Intoducing Social Policy
Social Policy as an academic
field of study is one of those curious items that we recognise when we see it, but which
is notoriously difficult to describe. It is, at one and the same time, the theoretical
pursuit of norms about how we think society ought to behave, but also the practical
application and Implementation of those policies that we consider to be social. What then
is Social Policy?
This volume provides students
with the knowledge necessary to answer this question. The text aims to provide an up to
date yet accessible overview of the development of, and the context for, the provision of
social welfare in contemporary Britain. The authors discuss the historical, ideological
and political context within which social policy has developed and explore the changing
contemporary context within which social policy is developing today.
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explores the historical development of social policy through the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries
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examines the policy and political context within which social policy is made
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considers the ways in which different ideologies are used in explaining social policy and
how such theoretical concepts are necessary to understanding social policy
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looks at the policy areas which form the backbone of the British welfare state and have
traditionally been considered the very essence of social policy thinking and analysis
The book provides the reader
with a flexible and accessible introduction to social policy making in modern Britain and
will prove essential reading for undergraduates of social policy, as well as students
taking relevant A level, BTEC or Access courses.
Cliff Alcock is a Senior
Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of Coventry;
Sarah Payne is a Lecturer in
Social Policy at the University of Bristol;
Michael Sullivan is Professor
of Social Policy at the University of Wales, Swansea;
Judith Carlson is a Senior
Lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Hertfordshire;
Mike McBeth is a Lecturer in
Health Policy at the University of Birmingham;
Tony Columbo is a Lecturer in
Sociology at the University of Warwick.
342 pages