Social Policy

The strengths, weaknesses and enforcement of concepts of international human rights receive a new social policy perspective in this insightful review of a pressing debate. Drawing on examples from around the world, it sets out the evolving role of universal rights in domestic and international policy and human welfare.

Drawing on access to prominent policy makers, Purcell examines the origins and impact of children’s services reform under recent Labour and Conservative-led governments, including Labour’s Every Child Matters programme and the Munro Review. He also reassesses the impact of high-profile child abuse cases, including Victoria Climbié and Baby P.

Available open access under CC-BY-NC license. This book brings together the insights and experiences of a diverse group of government leaders, academics and third sector practitioners to set out new evidence-based strategies and solutions to end homelessness for good.

This inter-disciplinary study considers the past, present and future of mental health services and community care. From the origins of provision as we know it in the 1960s, it sets out the political, economic and bureaucratic factors behind recent crises and considers what the founding principles of community care tell us about the way forward.

A decade of sustained change in policy and funding has altered the landscape of children’s early intervention services and changed the role of charities in it. This study reviews the new interplay between public and third sector providers, considering future roles, opportunities and challenges for practitioners, policy makers and volunteers alike.

Authored by two highly respected and experienced academics, this book demonstrates the rewards of studying social policy from an international perspective by avoiding the constraints of a single-nation focus.

One of the few resources available to provide an overview of human need as a key concept in the social sciences, this accessible and engaging second edition models existing practical and theoretical approaches to human need while also proposing a radical alternative.

Informed by sociological theory and recent empirical analysis, the new edition of this classic textbook is an accessible account of the major social divisions that structure social life. Written by experts, it covers an unrivalled range of social divisions, diversity and inequalities. This is an invaluable sourcebook for social science students.

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. Bringing to light the most contemporary research, policy and practice, this book presents stark evidence from Irish experience to argue that we need to urgently reimagine the root causes of homelessness and provides a robust evidence base to reimagine how we respond to homelessness.

As the population ages, this book reveals how divides that are apparent through childhood and working life change and are added to in later life.

The complex and self-serving nexus behind the UK’s housing crisis is laid bare in this passionate book from Bob Colenutt. Investigating the network of landowners, house-builders, financial backers and politicians, he reveals how we have been forced to accept the cycle of low supply and high prices, and proposes solutions to the housing emergency.

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. This book examines the increasing importance of engagement with non-academic groups and actors in the co-production of knowledge and real-world influence in academic research.