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Social policy and social work books

Our academic staff produce a range of books for students, researchers, academics and those looking for introductions to the subject and its specialist areas. Listed below is just a small selection of the most recent books authored or edited by staff in the School for Business and Society. For a full list of publications, take a look at each member of staff's academic profile. 

The Routledge Handbook of Social Work Practice Research

This is the first international handbook to focus on practice research for social work and features leading scholars in the field from Europe, the USA and the Asia Pacific region. The Handbook includes 39 chapter with contributions from 94 scholars, practitioners and service users from across the world. It provides the state of the art; discusses methodologies and pedagogies used in research practice; features 11 practice research studies and looks forward to some possible futures in the field. 

Exploring the World of Social Policy: An International Approach

The book, co-written by Michael Hill, Emeritus Professor, Newcastle University, and Dr Zoë Irving, introduces readers to a wide spread of international challenges and issues, and shows how insights into policy can be generated using a comparative and multidisciplinary approach. The book demonstrates the rewards of studying social policy from an international perspective by avoiding the constraints of a single-nation focus. 

Handbook on Society and Social Policy

This comprehensive Handbook provides a unique examination of the key issues and challenges facing society and social policy in the twenty-first century. Featuring both wide-ranging coverage of major issues and detailed analysis of social policies in different countries, the Handbook explores key concepts, policy areas and institutions, considering welfare and social policy in the context of wider socio-economic and cultural divisions.‌



Social Work Science

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What is the role of science in social work? Ian Shaw considers social work inventions, evidence-based practice, the history of scientific claims in social work practice, technology, and social work research methodology to demonstrate the significant role that scientific language and practice play in the complex world of social work. By treating science as a social action marked by the interplay of choice, activity, and constraints, Shaw links scientific and social work knowledge through the core themes of the nature of evidence, critical learning and understanding, justice, and the skilled evaluation of the subject. He shows specifically how to connect science, research, and the practical and speaks to the novel topics this integration introduces into the discipline, including experience, expertise, faith, tacit knowledge, judgement, interests, scientific controversies, and understanding.

Social Work Research

SW Research - Ian Shaw‌

Social work research has gathered a greater transparency and clarity of identity in North American and parts of Europe. Furthermore, the rapid emergence of social work research in other European countries, China, India, Japan and elsewhere in Asia and Pacific Rim countries, and gradually in South America, has created a need for a collection that can contribute to both shaping and making accessible key and sometimes hard-to-access sources. This four-volume collection answers this need, bringing together key literature in a single resource and structuring it into thematic volumes to enable clear understanding of the different aspects involved in the research.

Social Policy in Times of Austerity - Global economic crisis and the new politics of welfare

      • Edited by Kevin Farnsworth and Zoe Irving
      • 2015, Policy Press
      • Full details

social policy in times of austerity, kevin Farnsworth, zoe irving, policy press, 2015, research books section

The 2008 global economic crisis was unprecedented in living memory and its impact on economic and social life immense. Large-scale social policy interventions played a crucial role in helping to mediate the crisis, and yet the welfare state continues to come under attack. A new age of austerity, based more on politics than economics, is threatening to undermine the very foundations of the welfare state. However, as this important book illustrates, there is still room for optimism - resistance to the logic of austerity exists within organisations and governments, and among peoples, demonstrating how essential social policies remain to human progress. The second of a three-book series covering the post-2008 global economic crisis and the period of austerity, this volume draws together edited chapters from leading scholars engaged in the debate and will be equally suitable for academics and other researchers studying international and comparative social policy, as well as upper level undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Vulnerability and young people - Care and social control in policy and practice

Vulnerability and young people - Book by Kate Brown

The notion of 'vulnerability' is now a prominent motif in social policy in the UK and beyond, with important implications for those deemed 'vulnerable'. Yet the effects of recalibrating welfare and criminal justice processes on the basis of vulnerability often escape attention. This distinctive book draws together lived experiences of vulnerability with academic and practical applications of the concept, exploring the repercussions of a 'vulnerability zeitgeist' in UK policy and practice. Through a focus on the voices and perspectives of 'vulnerable' young people and professionals who support them, it questions how far the rise of vulnerability serves the interests of disadvantaged citizens. Illuminating where support shades into more controlling practices, the book is important reading for scholars, students and policy-makers interested in exclusion, precariousness, deviance and youth.

