Showing papers in "Journal of Social Policy in 2000"
TL;DR: A recent review of the literature shows that the empirical evidence does not support this view as mentioned in this paper and also demonstrates that the fundamental weakness of existing research is its failure to address the question of causality properly, relying mainly on uni-directional mechanistic "cause-and-effect" models.
Abstract: The belief that drug addiction is the motor behind much property crime has been a key part of recent UK drug policy. Review of the literature shows that the empirical evidence does not support this view. It also demonstrates that the fundamental weakness of existing research is its failure to address the question of causality properly, relying mainly on uni-directional mechanistic ‘cause-and-effect’ models. It is suggested that the drug–crime link needs to be conceived in the context of the interaction and inter-relation of a range of factors operating at different levels and as part of a set of complex processes. The implications for policy are that a reliance on improving access to treatment is likely to be of limited effectiveness in reducing drug-related crime and that an emphasis on tackling social exclusion may be more fruitful. Future research needs to explore further the notion of causality outlined in this paper. It must also examine emerging patterns of polydrug use and look at minority ethnic groups and women.
114 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the relationship between disability, generation and social policy was examined, and the moral and legislative framework for the post-war welfare settlement was grounded in a long-standing cultural construction of normal life course progression Disability and age (along with gender) were key components in this construction, defining broad categories of welfare dependency and labour force exemption.
Abstract: This article examines the relationship between disability, generation and
social policy The moral and legislative framework for the post-war welfare
settlement was grounded in a long-standing cultural construction of
‘normal’ life course progression Disability and age (along with gender)
were the key components in this construction, defining broad categories
of welfare dependency and labour force exemption However, social
changes and the emergence of new policy discourses have brought into
question the way in which we think about dependency and welfare at the
end of the twentieth century The article suggests that, as policy-makers
pursue their millennial settlement with mothers, children and older
people, they also may be forced to reconstruct the relationship between
disabled people and the welfare state
79 citations
Abstract: Government policies on disability - and criticism of them - rest in part on an understanding of the circumstances of disabled people informed by cross-sectional survey data, dividing the population into 'the disabled' and 'the non-disabled'. While conceptual debates about the nature of disability and associated measurement problems have received some attention, the dynamic aspect of disability has been largely overlooked. This paper uses two approaches to longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Survey to investigate the complexity behind the snapshot given by cross-sectional data. First, a detailed breakdown is given of the working-age population who are disabled at any one time by the 'disability trajectories' they follow over a seven-year period. Second, the expected duration of disability for those who become disabled during working life is examined. The results show that only a small proportion of working age people who experience disability are long-term disabled, despite the fact that at any one time, long-term disabled people make up a high proportion of all disabled people. Over half of those who become limited in activities of daily living as adults have spells lasting less than two years, but few who remain disabled after four years recover. Intermittent patterns of disability, particularly due to mental illness, are common. The assumption, contrary to evidence presented in this paper, that 'once disabled, always disabled' has lead to disability benefits being seen as a one-way street, an outcome which marginalises disabled people and is costly for the benefit system. In addition, eligibility criteria for disability benefits and employment support for disabled people often do not reflect the non-continuous nature of some disability. Policies which fail to distinguish between the different trajectories which disabled people follow are unlikely to be successful.
78 citations
TL;DR: This paper argued that gender does still matter, but its impact has to be understood within a context of growing inequalities between women, and an analysis that takes account of wider social and economic relations within kin networks and between generations.
Abstract: This article suggests that the literature on care, which originally was heavily influenced by a gendered perspective, has now taken on other important variables. However, it is argued that if we look at the particular impact of the marketisation and privatisation of long-term care, we can see that gender is still a useful perspective on the production of care, especially paid care. The reordering of the delivery of domiciliary care within the ‘mixed economy of welfare’ is having important effects on the labour market for care and is likely to lead to further inequalities between women, both now and in old age. The article proceeds to look at the impact of these inequalities on the consumption of care in old age, particularly by elderly women and considers factors that may provide women with the resources to purchase care and/or pay charges for care. The article argues that gender does still matter, but that its impact has to be understood within a context of growing inequalities between women, and an analysis that takes account of wider social and economic relations within kin networks and between generations.
