Understanding Theories And Concepts In Social Policy

A central theme of this lively and accessible text is that theory helps us to understand policy, politics and practice. The book combines an in-depth exploration of selected theoretical perspectives and concepts with the student-friendly format of the Understanding Welfare series. The author uses diverse examples from contemporary social policy to help theoretical arguments come alive. It should provide a key text for 2nd and 3rd year undergraduates and postgraduates in social policy and related subjects, as well as their teachers.

The Third Edition of this widely adopted textbook has been thoroughly revised and offers an authoritative and up-to-date coverage of the key theories, concepts and issues in social policy. The lively and readable text has been designed to provide students with the essential tools to gain a clear understanding of the theoretical debates surrounding the discipline. The book is organized into three parts: • Part One offers a detailed but accessible critique of major theoretical approaches such as neo-liberalism, Marxism, feminism and racism; • Part Two explores conceptual debates such as distributive justice and postmodernism; • PArt Three engages with contemporary social policy issues such as children, pensions and the role of New Labour. It also features newly commissioned chapters to reflect recent developments and current debates within social policy. New areas of consideration include: • Citizenship • Post-structuralism • The politics of food • Globalization Student exercises and reading lists feature throughout the text and practical examples are skilfully used to illustrate conceptual and theoretical material, making it the ideal core textbook for undergraduate social policy students, as well as those studying related welfare modules across the social sciences.

Demonstrating the relevance of theory to political and policy debates and practice, this dynamic and fully updated second edition helps students to grasp the real-life implications of social policy theory. It includes a new chapter featuring debates around disability, sexuality and the environment.

Demonstrating the relevance of theory to political and policy debates and practice, this lively and accessible second edition helps students to grasp the real-life implications of social policy theory. The updated text includes consideration of contemporary shifts in welfare ideologies in the context of global austerity and the UK Coalition and Conservative governments since 2010. With a new chapter focusing on critical debates about disability, sexuality and the environment, this textbook also includes fresh reflections on migration, conditionality, resilience, social justice and human rights. Key features include: • real-life examples from UK and international politics and policy to explain and illuminate the significance of social policy theory; • key questions for student reflection and engagement; and • bulleted chapter summaries and annotated further readings at the end of every chapter. This new edition is a dynamic, engaging and valuable introduction to the key theoretical perspectives and concepts deployed in social policy.

The overall purpose of this text is to introduce beginning researchers to the study of educational and social policy, how it has been examined from a scholarly perspective, and the salient issues to consider in conceptualizing and conducting policy research. The emphasis is on "introduce," as the various policy fields within the public sector (for example, education, energy, health, labor) are much too diverse to include in depth in a single volume on theoretical concepts and research methods. The focus is not so much on the substance of policymaking as on understanding the interplay between how policy is made and implemented and the various conceptual approaches and methods researchers can use to frame and conduct policy studies. The underlying assumption is that a critique of the substantive, theoretical, and methodological issues involved in studying policy can help researchers conduct policy studies that are more informative in guiding policy development and more effective in assessing the impact of policy reforms. *Part I acquaints readers with substantive issues and challenges related to the study of the policy process, and includes chapters on federalism and policymaking, and on studying policy development, implementation, and impact. *Part II examines different conceptual frameworks and theories for the study of policy, with chapters on political culture and policymaking, the punctuated-equilibrium theory and the advocacy coalition framework, economic and organizational perspectives, and new approaches (e.g., feminism, critical theory, postmodernism). *Part III focuses research methods for studying policy, covering research design, qualitative methods, multilevel methods for policy research, and growth modeling methods for examining policy change. *Part IV compares the diversity of approaches used by policy scholars with respect to their strengths and weaknesses, and presents a number of issues for further consideration in conducting policy research. This introduction to theories and methods of conducting policy research is intended to give prospective researchers an appreciation of the relationship among policy problems, empirical methods, and practice, and to contribute to building their skills in conceptualizing and conducting policy research that answers important questions. The text includes examples of studies to illustrate the diversity of methodological techniques, and discusses issues related to the design and conduct of original educational policy studies. Studying Educational and Social Policy: Theoretical Concepts and Research Methods is designed primarily for graduate courses in educational policy and educational research and is appropriate as well for research methodology courses in other disciplines, including statistics and research methodology in the social sciences, organizational studies, public policy, and political science

Comparative Social Policy provides students with an introduction to cross-national social policy research, conveying the fascinating and challenging issues involved in conducting research of this kind. The book examines the theoretical, conceptual and methodological approaches, discusses prevailing concepts and reflects on methodological difficulties.