes. Demonstrates that, contrary to the common view, 'Bismarckian' welfare states have changed significantlyContains long term but also very accurate data and perspective beginning from the 1980s and up to the most recent reformsSpeaks to two literatures: the one on welfare state, social policies and welfare state reforms; the other to the political science literature on changes, path dependency and incremental changesOrganises comprehensive and up to date information on European welfare state reforms in an analytical frameworkIncludes contributions from the best specialists of the field, including members of the European academic community of social policy comparativists

Through a series of essays by leading social public policy experts, Living in Dangerous Times analyzes the impact of fear on the development of social policy in the UK in the post 9-11 - and 7/11 - world. Incorporates an approach that pushes back traditional views of what the study of social policy should be about Features essays by leading scholars that combine original theories with empirical data Analyzes the complexities of policy development and governance in a world suffused with fear and uncertainty Addresses critical contemporary questions for policy makers and policy analysts