78 citations
TL;DR: This article explored how different discursive sites have sought to define and/or deny the actuality and harm of child sexual abuse in the first half of the twentieth century in England and Wales.
Abstract: This paper explores how different discursive sites have sought to define and/or deny the actuality and harm of child sexual abuse in the first half of the twentieth century in England and Wales. Primary data from journal and archival sources suggest that there were a range of competing accounts of sexual abuse (usually referred to as sexual assaults or even just as ‘outrages’). It is argued that there was not a monolithic silencing of this abuse but a contest over the meaning of childhood, over the sexual innocence of girls, and even over the significance of discovering venereal diseases in babies and in children's homes. The paper suggests that there has been an overemphasis on the silencing potential of psychoanalytic discourses during this period, and insufficient attention paid to the role of the legal establishment and the practices of the criminal justice system in the persistent, but multifaceted, inability to define adult/child sexual contact as abusive or harmful.
69 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the extent to which expectations about living standards and the structure of deprivation have changed over time using confirmatory factor analysis and tests of criterion validity using different definitions of deprivation, and found that the combined income and deprivation measure, as originally constituted, continues to identify a set of households experiencing generalised deprivation resulting from a lack of resources.
Abstract: In 1997 the Irish government adopted the National Anti-Poverty Strategy (NAPS), a global target for the reduction of poverty which illuminates a range of issues relating to official poverty targets. The Irish target is framed in terms of a relative poverty measure incorporating both relative income and direct measures of deprivation based on data on the extent of poverty from 1994. Since 1994 Ireland has experienced an unprecedented period of economic growth that makes it particularly important to assess whether the target has been achieved, but in doing so we cannot avoid asking some underlying questions about how poverty should be measured and monitored over time. After briefly outlining the nature of the NAPS measure, this article examines trends in poverty in Ireland between 1987 and 1997. Results show that the relative income and deprivation components of the NAPS measure reveal differential trends with increasing relative income poverty, but decreasing deprivation. However, this differential could be due to the fact that the direct measures of deprivation upon which NAPS is based have not been updated to take account of changes in real living standards and increasing expectations. To test whether this is so, we examine the extent to which expectations about living standards and the structure of deprivation have changed over time using confirmatory factor analysis and tests of criterion validity using different definitions of deprivation. Results show that the combined income and deprivation measure, as originally constituted, continues to identify a set of households experiencing generalised deprivation resulting from a lack of resources.
51 citations
TL;DR: This article analyses the formulation and implementation of a relatively new statutory programme of care services for dependent elderly people in Israel and argues that through the transfer of services supplied by non-state agencies the state protects itself from demands and pressures from clients, while maintaining its control and regulation capabilities.
Abstract: This article analyses the formulation and implementation of a relatively new statutory programme of care services for dependent elderly people in Israel, which has as a basic characteristic the supply of services by non-state agencies. The analysis serves as a basis for an exploration of the effects of privatisation and the emergence of quasi-markets upon the functioning of the welfare state both as a benefits provider and as a major employer. In contrast to the perspectives that consider privatisation as leading to the weakening of the state in the welfare domain, we argue that through the transfer of services supplied by non-state agencies the state protects itself from demands and pressures from clients, while maintaining its control and regulation capabilities. This process decreases the state's accountability towards its citizens, enhancing in turn its autonomy. Privatisation policies do not imply, therefore, the dissolution of the welfare state, but rather the emergence of a new mode of state intervention.
50 citations
TL;DR: Using national quantitative and discursive surveys, it is shown that dentists' notions of their own interests centre on independent small-business entrepreneurship and their professional culture defines patient interest in terms of access to clinically autonomous practice based on a restorative paradigm.
Abstract: This article applies Le Grand's distinction between knightly and knavish motivations to the behaviour of dentists in choosing whether to treat patients on the NHS or privately. Using national quantitative and discursive surveys, it shows that dentists' notions of their own interests centre on independent small-business entrepreneurship and their professional culture defines patient interest in terms of access to clinically autonomous practice based on a restorative paradigm. Government attempts to promote preventive dentistry in the context of the weakening in dentists' bargaining position as general dental health improves and the determination of the profession to protect high remuneration have led to conflict. Both knavish and knightly motives (understood from the perspective of dentists' professional culture) lead dentists to exit from the NHS. Any analysis of ‘robust’ policies, designed to accommodate both motivations, must take into account social factors such as professional cultures which influence how practitioners understand their own interests and those of their clients.
