Policy Press

De-Professionalism and Austerity

Challenges for the Public Sector

By Nigel Malin

Published

Feb 5, 2020

Page count

306 pages

ISBN

978-1447350187

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Policy Press

Published

Feb 5, 2020

Page count

306 pages

ISBN

978-1447350163

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Policy Press

Published

Feb 5, 2020

Page count

306 pages

ISBN

978-1447350194

Dimensions

Imprint

Policy Press

Published

Feb 5, 2020

Page count

306 pages

ISBN

978-1447350194

Dimensions

Imprint

Policy Press
De-Professionalism and Austerity

Austerity’s impacts on the healthcare, social care and education professions are under the spotlight in this important book.

From scarcer resources to greater stresses, and falling training budgets to rising risks, it charts how policies and cuts have compromised workers’ ability to undertake their professional roles. It combines research and practice experience to assess the extent of de-professionalisation in recent years and how workers have responded.

This book is a vital review of how austerity has resculpted our notions of professionalism.

Nigel Malin holds degrees from the Universities of Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield and the West of Scotland. Previously he has held full-time teaching and research posts at the Universities of Sunderland, Derby, Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, including two Professorships and one Readership. He is author/co-author of ten books, including Professionalism, Boundaries and Workplace (Routledge, 1999), Key Concepts and Debates in Health and Social Policy (Open University Press, 2002), Evaluating Sure Start (Whiting & Birch, 2012) and Community Care For Nurses And the Caring Professions (Open University Press, 1999). Since 2014 he has been Editor of Social Work & Social Sciences Review: An International Journal of Applied Research and since 2015 Associate Editor for the British Journal of Learning Disabilities. He currently lives in Sheffield and is undertaking research on the topic of professionalism and identity.

Part 1: Policy Background and Concepts

Austerity as a UK Policy Context on the Early Twenty-First Century

Neo-Liberalism as an Ideology, an Elite Project and its Impact on Austerity

Public Services, the UK Economy and the Brexit Debate

Part 2: Theoretical Frameworks and Ideology: Professionalism and De-Professionalism

Perspectives used in Studying Professions: Sociology and Social Philosophy

Perspectives used in Studying Professions: Social Policy and Public Administration

De-Professionalism: An Analytical Framework

Part 3: De-Professionalism in the Public Sector: Output Indicators

The Impact of Service Cutbacks, Job Insecurity and Globalisation

De-Professionalism as Defined by Services Deemed ‘Unconventional’, ‘Under-Performing’ or ‘Ineffectual’

Professional Training Programmes: Financial Cuts and Content Critique

Part 4: De-Professionalism in The Public Sector: Subjective or Experiential Indicators

A Demoralisation or Disparagement of the Workforce?

Professional Abuse of Power: Discreditation or a Lowering of Productivity

Conclusion: Professionals as Entrepreneurs in an Age of Austerity