Summary
Contents
Subject index
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.
Difference and Diversity
Difference and Diversity
Overview
- From the 1970s, a new, more critical and sociologically informed strand of UK social policy emerged in reaction to the discipline established in the decades following the Second World War.
- The idea of social construction is an invaluable tool for social scientists.
- Social constructions of class, gender, race, disability, age and sexuality have informed the development of social policy and welfare practices.
- ‘Race’ remains an important issue for students of social policy.
- Constructions of ‘race’ have shaped the development of immigration policy and impacted on the experience of minority ethnic groups as providers and consumers of welfare.
- Social constructions are always unstable and contested and subject to challenge and transformation.
Introduction
This chapter starts from the premise that social policy is not necessarily or inevitably ...
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