45 citations
TL;DR: In recent years, a growing body of evidence from experimental economics and from cognitive psychology identifies a "richer" characterisation of individual behaviour as discussed by the authors, and a "broader" agenda is required when evaluating social policies.
Abstract: Social policy appraisal depends on assumptions that are made about individual motivation and individual behaviour. In recent years greater weight has been given to behavioural characteristics which are typical of homo-economicus. At the same time, a growing body of evidence from experimental economics and from cognitive psychology identifies a ‘richer’ characterisation of individual behaviour. Allowance must be made for ‘individual failure’ and for preference endogeneity when designing and implementing social policy. A ‘broader’ agenda is required when evaluating social policies. When designing social policy greater emphasis must be placed on the ‘demonstration effect’.
44 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined why the government eventually retreated from cuts and a wholesale reform of Housing Benefit and opted instead for a more modest and long-term approach, drawing on recent literature on welfare state retrenchment.
Abstract: Following the 1997 general election in Britain, the New Labour government made clear its intention to cut back and radically reform the social security system, including Housing Benefit, an income-related housing allowance for low-income tenants. The cost of Housing Benefit had doubled in real terms over the previous decade and was taking up a growing share of social security expenditure. The scheme also suffered from major deficiencies. Drawing on recent literature on welfare state retrenchment, this article examines why the government eventually retreated from cuts and a wholesale reform of Housing Benefit and opted instead for a more modest and long-term approach.
42 citations
Abstract: Drawing on case studies from two local authorities, this article identifies two distinct economic cultures in social care contracting. An arms-length contracting culture was emerging in interaction with risk-averse commercial suppliers, while a ‘partnership’ contracting culture was developing in association with non-profit providers who actively sought risk and responsibility. The article explores the discursive construction of the distinct implicit contracts associated with the two economic cultures, showing that ‘flexibility’ had become a key trope in contracting debate, carrying complex meanings of both responsiveness and control. The article thus unpacks the notion of ‘soft’ contracting in social care, and argues that social care contracting should be understood as a process of mutual shaping of both a divided care industry and an internally divided local authority economic culture. The article then draws out a series of implications of the research for policy and regulation in care contracting.
TL;DR: In contrast to most other welfare states, the development of the Israeli welfare state has occurred in the shadow of an ongoing military conflict and as discussed by the authors examines one of the consequences of this development by focusing on the impact of benefits for disabled war veterans upon the country's social security system.
Abstract: In contrast to most other welfare states, the development of the Israeli welfare state has occurred in the shadow of an ongoing military conflict. This study examines one of the consequences of this development by focusing on the impact of benefits for disabled war veterans upon the country's social security system. Not only are the benefits for Israeli disabled veterans more generous and expensive than those in other welfare states but they have also had a significant impact upon the nature of other social security programmes. In particular, we identify the differential impact of the policy legacies of this programme on benefits and services for other ‘deserving’ groups in Israeli society and on programmes for those disabled from natural causes.
TL;DR: The first universal public insurance system in Sweden was proposed in 1913 as mentioned in this paper, which included the entire workforce and was the most modern of its kind, and was designed to deal with simple cases of injury as well as with more serious cases of illness or injury that could lead to disability.
Abstract: Two important dimensions of the Swedish social insurance system are those of universality (encompassing the entire population) and of compensation for loss of income. The decisions basic to the Swedish social insurance system and thus to the Swedish Welfare State were made during the 1910s. A universal pension insurance system was decided upon in 1913. This was the world's first universal public insurance system. Pensions were provided both in cases of disability and of a person reaching the age of 67. Important factors explaining this decision were that Sweden had the oldest population in the Western world and thus high expenditures for poor relief, and that as the reporting and taxation of individual incomes had just been introduced it became possible to finance a universal pension system by means of compulsory contributions by the individual (a special earmarked tax). The establishment of a pension insurance system provided the basis for a system of insurance for work-related injuries, in 1916. It included the entire workforce and was the most modern of its kind. The presence of a pension insurance system and insurance for work-related injuries pointed to the need for a sickness insurance system. This was designed to deal with simple cases of injury as well as with more serious cases of illness or injury that could lead to disability. A proposal was presented in 1919. A serious deflationary crisis after the First World War and high levels of unemployment during the period between the two world wars made it impossible to introduce a sickness insurance system. (Less)
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of the 1986 Social Security Act, especially the different implications according to gender and position in the labour market, are assessed, and the extent to which personal pensions were taken up by the intended target group or by those unlikely to benefit is assessed.
