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.
We have a diverse and growing programme of textbooks and learning resources that are designed for Social Science courses at university and college level. We take pride in publishing quality content at affordable prices, and we cater to a wide range of learning styles in print and digital formats.
All of our textbooks are available on inspection and e-inspection (order here or use the link on the book pages). Lecturers are welcome to request print or digital inspection copies for potential recommendation on their reading lists and for student and library purchase. In return, we just ask for feedback on the books’ suitability for teaching purposes, in order to help us develop our publishing.
INSPECTION COPY REQUEST FORM
Take a look at our textbooks below or browse by subject.
Youth justice in practice
Making a difference
This book examines youth justice in a UK and international context, highlighting the challenge facing all jurisdictions in balancing welfare and justice. It explores the impact of political ideas and influences on the structural and practical challenges of delivering youth justice.
Why Social Work is Important
Identity, Role and Practice
This book demonstrates that all societies require a social work presence. It symbolises the importance of a community-near professional input to human flourishing and the development of social capital. It challenges economic and political trends that corrode deeply-held human and social values.
Imagining Society
The Case for Sociology
Re-examining C.Wright Mills’s legacy as a jumping off point, this original introduction to sociology illuminates global concepts, themes and practices that are fundamental to the discipline and rethinks and re-imagines what a critically committed, politically engaged and publicly relevant sociology should look like in the 21st century.
Social work and multi-agency working
Making a difference
The book is unique in drawing together contributors from a range of different disciplines to consider the issues and challenges involved for social work practice in multi agency working.
Religion, belief and social work
Making a difference
This book examines how religion and related beliefs have varied impacts on the needs and perceptions of practitioners, service users, and the support networks available to them.
Reconstructing the Global Political Economy
An Analytical Guide
This intersectional and future-orientated textbook examines the challenges facing the world economy as a result of climate change and rising inequality. It presents and explains key concepts and theories from Global Political Economy, showing how these can be used to design a reconstruction of the global political economy.
Direct Payments and Personal Budgets
Putting Personalisation into Practice
This third edition of the leading textbook on personalisation considers key policy changes since 2009 and new research into the extension and outcomes of personal budgets. It is essential reading for students, practitioners and policy makers in social work and community care services.
Social work in end-of-life and palliative care
Social work should help to strengthen individuals to achieve a respectful death and families to move forward in their lives. This valuable book focuses on practice interventions, advocating open communication and skilled interpersonal practice to help dying and bereaved people, their families and carers.
Residential Child Care in Practice
Making a Difference
This highly practical book, written by experienced practitioners and academics, is a core text about the practice of residential childcare, where workers and children share a common lifespace.
What Works in Reducing Inequalities in Child Health?
This revised and updated edition of an important report looks at macro public policy interventions, community interventions, and individual level interventions in a variety of areas to ascertain 'what works' in practice. It includes new case studies, updated research references, and reference to cost effectiveness.
Community Development
A Critical and Radical Approach
A fully updated edition of this bestselling textbook offers a radical approach to community development taking theories of Gramsci and Freire into the current context. The focus is on putting theory into action for those training, working or managing any social justice practice.