From housing, pensions and family benefits, to health care, unemployment insurance and social assistance, the welfare state is a key aspect of our lives. This book provides a concise political and sociological introduction to social policy, helping readers to grasp the nature of social programs and the political struggles surrounding them.

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 well-being. - 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. The concise chapters define the key terms and outline the central debates, giving students a fundamental foundation for their degree. Chapter overviews and summaries guide readers through the book, and questions for reflection conclude each chapter to test readers′ knowledge. 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. Peter Dwyer is Professor of Social Policy at the University of Salford. Sandra Shaw is Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of Salford.

Comprises 33 papers grouped under five themes: The Nature of social policy; The History of social policy; Social policy and the social services; The Political economy of social policy; and International and future perspectives on social policy.

Many social policies of the 1960s and 1970s, designed to overcome poverty and provide a decent minimum standard of living for all Americans, ran into trouble in the 1980s--with politicians, with social scientists, and with the American people. Nathan Glazer has been a leading analyst and critic of those measures. Here he looks back at what went wrong, arguing that our social policies, although targeted effectively on some problems, ignored others that are equally important and contributed to the weakening of the structures--family, ethnic and neighborhood ties, commitment to work--that form the foundations of a healthy society. What keeps society going, after all, is that most people feel they should work, however well they might do without working, and that they should take care of their families, however attractive it might appear on occasion to desert them. Glazer proposes new kinds of social policies that would strengthen social structures and traditional restraints. Thus, to reinforce the incentive to work, he would attach to low-income jobs the same kind of fringe benefits--health insurance, social security, vacations with pay--that now make higher-paying jobs attractive and that paradoxically are already available in some form to those on welfare. More generally, he would reorient social policy to fit more comfortably with deep and abiding tendencies in American political culture: toward volunteerism, privatization, and decentralization. After a long period of quiescence, social policy and welfare reform are once again becoming salient issues on the national political agenda. Nathan Glazer's deep knowledge and considered judgment, distilled in this book, will be a source of advice, ideas, and inspiration for citizens and policymakers alike.

A comprehensive overview of domestic and global social welfare policy Written by a team of renowned social policy experts sharing their unique perspectives on global and U.S. social welfare policy issues, Social Work and Social Policy helps social workers consider key issues that face policymakers, elected officials, and agency administrators in order to develop policies that are both fair and just. Designed as a foundational social welfare policy text, this important book meets the Council on Social Work Education's (CSWE) Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS). Encouraging readers' critical thinking on various issues, each chapter begins with an overarching question and "what if" scenarios, and ends with a set of suggested key terms, online resources, and discussion questions. Recognizing that policy work requires practitioners to be as fully versed as possible with the issue at hand, Social Work and Social Policy thoroughly explores: Social welfare policy as a form of social justice The evolution of the American welfare state Human security and the welfare of societies Social policy from a global perspective Challenges for social policies in Asia Welfare reform and the need for social empathy The U.S. Patriot Act and its implications for the social work profession Human rights and emerging social media Compelling and broad in scope, Social Work and Social Policy is an indispensable text for students and a valuable resource for practitioners concerned with creating social policy and governmental action guided by justice for all.

This bold new textbook represents a significant step forward in social policy teaching by combining comparative and global perspectives. Introducing readers to a wide spread of international challenges and issues, the book shows how insights into policy can be generated using a comparative and multidisciplinary approach. Global in its canvas and analytical in its method, the book: • explores the economic, social and political contexts of social policy; • examines in detail its institutions and fields of practice; • illustrates the field’s main ideas, themes and practices, drawing on a rich international literature and using pertinent and thought-provoking examples. Authored by two highly respected and experienced academics, this book demonstrates the rewards of studying social policy from an international perspective by avoiding the constraints of a single-nation focus. Clear, authoritative and wide-ranging, it will be essential reading for students of social sciences taking courses covering social policy, social welfare and comparative policy analysis.

An introduction to social policy for social work students.