Handbook on Medical Tourism and Patient Mobility

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Handbook on Medical Tourism and Patient Mobility

The growth of international travel for purposes of medical treatment has been accompanied by increased academic research and analysis. This Handbook explores the emergence of medical travel and patient mobility and the implications for patients and health systems. Bringing together leading scholars and analysts from across the globe, this unprecedented Handbook examines the regional and national experiences of medical tourism, including coverage of the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The chapters explore topics on issues of risk, law and ethics; and include treatment-focused discussions which highlight patient decision-making, patient experience and treatment outcomes for cosmetic, transplantation, dentil, fertility and bariatric treatment.

Governing Risk: Care and control in contemporary social work

Governing Risk book by Mark Hardy

Risk is ever-present, an enduring issue that policy makers and practitioners must grapple with on a day to day basis. Mark Hardy's book sets out an agenda for responding to risk grounded in the reality of contemporary politics, policy and practice. Drawing on the Foucauldian notion of governmentality, it is an original and distinctive contribution to debates concerning how society can and should engage with individuals who continue to cause consternation and concern to the wider community.

Culture and the Politics of Welfare

John Hudson - exploring societal values and social choices 9781137457486 Palgrave

Do different countries have different societal values? Can we measure such differences empirically? Do such differences impact on political debates, particularly when competing social policy choices are value laden? Do these differences result in different policy choices being made? Drawing on evidence from a wide range of international datasets, Culture and the Politics of Welfare offers an in-depth examination of such questions in order to uncover the role culture plays in shaping welfare states. It suggests new ways in which cross-national differences in culture might be measured and, using a range of approaches, utilizes these measures to explore the role culture plays in shaping differences in social policy frameworks across high income countries. The authors conclude that cultural differences between nations are an important factor in explaining variations in social policy frameworks, arguing that we should bring culture back into the mainstream of comparative welfare state debates.

Precarious Lives: Forced labour, exploitation and asylum

forced labour labor displaced migrants refugees, precarity, socio-legal status, modern slavery, asylum seekers, migration studies, Peter Dwyer

This ground breaking book presents the first evidence of forced labour among displaced migrants who seek refuge in the UK. Through a critical engagement with contemporary debates about precarity, unfreedom and socio-legal status, the book explores how asylum and forced labour are linked, and enmeshed in a broader picture of modern slavery produced through globalised working conditions. Drawing on original evidence generated in fieldwork with refugees and asylum seekers, this is important reading for students and academics in social policy, social geography, sociology, politics, refugee, labour and migration studies, and policy makers and practitioners working to support migrants and tackle forced labour.

The Short Guide to Environmental Policy

Book cover: The Short Guide to Environmental Policy

Some have argued that the rate and scale of human-induced global environmental change is so significant that it now constitutes a new geological epoch in the Earth’s history called the Anthropocene (Zalasiewicz et al, 2011; Steffen et al, 2011). More than ever, there is a need to have appropriate and effective environmental policies that address the challenges of climate change, biodiversity, food, water and energy insecurity, environmental pollution, poverty alleviation and environmental equity. The Short Guide to Environmental Policy provides a concise introduction to post-war environmental policies, bringing together perspectives from a range of fields including economics, sociology, politics and social policy. It covers a broad range of issues, including causes and effects of contemporary environmental issues, policy approaches to addressing environmental problems, challenges to implementing environmental policies and future environmental challenges. This book is an essential introduction to all those interested in how policies can address environmental problems. [Publisher]

Drugs in Africa: Histories and Ethnographies of Use, Trade and Control

Gernot Klantschnig war on drugs, international drug control, illegal drugs,alcohol, criminiality, family disintegration, mind-altering substances

      • Gernot Klantschnig, Neil Carrier and Charles Ambler
      • 2014 Palgrave Macmillan
      • Full details

