Policy Press

Textbooks

Education is at the heart of our mission to make a difference. Our goal is to support students’ learning with materials that foster understanding, confidence and skills.

Take a look at our textbooks below or browse by subject.

We have more resources, including free journal articles and Open Access titles, available on our student resources page.

All our books are available on e-inspection for lecturers who want to consider the title(s) for use on their course reading lists. You can order an e-inspection copy here. Click ‘Request Access’ and then use the search function to request a digital sample copy of our titles. You will need to create a username and password to access your book(s).

Read our terms and conditions here.

Fill out the inspection copy survey

Don’t forget, if you sign up to our newsletter you will receive a discount on books purchased on our website.

Showing 169-180 of 280 items.

Understanding Health and Social Care

This engaging and accessible text, now in its third edition, provides a comprehensive introduction to health and social care. This new edition has been updated to cover recent developments, including the integrated care agenda, potential regional devolution and austerity.

Policy Press

Doing Reflexivity

An Introduction

This book provides social science researchers with both a strong rationale for the importance of thinking reflexively and a practical guide to doing it. The first book to build on Pierre Bourdieu's reflexive work, it combines academic analysis with practical examples and case studies. The book will be of interest to researchers and students.

Policy Press

The Essential Guide to Planning Law

Decision-Making and Practice in the UK

Written in an accessible style, this comprehensive yet concise text book gives students essential background and contextual information supported by practical and applied discussion to help even those with no planning law knowledge engage in the subject and understand planning in the real world.

Policy Press

A Companion to State Power, Liberties and Rights

This book provides succinct yet robust definitions and explanations of core concepts and themes in relation to state power, liberties and human rights. Laid out in a user-friendly A-Z format, entries have with clear direction to related entries and further reading. It will be suitable for students on a variety of courses.

Policy Press

Understanding Housing Policy

Focusing on principles and theory and their application in the process of constructing housing policy, with boxed examples and case studies throughout, this fully revised 3rd edition addresses the range of socio-economic factors that have influenced UK housing policy in recent years.

Policy Press

Understanding the Cost of Welfare

A substantial, authoritative, third edition of this important textbook about the impact of economic priorities and pressures on social policies at a time when neo-liberal arguments for reducing the burden of welfare are more dominant than ever before.

Policy Press

Irish Social Policy

A Critical Introduction

This second edition of a highly successful textbook offers a comprehensive introduction to social policy in Ireland addressing a range of social policy topics of growing importance in contemporary Irish society including issues related to children, service users and groups, migration, ethnicity, sexuality and climate change.

Policy Press

A Companion to the History of Crime and Criminal Justice

Offering a succinct approach to the vocabulary and terminology of historical and contemporary approaches to crime and punishment, it includes concise but robust definitions of key terms and concepts from expert contributors in a user-friendly A-Z format with clear direction to related entries and further reading.

Policy Press

Global Social Work in a Political Context

Radical Perspectives

How is social work shaped by global issues and international problems and how should it address them? Taking a radical perspective, this book reveals what we can learn from different approaches from across the globe.

Policy Press

Thinking about Child Protection Practice

Case Studies for Critical Reflection and Discussion

This unique textbook is designed to empower social work students and professionals to practise safely, responsibly and confidently. Candid accounts provide in-depth case studies in how to use theory and research in situations of pressure and dilemma.

Policy Press

The Short Guide to Criminal Justice

The Short Guide to Criminal Justice provides a comprehensive, yet concise, introduction to the criminal justice system in the United Kingdom. It includes many student-friendly features such as case study boxes, tables showing key facts and figures and links to data sources and further reading.

Policy Press

Key Challenges in Criminal Investigation

This comprehensive overview and critical analysis of the development and practice of criminal investigation examines decision-making within criminal investigations and links investigative influences on policing with the evidence-based agenda.

Policy Press