Understanding Welfare: Social Issues, Policy and Practice
“This exciting series is essential reading for students across a range of subjects and courses who need to gain a comprehensive understanding of welfare issues.”
Pete Alcock, University of Birmingham and Chair, Social Policy Subject Benchmarking Group
Published in association with the Social Policy Association and Social Policy Subject Benchmark compliant, this series, including many new editions, helps students understand the causes of and responses to social issues.
Each textbook provides chapter-specific summaries, questions for discussion, illustrative boxes and diagrams to help understanding and full bibliographies.
Editorial Advisory Board
Elke Heins, University of Edinburgh, UK
Ruby Chau, University of Nottingham, UK
Lee Gregory, University of Birmingham, UK
Catherine Needham, University of Birmingham, UK
Sam Yu, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
Kathy Boxall, Edith Cowan University, Australia
Gideon Calder, Swansea University, UK
Nathalie Morel, Sciences Po, France
“This is a series containing critically important in-depth analyses of a range of contemporary issues of special relevance to students of Social Policy, but also across the whole of the social sciences and to anybody with concerns for human welfare and social justice.”
Hartley Dean, London School of Economics and Political Science
“The series provides an invaluable resource for students, offering a wide range of engaging and accessible material on key social policy issues and ideas.”
Ruth Lister, Loughborough University and House of Lords
“Understanding Welfare provides a rich tapestry of theoretical principles and empirical case studies of global interest. An essential resource for teachers, students and practitioners to engage with pervasive forms of structural inequalities brought to such sharp relief by the iconic images of Black Lives Matter protests and the pandemic across the world.”
Sangeeta Chattoo, University of York
“A fantastic resource for understanding welfare at many levels – the principles and the practicalities; the big picture and the details; the local, national and international; the key issues and debates; the past, present and the future. The longevity of the series is important in providing context, but the books are also revised and refreshed, keeping the contents up to date. A wonderful resource for students. It is also great for authors, working with the Policy Press team is a delight, always clear-sighted and supportive. Highly recommended.”
Jane Millar, Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath
Understanding Global Social Policy
The third edition of this leading textbook offers a contemporary, lively and accessible overview of international actors and social policy formation, identifying key issues, debates and priorities for action in social policy across the Global South and North.
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.
Understanding 'Race' and Ethnicity
Theory, History, Policy, Practice
This new edition of a widely-respected textbook examines welfare policy and racism, alongside institutional racism and community cohesion within a broad policy framework.
Understanding Crime and Social Policy
Understanding crime and social policy encourages readers to reflect upon the close connections, and sometimes tensions, between crime reduction and social policy agendas.
Understanding inequality, poverty and wealth
Policies and prospects
This major textbook provides students with a critical understanding of poverty and social exclusion in relation to wealth, rather than as separate from it.
Understanding Social Security
Issues for Policy and Practice
The political and economic landscape of UK social security provision has changed significantly since the 2008 financial crisis. This fully revised, restructured and updated 3rd edition of a go-to text book covers all the key policy changes and their implications since the elections of 2010 and 2015.
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.
Understanding Research for Social Policy and Social Work (Second Edition)
Themes, Methods and Approaches
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.
Understanding equal opportunities and diversity
The social differentiations and intersections of inequality
This book challenges the official discourse that shapes the debates on Equal Opportunities and Diversity (EO&D) at national, regional and European level and will be a key text for students and researchers of EO&D in many fields.
Understanding Disability Policy
Understanding disability policy explores the roles of social security, social support, poverty, socio-economic status, community safety, official discourses and spatial change in shaping disabled people's opportunities.
Understanding the environment and social policy
Using an international and multi-disciplinary approach, this book provides a timely overview of the current issues in environmentalism and social policy. It explores many current debates, including: cities, housing and transport; citizenship and care; employment and green jobs; environmental governance and legislation; and globalisation.