This second edition of a widely respected textbook is one of the few resources available to provide an overview of human need, as a key concept in the social sciences. Taking an approach encompassing both global North and South, this accessible and engaging book models existing practical and theoretical approaches to human need while also proposing a radical alternative. Incorporating crucial current debates and illustrations, the author explores: • distinctions between different types and levels of need; • how different approaches are reflected in different sorts of policy goals; • debates about the relationship between needs, rights and welfare; • contested thinking about needs in relation to caring, disadvantage and humanity. Fully revised and updated, this new edition pays due regard to the shifting nature of welfare ideologies and welfare regimes. Offering essential insights for students of social policy, it will also be of interest to other social science disciplines, policy makers and political activists.

This new edition of a widely-respected textbook examines welfare policy and racism in a broad framework that marries theory, evidence, history and contemporary debate. Fully updated, it contains: • a new foreword by Professor Kate Pickett, acclaimed co-author of The Spirit Level • two new chapters on disability and chronic illness, and UK education policy respectively • updated examples and data, reflecting changes in black and minority ethnic demographics in the UK • a post-script from a minority student on her struggle to make a new home in Britain Suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in social policy, sociology and applied social sciences, its global themes of immigration, austerity and securitisation also make it of considerable interest to policy and welfare practitioners.

As the state withdraws from welfare provision, the mixed economy of welfare – involving private, voluntary and informal sectors – has become ever more important. This second edition of Powell’s acclaimed textbook on the subject brings together a wealth of respected contributors. New features of this revised edition include: • An updated perspective on the mixed economy of welfare (MEW) and social division of welfare (SDW) in the context of UK Coalition and Conservative governments • A conceptual framework that links the MEW and SDW with debates on topics of major current interest such as ‘Open Public Services’, ‘Big Society’, Any Qualified Provider’, Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and ‘Public Private Partnerships’ (PPP) Containing helpful features such as summaries, questions for discussion, further reading suggestions and electronic resources, this will be a valuable introductory resource for students of social policy, social welfare and social work at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

The political and economic landscape of UK social security provision has changed significantly since the 2008 financial crisis. This fully revised, restructured and updated 3rd edition of a go-to text book covers all the key policy changes and their implications since the elections of 2010 and 2015. With contributions from leading academics in the field this book critically examines the design, entitlement, delivery and impact of current welfare provision. The first half of the book examines social security across the lifecycle from Child Benefit to retirement pensions. The second half focuses on key issues in policy and practice including new topics such as the realities of life on benefits in an era of austerity, and the pros and cons of Universal Basic Income. • Framework supports teachers and students, encouraging analytical thinking of issues and providing pointers to related sources • Authoritative and evidence-based arguments • Clear section and chapter summaries, overviews, questions for discussion, website resources and a bibliography • Includes tables, charts and text boxes for clarity, interest and appeal This book is suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Social Policy taking modules on Social Security Policy, Poverty and Inequality, Income Support and Welfare Reform, as well as Social Work students and those on other Social Science degree programmes.

The challenge of meeting the growing cost of welfare is one of the most pressing issues facing governments of our time. Glennerster’s authoritative Understanding the cost of welfare assesses what welfare costs and how it is funded sector-by-sector. The book is written in a clear, accessible style, ideally suited to both teaching and study, and the general reader. This substantially revised third edition includes: • Discussion of the many funding issues now facing welfare states, such as demographic change, tax resistance, slow growth and austerity programmes • The theory and practice of devolved tax and budgetary responsibilities between UK nations and in comparison with other countries • New chapters on pensions and post-16 education • More regular and extensive comparative analysis Divided into 3 sections, covering Principles, Service funding, and The Future, the book Includes questions for discussion and suggestions for further reading, making it an easy-to-use, essential resource for both undergraduate and post-graduate students of Social Policy, Sociology, Politics and Public Administration.

The 3rd edition of this bestselling textbook has been completely revised to address the range of socio-economic factors that have influenced UK housing policy in the years since the previous edition was published. The issues explored include the austerity agenda, the impact of the Coalition government’s housing policies, the 2015 Conservative government’s policy direction, the evolving devolution agenda and the recent focus on housing supply. The concluding chapter examines new policy ideas in the context of theoretical approaches to understanding housing policy: laissez-faire economics; social reformism; Marxist political economy; behavioural perspectives and social constructionism. Throughout the textbook, substantive themes are illustrated by boxed examples and case studies. The author focuses on principles and theory and their application in the process of constructing housing policy, ensuring that the book will be a vital resource for undergraduate and postgraduate level students of housing and planning and related social policy modules.