Africa has very recently emerged as a focal point of the global "War on Drugs," as international drug control agencies warn of the continent's growing role as a distribution hub for cocaine and heroin, while also lamenting the prevalence of cannabis and alcohol commerce and use, especially among African youths. Both illegal drugs and legal substances such as alcohol are increasingly tied to broader economic and public health issues including unemployment, criminality, family disintegration, and HIV infection. Notwithstanding this growing alarm, there is relatively little serious scholarship addressing the issue of drugs in Africa. This cutting-edge volume is the first to address the burgeoning interest in drugs and Africa among scholars, policymakers, and the general public: no other book offers an Africa-wide analysis of the subject. It brings together an interdisciplinary group of leading academics and practitioners to explore the use, trade, production, and control of mind-altering substances on the continent, from heroin and cannabis to alcohol and khat. In particular, it examines the tension between integrative social practices and socially disruptive vices, revealing these categories to be largely arbitrary and tools of social control.

Social Policy Review 26: Analysis and debate in social policy 2014

Kevin Farnsworth Zoe Irving 2008 economic crisis welfare states economic an dpolitical challenges

Since the 2008 economic crisis, each year has brought new challenges to welfare states. This important annual volume with contributions from an exciting mix of internationally renowned experts within the social policy community examines the economic and political challenges that have confronted governments, and highlights the diverse ways in which nations have responded. Part One explores the most pressing questions confronting British social policy, from the school-leaving age, employment, in-work benefits to taxation. Part Two examines the political and professional dilemmas involved in the delivery and financing of social policy. Part Three identifies the challenges in integrating social policy with other areas of the welfare state, including social care, health policy and labour market policy. This comprehensive discussion of the most challenging issues arising during the past year provides academics and students with an invaluable up-to-date analysis of the current state of social policy.

Doing Qualitative Research in Social Work

Book cover: Doing Qualitative Research in Social Work

Bringing key developments and debates together in a single volume, this book provides an authoritative guide for students and practitioners embarking on qualitative research in social work and related fields. Frequently illustrated with contemporary and classic case examples from the authors' own empirical research and from international published work, and with self-directed learning tasks, the book provides insight into the difficulties and complexities of carrying out research, as well as sharing ‘success’ stories from the field. Shaw and Holland have long experience of writing for practitioners and students and in making complex concepts accessible and readable, making this an ideal text for those engaging in qualitative social work research at any level. [Publisher]

An Introduction to Social Policy

Book cover: An Introduction to Social Policy

An Introduction to Social Policy explores essential welfare topics, themes and issues for students studying social policy or related disciplines such as sociology, social work, or nursing and social care. Part One examines key concepts including welfare, social justice, diversity and health and wellbeing. Part Two explores policy issues in relation to key stages of the lifecourse. Part Three takes a comparative perspective, discussing the international issues and supranational bodies that impact on British and European social policy today. This book is essential reading for all students of social policy and the social sciences, as well as those taking joint honours programmes in social work, sociology, criminology, politics and social care. [Publisher]

Gender and Child Welfare in Society

Book cover: Gender and Child Welfare in Society

      • Brid Featherstone, Dr Carol-Ann Hooper, Jonathan Scourfield and Julie Taylor (eds)
      • 2012, Wiley-Blackwell
      • Full details from publisher (includes first chapter)

Gender and Child Welfare in Society offers an overview of sociological, psychological and developmental perspectives on family relationships, child welfare and the practice realities of professional interventions with families. It interrogates the current child welfare agenda from a gendered perspective, drawing on developments in thinking about gender relations. Chapters describe a range of service settings, including family support, child health, education, child protection, domestic violence, children who are ‘looked after’, and youth justice.

Practice and Research

Book cover: Practice and research

Practice and Research is an overview of Professor Ian Shaw's analysis of the complexity and challenges of the practice/research relationship in social work - a theme that has been the focus of much of his writing over his career. Introduced with a new essay that reflects on the 'serendipity, misfires and occasional patterns' in his work, the book is grouped into five sections: Perspectives on Social Work Research; Evaluation; Qualitative Social Work Research; Practice and Research; and, The Receiving End: Service Users and Research. This book has much to say about the relationship between social work practice and research and is a must-read for any social work student or practitioner.

