Policy Press

Sociology and Social Theory

Sociology is a growth area for us and our books in sociology and social theory include exciting work from new authors and well-known academics, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate textbooks.

Our wide range of sociology and social theory books include high quality research and range from textbooks through to specialised monographs. Many also ‘make a difference’ in a tangible way, whether it be informing a key policy or practice debate, or improving the education of students.

Showing 157-168 of 285 items.

The Modern Slavery Agenda

Policy, Politics and Practice

Modern slavery is growing despite the introduction of laws to try to stem it. This is the first book critically to assess the legislation, using evidence from across the field, and to offer strategies for improvement in policy and practice.

Policy Press

Evidence Based Policing

An Introduction

Examining what makes something evidence-based and not merely evidence-informed, this book unifies the voices of police practitioners, academics, and pracademics. It provides real world examples of evidence-based police practices and how police research can be created and applied in the field.

Policy Press

Women's Work

How Mothers Manage Flexible Working in Careers and Family Life

This book is the first to go inside women’s work and family lives in a year of working flexibly. The private labours of going part-time, job sharing, and home working are brought to life with vivid personal stories, concluding that there is an opportunity to make employment and family life work better together.

Bristol Uni Press

Childhood Experiences of Separation and Divorce

Reflections from Young Adults

Drawing on the qualitative research findings, this book develops a new framework to provide a useful analytical tool for academics and practitioners working with children and families to make sense of young people’s experiences of parental separation and divorce and puts forward suggestions for improving support for children in the future.

Policy Press

Critical Dialogues

Thinking Together in Turbulent Times

In this engaging and original book, John Clarke is in conversation with twelve leading individual scholars about the dynamics of critical thinking in the social sciences, and he reflects on the necessity of thinking collaboratively and dialogically.

Policy Press

Applying social science

The role of social research in politics, policy and practice

This important book examines how social science is applied now and how it might be applied in the future in relation to social transformation in a time of crisis.

Policy Press

Morality and Public Policy

Spanning religion, moral philosophy and scientific understanding of the human conditions, this unique book adds to the latest thinking on morality, proposing ways to enhance the capacity of public policy to respond to morality and associated shifts in social mores in different cultural settings.

Policy Press

The New Social Mobility

How the Politicians Got It Wrong

Geoff Payne considers a wide range of dimensions of mobility and life chances to assess the causes and consequences of mobility as social and political processes and challenges well-established opinions of politicians, pressure groups, the press, academics and the public.

Policy Press

Grassroots Youth Work

Policy, Passion and Resistance in Practice

This engaging book paints a picture of passionate grassroots youth workers, at a time when their practice is threatened by spending cuts, target cultures and market imperatives. Using interviews, dialogue and research diary excerpts the author brings youth work practice and theory to life.

Policy Press

Austerity, Community Action, and the Future of Citizenship in Europe

Exploring secular and faith-based grassroots social action in Germany and the UK, this book provides new ways of thinking about social and political belonging and about the relations between individual, collective and State responsibility.

Policy Press

Fathers, Families and Relationships

Researching Everyday Lives

Covering a wide range of subjects from non-resident fathers to father engagement in child protection, this major contribution to the field offers unique insights into how to research fathers and fatherhood in contemporary society.

Policy Press

Children and Young People's Worlds

This substantially updated new edition sets out the contexts of children's and young people’s lives and encourages students to explore their complexities and contexts. Each chapter challenges students’ assumptions and examines crucial issues in the field, such as participation, race, and transnational childhoods.

Policy Press