This is the concise, accessible guide for students and practitioners who want a comprehensive introduction to health and social care. Engaging practical features, such as user-focused case studies and reflective exercises, promote understanding of theoretical and conceptual knowledge. In turn, clear explanations of social policy theory help frame the policy and practice dilemmas faced by students, front-line workers and policy makers. Chapters cover partnership working and integrated care, independent living, disability and long-term conditions, discrimination, user involvement and support for carers. This new edition has been updated to cover key developments under the Coalition and beyond, including the 2012 Health Act, the 2014 Care Act, the Francis inquiry, the Winterbourne View abuse scandal, the integrated care agenda and the impact of austerity.

Understanding community is a highly topical text offering a clear understanding of policy and theory in relation to community. By examining areas of government policy, such as economic development, education, health, housing, and community safety, this book explores the difficulties that communities face and discusses new concepts such as community cohesion, social capital and community capacity building. Somerville challenges our understanding of community, both social and conceptual, and assesses the strengths and limitations of this understanding. This book is essential for students studying social policy, social work and sociology, and an invaluable resource for policymakers in community development, urban regeneration and allied fields.

In recent years the pace of reform in health policy and the NHS has been relentless. But how are policies formed and implemented? This fully updated edition of a bestselling book explores the processes and institutions that make health policy, examining what constitutes health policy, where power lies, and what changes could be made to improve the quality of health policy making. Drawing on original research by the author over many years, and a wide range of secondary sources, the book examines the role of various institutions in the formation and implementation of health policy. Unlike most standard texts, it considers the impact of devolution in the UK and the role of European and international institutions and fills a need for an up-to-date overview of this fast-moving area. It features new case studies to illustrate how policy has evolved and developed in recent years. This new edition has been fully updated to reflect policies under the later years of New Labour and the Coalition government. Although written particularly with the needs of students and tutors in mind, this accessible textbook will also appeal to policy makers and practitioners in the health policy field.

Understanding crime and social policy explores the interface between crime and social policy, drawing upon international theoretical developments and empirical research from within Criminology and Social Policy. Written by an experienced author, it uses analysis of policy-making under the New Labour and Conservative-Liberal Democrat governments to reflect upon the multiplicity of influences which shape the formulation and delivery of crime control policies, the changing nature of government and governance in neo-liberal societies, and the enhanced role of the welfare state in 'solving' crime 'problems'. A unique feature of the book is the inclusion of policy examples including the resettlement of prisoners, problem drug use and 'troubled' families. Understanding crime and social policy encourages readers to reflect upon the close connections, and sometimes tensions, between crime reduction and social policy agendas and is aimed at two audiences. The first is students on courses in criminology, criminal justice and social policy. The second is practitioners from across the public, private and voluntary sector.

It is vital for students, policy makers and practitioners engaged in social policy, social work and other related academic disciplines and fields of practice to understand the importance of research and how to interpret research evidence and findings. They also need to know how to effectively carry out and report good quality research of their own. This thoroughly revised and expanded second edition of the acclaimed international best-seller will enable readers to meet all these challenges. Comprehensive in scope, and written expertly by 80 leading contributors in an accessible and engaging style, this landmark book from The Policy Press' Understanding Welfare series includes dozens of new sections which highlight developments since the first edition. It also combines theoretical and applied discussions and case examples to provide the essential one-stop guide to research methods, approaches and debates. The book is essential reading for students and teachers of social policy, social work, public policy, criminology, nursing and health sciences, education and other applied social sciences; policy makers and practitioners who would like to improve their use of research evidence; and those who want to conduct high quality research of their own.

In an era of scarce social resources the question of the changing social policy constructions and responses to disabled people has become increasingly important. Paradoxically, some disabled people are realising new freedoms and choices never before envisioned, whilst others are prey to major retractions in public services and aggressive attempts to redefine who counts as 'genuinely disabled'. Understanding disability policy locates disability policy into broader social policy and welfare policy writings and goes beyond narrow statutory evaluations of welfare to embrace a range of indicators of disabled people's welfare. The book critically explores the roles of social security, social support, poverty, socio-economic status, community safety, official discourses and spatial change in shaping disabled people's opportunities. It also situates welfare and disability policy in the broader conceptual shifts to the social model of disability and its critics. Finally it explores the possible connection between changing official and academic constructions of disability and their implications for social policy in the 21st century. The book is supported by a companion website, containing additional materials for both students and lecturers using the book, which is available from the link above.