The Housing Debate: Policy and Politics in the Twenty-First Century

Book cover: The Housing Debate

 

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The emergence of Britain as a fully-fledged home-owning society at the end of the last century has major implications for how people think about and use their housing not just as a home but as an asset. Housing has become a 'bank' which households use for various purposes, including: as a pension fund; to provide resources for care needs at all stages of life; to sponsor access to private education and other privately provided services; and, to draw on in emergencies. As a result the home has become a lynchpin of modern family life and the 21st century welfare state. The key debate in this important and timely book is whether social policy and people's homes should be so closely connected in this way, especially when housing markets are so volatile.

Caring for Abused and Neglected Children: Making the Right Decisions for Reunification or Long-Term Care

Book cover: Caring for Abused and Neglected Children: Making the Right Decisions for Reunification or Long-Term Care

The decision whether or not to reunify a child in care with their birth family is one of the most serious taken by children's services, and often involves considerable risk. This book examines the long-term consequences of this decision for children who entered public care for abuse or neglect. It compares the experiences and progress of children who remained in care or returned to their birth families up to four years after the decision was taken. It covers how the decision is made, the factors taken into account when making it and provides important suggestions for effective decision-making. It compares the progress made by the children in relation to their safety, stability and emotional wellbeing. The book demonstrates that, contrary to common belief, long-term care can be a positive option for maltreated children. This book provides important messages for reunification policy and practice in relation to maltreated children. It will be essential reading for social work practitioners, researchers and policy makers. [Publisher]

Evaluating in Practice

Book cover: Evaluation in Practice

Evaluation is not a self-contained phase of social work practice - one more dimension of the process - but a dimension of every phase. In this fully rewritten and updated second edition of his groundbreaking text Evaluating in Practice, Ian Shaw demonstrates how evaluation and inquiry are just as much practice tasks as planning, intervention and review. By demonstrating that good evaluating in practice helps sustain a commitment to evidence, understanding and justice, Shaw shows that for this to be achieved, evaluating in practice must permeate every aspect of social work.

Evidence-based Policy and Practice in Mental Health Social Work

Book cover: Evidence-based Policy and Practice in Mental Health Social Work

 

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Mental health social workers work within multidisciplinary teams, often based in health settings. The variety of services they work within are shaped by mental health policy that is increasingly being influenced by research evidence of 'what works'. This fully-revised second edition has a new chapter on systematic reviews and greater coverage of the impact of the 2007 amendment to Mental Health Act 1983 on mental health practitioners and services. [Publisher]

Social Work and ICT

Bock cover: Social Work and ICT

This book goes a step further than simply describing ICT skills, but asks why ICT is used and how this affects practice and the experience of people who use services. Written in a student-friendly style, Social Work and ICT is interspersed with activities and exercises to enable students to develop their skills and knowledge. Each chapter also includes a 'Taking it Further' section with useful websites, suggestions for further reading and ideas to improve practice. The book has been designed to enhance professional practice and it will be essential reading for all undergraduate programmes in social work.

Social Entrepreneurship: A Skills Approach

Book cover: Social Entrepreneurship

      • Dr Robert Gunn and Chris Durkin (Northampton) (eds)
      • 2010, Policy Press
      • Full details

The book offers in-depth theoretical study of stakeholder engagement, financial options, leadership management and organizational challenges is complemented by compelling case studies of real social enterprise success from across the UK, US, China and India. The book will be essential reading for students, academics, practitioners and entrepreneurs to expand their knowledge, skills and passion and sustainably pursue their social missions to bring about real social change. [Back cover text]

 Rice Biofortification: Lessons for Global Science and Development

Book cover: Rice Biofortification

Biofortification - the enrichment of staple food crops with essential micronutrients - has been heralded as a uniquely sustainable solution to the problem of micronutrient deficiency or 'hidden hunger'. This book provides an important critique of such goal-oriented, top-down approaches. It provides vital lessons for those researching and making decisions about science and research policy, showing that if this model becomes entrenched, it is likely to channel resources towards the search for 'silver bullet' solutions at the expense of more incremental approaches that respond to locality, diversity and the complex and uncertain interactions between people and their environments.

