Social Justice, Equality and Human Rights
As part of our mission to make a difference, Policy Press has a strong commitment to social justice and to publishing work on poverty and inequality.
In fact, issues of equality and diversity run through most of our publications, but we also publish books which focus on core topics, including gender, disability, race and ethnicity, faith and religion, migration, and equality and diversity policies.
Police Diversity
Beyond the Blue
Providing a unique ‘insider’ perspective on police diversity, this book reveals the current tensions between the police and diverse populations in the UK and US. It demonstrates the obstacles to progress, revealing how championing diversity as part of police reform efforts can positively impact the lives of policed communities.
Secrets and Silence
Uncovering the Legacy of the Cleveland Child Sexual Abuse Case
The Cleveland child sexual abuse scandal was not the scandal we thought. Beatrix Campbell shows how medical evidence of childhood rape identified by pioneering paediatricians was deemed credible but ‘dangerous’. This secret has framed policy making and public opinion and has had consequences for children, professionals, justice and the state.
The Impacts of Welfare Conditionality
Sanctions Support and Behaviour Change
This book uses qualitative longitudinal data, from repeat interviews with people subject to compulsion and sanction in their everyday lives, to analyse the effectiveness and ethicality of welfare conditionality in promoting and sustaining behaviour change in the UK.
The Short Guide to International Development
By providing a succinct evaluation of competing approaches to, and perspectives on, the idea and practice of international development, this book offers students across the social sciences a distinct and invaluable introduction to the field.
Understanding Mental Distress
Knowledge, Practice and Neoliberal Reform in Community Mental Health Services
This timely analysis sets out the full impacts of policy reform, austerity and marketisation on our country’s mental health services. Rooted in the experiences of service users and providers, it provides valuable perspectives on our evolving practical and organisational responses to mental distress.
Redemptive Criminology
Challenging concepts and practices of rehabilitation, this text draws on criminology, philosophy and theology to develop a theory of ‘redemptive criminology’ that could revolutionise the rehabilitation system. It offers new insights into punishment and retribution and explores the connections between victims, perpetrators and the community.
Disproportionate Minority Contact and Racism in the US
How We Failed Children of Color
Drawing on original data, this book addresses the issue of color-blind racism through an examination of the circular logic used by the juvenile justice system to criminalize non-White youth. It calls for a need to understand racial inequality in the justice system from a structural perspective rather than simply at the level of individual bias.
Doing Accessible Social Research
A Practical Guide
In this book, Daniela Aidley and Kriss Fearon provide a practical introduction to making it easier for everyone to take part in research. It will be invaluable to researchers from a variety of backgrounds looking to increase participation in their research, whether postgraduate students, experienced academic researchers, or practitioners.
Living Wages and the Welfare State
The Anglo-American Social Model in Transition
Addressing the rapidly shifting politics of the minimum wage in six English-speaking countries, Shaun Wilson analyses minimum wage policies within a political-economy narrative. Topical and poignant, this book identifies the success of living wage campaigns as central to both welfare state change and alternatives to the Basic Income.
What Works in Improving Gender Equality
International Best Practice in Childcare and Long-term Care Policy
EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. This book provides an accessible analysis of what gender equality means and how we can achieve it by adapting best practices in childcare and long term care policies from other countries.
Sustainable Human Development Across the Life Course
Evidence from Longitudinal Research
EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. This book presents impactful findings from international longitudinal studies that responded to the Agenda 2030 commitment to “leave no-one behind”.It provides actionable strategies for policy makers and practitioners to strengthen the global Sustainable Development Goals framework.
Welfare and Punishment
From Thatcherism to Austerity
From Margaret Thatcher’s first government to austerity politics, Ian Cummins traces changing attitudes to imprisonment and the social state. With fresh insights and critical thinking, he demonstrates how increasingly punitive approaches to crime and welfare have shaped the neoliberal economy and created stigma around those living in poverty.