Bringing together leading experts, this textbook explores the key social, political, economic and moral challenges that environmental problems pose for social policy in a global context. Combining theory and practice with an interdisciplinary approach, the book reviews the current strategies and policies and provides a critique of proposed future developments in the field. Understanding the environment and social policy guides the reader through the subject in an accessible way using chapter summaries, further reading, recommended webpages, a glossary and questions for discussion. Providing a much-needed overview, the book will be invaluable reading for students, teachers, activists, practitioners and policymakers.

A central theme of this lively and accessible text is that theory helps us to understand policy, politics and practice. The book combines an in-depth exploration of selected theoretical perspectives and concepts with the student-friendly format of the Understanding Welfare series. The author uses diverse examples from contemporary social policy to help theoretical arguments come alive. It should provide a key text for 2nd and 3rd year undergraduates and postgraduates in social policy and related subjects, as well as their teachers.

Contemporary social policy has never been more vigorously contested. Issues range from single-issue campaigns over housing, social care, hospital closures through to organised movements around disability, environment, health and education. However, the historical and contemporary role played by social movements in shaping social welfare has too often been neglected in standard social policy texts. Understanding social welfare movements is the first text to bring together social policy and social movement studies. Using actual case studies and written in an accessible and engaging style, it will attract a wide readership of undergraduate and postgraduate students, higher education teachers and researchers, stakeholders and activists. Introductory chapters examine the historical and theoretical relationship between state welfare and social movements. Subsequent chapters outline the historical contribution of various social movements to the creation of the welfare state relating to Beveridge's 'five giants' of idleness, ignorance, squalor, illness and want. The book then examines the contemporary challenge posed by 'new social movements' in relation to the family, discrimination, environment, and global social justice. The book provides a timely and much needed overview of the changing nature of social welfare as it has been shaped by the demands of social movements.

This is a seminal time for Equal Opportunities and Diversity (EO&D) in the UK: the three existing Equality Commissions have been amalgamated into the Commission for Equality and Human Rights and a new Single Equality Act was published in 2010. The concepts of EO&D now incorporate gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, religion and belief and age inequalities. For the future, the problems of separate and relative deprivation, and conflicting experiences and interests, must be tackled, both between and within different categories of disadvantage. These different, complex and sometimes contradictory strands in legislation, policy and practice need to be analysed and understood in order to facilitate genuine social change. This book challenges the official discourse that shapes the debates on EO&D at national, regional and European level. The book will be a key text for students and researchers of EO&D in criminology, social policy, sociology, women's studies, gender studies, public administration, business studies, economics and management and industrial relations, at both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. It will also be of interest to EO&D professionals and policy makers in public and private sector organisations.

At a time when the divide between the wealthy and the disadvantaged is widening, this major textbook provides students with a critical understanding of poverty and social exclusion in relation to wealth, rather than as separate from it. Raising fundamental questions about the organisation of society, social structures and relationships and social justice, the book is split into four main sections exploring key concepts and issues; 'people and place' (poverty and wealth across different groups and situations); the role of the state; and prospects for the future. This is the only textbook to focus on the links between wealth and poverty and contains an edited collection of chapters specially written by a distinguished panel of contributors including Pete Alcock, Daniel Dorling, Mary Shaw, Gill Scott and Jay Ginn. It is designed with the needs of students in mind and includes useful chapter summaries, illustrative boxes and diagrams, and pointers to relevant websites and other sources of further information. This is an essential textbook for level 1/2 undergraduate students studying social policy either as a main subject or as part of their course. It is a core text for level 3/4 specialist modules in this field.

Immigration, particularly asylum, has become a major political issue in Britain and Europe and its impact on welfare, employment and 'social cohesion' highly contested. While asylum policy has become more punitive, dependence on immigrant labour has been increasingly acknowledged by governments which attempt to 'manage' migration to secure the benefits without the presumed costs. The book provides an essential background to understanding these debates. Based on documentary sources and primary research, it focuses mainly on Britain within an international and European context. The first part examines different theoretical approaches to understanding migratory flows and strategies. It explores forced and voluntary migration, the gender dimension in migration decisions and transnational links maintained by migrants. Part two focuses on continuities and change in migration policy and how boundaries have shifted to exclude and include different groups. It explores links between immigration policy, welfare and social exclusion, and migrants' experiences in negotiating and challenging these policies. The book concludes by questioning whether immigration controls can be justified on either ethical or practical grounds. The book will be a key text for students and researchers of migration and ethnicity, and of social policy and welfare. It will be of interest to professionals working with migrants and refugees and to all those concerned with migrant rights.