Understanding Social Citizenship

Book cover: Understanding Social Citizenship

This updated and revised edition of Understanding social citizenship is still the only citizenship textbook written from a social policy perspective. It provides students with an understanding of the concept of citizenship in relation to UK, EU and global welfare institutions; covers a range of welfare debates and issues; explores inclusion and exclusion; combines analysis and discussion of social policies and uses easy-to-digest text boxes. The revised second edition contains new topical sections on 'Cameron's Conservatism' and the EU and A8/10 migration in the UK. The book is essential reading for undergraduates in social policy, sociology, social work, politics and citizenship, A/AS level students and their teachers, and those on access courses, foundation degrees and teacher training courses.

Belonging and Permanence: Outcomes in long-term foster care and adoption

Book cover: Belonging and Permanence. Outcomes in Long-term Foster Care and Adoption

Belonging and Permanence reports on the findings of a study which compared three types of permanent placement – adoption by strangers, adoption by carers and long-term foster care. It considers how best to meet the needs of children who cannot safely be reunited with their parents and how to provide emotional and legal security, a sense of permanence and positive outcomes. It draws out key implications for policy and practice and will be a valuable resource for researchers, managers and practitioners. [Publisher]

Communication and Interpersonal Skills in Social Work

Book cover: Communication and Interpersonal Skills in Social Work

Good communication skills are at the heart of effective social work practice. This second edition enables students to develop a flexible and responsive approach to communicating with the most vulnerable people in society. Building on the success of the previous book, Koprowska looks in detail at all approaches to communication, paying particular attention to young people, adults and families. The emphasis of this book is not on any particular right way to communicate, but more the ability of the student to be pro-active and aware in different situations.

 Evidence and Knowledge for Practice

Book cover: Evidence and Knowledge for Practice

Evidence and knowledge are fundamental in professional practice. A key skill for social workers is understanding how to use the range of sources available. Being able to explain the evidence underpinning decisions and the knowledge base of professional interventions is not just good practice: it's essential in partnership working and in acting accountably. This innovative book recognizes and builds on the complex nature of social work practice. It challenges the view that there is one best form of knowledge which applies equally to all aspects of practice. Evidence and Knowledge for Practice is essential reading for social work students, qualified social workers and other readers with an interest in social work practice. [Publisher]

Working in Statutory Contexts

Book cover: Working in Statutory Contexts

Through extensive examples and case studies, Andrew Hill illustrates key skills in practice, such as responding to threats of violence and aggression, giving evidence in court, report writing, and coping with emotional issues. As well as promoting practical skills, the book underlines the importance of working as a reflective practitioner. It carefully outlines a framework for understanding the place of statutory work and how this may be consistent with empowerment and anti–oppressive practice, and with the straightforward desire to help others that brings people into social work in the first place. This book is relevant to all social work settings including mental health, community care, youth justice, and child protection. It will be essential reading for social work students and newly qualified social workers who are facing up to the realities of social work in statutory settings for the first time. 

The Global Social Policy Reader

Book cover: The Global Social Policy Reader

The Global Social Policy Reader collects together for the first time a comprehensive range of key papers by international leaders in the field from a wide range of sources that explain the concepts, actors and processes that constitute global social policy. The book will have broad appeal among undergraduate and postgraduate students in a range of social science subjects, including social and public policy, social care and health studies, sociology, politics, economics, international relations and development studies. The volume will also be of interest to policy activists and policy makers at national and international levels, and to those involved in the planning and delivery of social welfare services and programmes in national and international organisations.

The Short Guide to Social Policy

Book cover: The Short Guide to Social Policy

This short but systematic introductory text offers a clear and concise overview of the 'five pillars' of social policy: social security, employment, education, health, housing. Specifically designed for students who are new to the study of social policy, this short guide: outlines the basics of social policy; explains key policy goals and how welfare is delivered; uses case studies from around the world to illustrate key debates and explore policy dilemmas; highlights key terms and concepts throughout; and, provides readers with quick reference summaries and guides to further reading. Whether starting a degree in social policy or studying a single module in the subject at any level, this clear and accessible guide, written by experienced authors and teachers, is indispensable reading.