Policy Press: 559 books

A quarter of century has passed since Margaret Thatcher launched one of her most controversial reforms, privately- run prisons, and the role of the private sector in delivering public services continues to be one of the big political issues of our time. This book, by a critical professional insider,...

Has the modern Conservative Party developed a distinctive approach to the post-war welfare state? In exploring this question, this accessible book takes an authoritative look at Conservative Party policy and practice in the modern era. The book takes as its main starting point the progressive One...

As local communities and public services reel under the impact of global economic turmoil, it is vital to find more creative ways for the services to work together with those who depend on them and who also, as citizens, ultimately govern them. Community practice is the name for that growing part...

Originally introduced as a form of social welfare with near-universal eligibility, legal aid in the UK is now framed as a benefit external to the legal system and understood in primarily economic terms. This book is the first to evaluate the recent reforms of UK legal aid from a social policy perspective...

Issues of displacement and dispossession have become defining characteristics of a globalised 21st century. People are moving within and across national borders, whether displaced, relocated or moving in search of better livelihoods. This book brings theoretical understandings of migration and displacement...

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. The need to stop rape is pressing and, since it is the outcome of a wide range of practices and institutions in society, so too must the policies be to stop it This important book offers a comprehensive guide to the international policies developed to...

Care has been struggled for, resisted and celebrated. The failure to care in 'care services' has been seen as a human rights problem and evidence of malaise in contemporary society. But care has also been implicated in the oppression of disabled people and demoted in favour of choice in health and...

Early education and care has become a central policy area in many countries. As services expand rapidly, it is crucial to examine whether children from disadvantaged backgrounds receive provision of the highest possible quality. In this original, topical book, leading experts from eight countries...

The number of children entering the child protection system has risen dramatically in the last three years with implications for children's services and partner agencies. This timely volume takes a critical look at the impact of the Munro Review (2011) on child protection and the Government's response....

How have powerful Americans convinced their fellow citizens to support policies beneficial only to the wealthy? Why have so many given up on public education, safe food and safe streets, living wages – even on democracy itself? Kill it to Save it lays bare the hypocrisy of US political discourse...

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. In our society, a wealthy minority flourish, while around one-fifth experience chronic poverty and many people on middle incomes fear for their futures. Social policy has failed to find answers to these problems and there is now a demand for a new narrative...

Family Studies is a key area of policy, professional and personal debate. Perhaps precisely because of this, teaching texts have struggled with how to approach this area, which is both 'familiar' and also contentious and value laden. This innovative and reflective book deals with such dilemmas head-on,...

The challenges faced by those rationing scarce health care resources have intensified following the economic downturn. This book tackles this challenge by exploring the latest thinking and practice on priority setting methods. In an accessible style the book brings together theories, practice and...

The political economy of the Irish welfare state provides a fascinating interpretation of the evolution of social policy in modern Ireland, as the product of a triangulated relationship between church, state and capital. Using official estimates, Professor Powell demonstrates that the welfare state...