The Student's Companion to Social Policy

by Alcock, Pete; May, Margaret; Wright, Sharon

• ISBN13: 9780470655658
• ISBN10: 0470655658
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-01-30
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

The fourth edition of The Students Companion to Social Policy maintains the texts inimitable and best-selling approach. Written by a wide range of experts in the field, it has been extensively updated and revised to take account of recent developments and debates and changing political and economic configurations. The fourth edition has been extensively revised and is again written by experts at the forefront of the discipline Includes an additional five chapter section on the key themes and issues in the development of social policy in the UK since the nineteenth century New to this edition are chapters addressing emergent areas in the discipline, new illustrative material, problem-centred review questions, and a dedicated website Provides students with a 'Companion which is so comprehensive that it can be used throughout their undergraduate and/or postgraduate studies Meets the needs both of those specialising in social policy or policy-related occupations and the wide range of students studying it as part of other programmes

Author Biography

Sharon Wright is Deputy Head of Sociology, Social Policy, and Criminology, and lecturer in the School of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling.

Table of Contents

Contributors	p. ix
Acknowledgements	p. xvi
Introduction	p. 1
Concepts and Approaches	p. 3
The Subject of Social Policy	p. 5
Approaches and Methods	p. 12
Social Needs, Social Problems, and Social Welfare and Well-being	p. 19
Equality, Rights, and Social Justice	p. 26
Equalities and Human Rights	p. 33
Efficiency, Equity, and Choice	p. 40
Altruism, Reciprocity, and Obligation	p. 48
Key Perspectives	p. 55
Neo-liberalism	p. 57
The Conservative Tradition	p. 64
Social Democracy	p. 70
Socialist Perspectives	p. 77
Feminist Perspectives	p. 83
Green Perspectives	p. 90
Postmodernist Perspectives	p. 96
Historical Context	p. 103
History and Social Policy	p. 105
Nineteenth-Century Beginnings	p. 111
The Liberal Era and the Growth of State Welfare	p. 117
The Post-war Welfare State	p. 124
Crisis, Retrenchment, and the Impact of Neo-liberalism (1976-1997)	p. 130
Modernization and the Third Way	p. 135
Contemporary Context	p. 143
Demography	p. 145
Economic Policy and Social Policy	p. 153
Religion	p. 160
Family Policy	p. 166
Divisions and Difference	p. 173
Poverty and Social Exclusion	p. 180
The Distribution of Welfare	p. 187
The Policy Process	p. 195
Evaluation and Evidence-based Social Policy	p. 201
Welfare Production and Provision	p. 207
State Welfare	p. 209
Commercial Welfare	p. 215
Occupational Welfare	p. 221
Voluntary Welfare	p. 228
Informal Welfare	p. 234
Paying for Welfare	p. 241
Taxation and Welfare	p. 248
Citizenship and Access to Welfare	p. 255
Welfare Governance	p. 263
Managing and Delivering Welfare	p. 265
Accountability for Welfare	p. 271
Welfare Users and Social Policy	p. 278
Local and Regional Government and Governance	p. 284
Social Policy and Devolution	p. 291
Social Policy and the European Union	p. 298
International Organizations	p. 306
Welfare Services	p. 315
Income Maintenance and Social Security	p. 317
Employment	p. 324
HealthCare	p. 331
Education in Schools	p. 338
Lifelong Learning and Training	p. 345
Housing	p. 352
Social Care	p. 359
Criminal Justice	p. 366
Services for Particular Groups	p. 375
'RaceÆ and Social Welfare	p. 377
Children	p. 385
Young People	p. 392
Older People	p. 399
Disability	p. 405
Migrants and Asylum Seekers	p. 412
International Issues	p. 419
Comparative Analysis	p. 421
Social Policy in Europe	p. 428
Social Policy in Liberal Market Societies	p. 434
Social Policy in East Asian Societies	p. 440
Social Policy in Middle Eastern Societies	p. 447
Social Policy in Developing Societies	p. 455
Appendix: The Social Policy Association (SPA)	p. 462
Index	p. 464
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