Abstract: Pension reform in Western societies has sought to shift the balance of provision towards the private sector. In Britain, the 1986 Social Security Act marked a watershed in privatisation by promoting personal pensions while cutting the value of the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme. The article assesses the effects of the Act, especially the different implications according to gender and position in the labour market. Data from the 1993/4 and 1994/5 General Household Surveys is used to examine the changing pension arrangements of employees. We distinguish between personal pension membership among those who rejected the opportunity to belong to an occupational pension and those for whom this option was not available. The extent to which personal pensions were taken up by the intended target group or by those unlikely to benefit is assessed. Rejecting membership of an occupational pension scheme was associated with labour market disadvantage but those who opted for a personal pension were more advantaged than those who remained in SERPS. Among those lacking access to an occupational pension scheme, take-up was higher among younger and more advantaged employees. However, a substantial proportion of personal pension contributors were low paid, especially among women employed part time, illustrating the extent of mis-selling of personal pensions to those who are likely to have been better off in SERPS.
TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that an unintended consequence of naming needs for many women has been to contribute to the marginalisation of needs of lone mothers and indirectly to encourage policies which seek control and normalisation of this group.
Abstract: Lone mother families are seen as a major policy problem facing governments throughout the OECD. Responses to this problem in New Zealand, as in many other countries, are couched in terms of imposing work and training programmes to encourage exit from dependency on government financial support. This article uses ideas of ‘needs talk’ and discourse coalitions to explore the language of policy framing. Two periods in the development of the women's movement in New Zealand during which opportunities within political institutions have been available to women are examined. It is argued that an unintended consequence of naming needs for many women has been to contribute to the marginalisation of needs of lone mothers and indirectly to encourage policies which seek control and normalisation of this group.
TL;DR: In this paper, a brief discussion of recent developments of economic restructuring of the State Owned Enterprises in China and their related reforms in social insurance and social assistance is presented. But despite the fact that most people feel better off with the reforms, there is still a need for the state to play a role in social protection.
Abstract: The paper starts with a brief discussion of recent developments of economic restructuring of the State Owned Enterprises in China and their related reforms in social insurance and social assistance. It then reports the findings of an attitude survey of residents in Shanghai in 1996 towards the social and economic consequences of economic reform. It reveals that, despite the fact that most people feel better off with the reforms, there is still a need for the state to play a role in social protection.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors critically examine recent changes in homeless policies and services, with particular reference to the needs of older people who sleep rough, and present normative proposals of the appropriate service mix.
Abstract: Rough sleeping in Britain has a long history, and interventions have alternated between legal sanctions and humanitarian concern. This paper critically examines recent changes in homeless policies and services, with particular reference to the needs of older people who sleep rough. The characteristics and problems of the group are first described. Single homeless people were formerly accommodated in direct-access hostels but, from the 1970s, individualised rehabilitation and resettlement have spread. Most recently, services dedicated to older people have begun (although remain few and are unevenly provided). Their achievements are reviewed and drawn upon in formulating normative proposals of the appropriate service mix. The 1990s ‘Rough Sleepers Initiative’ and related programmes promoted a ‘social care market’ of not-for-profit organisations that compete for increased (but short-term) funds to provide services, and the new Labour government will build upon these changes and increase funds. Low tolerance towards the ‘social exclusion’ of homelessness is promised but unerringly constructed as exclusion from work; while rough sleeping is dubbed as anti-social, coercive approaches to achieve a two-thirds reduction are foreseen. The proposed target might stall the development of diverse and effective services, or reduce providers' capacity to combat the perversities of resource allocation. The overall prospects for the improvement and expansion of services to provide significant help to single older homeless people are uncertain.
TL;DR: It is concluded that a more fundamental analysis of daily practice in nurseries is necessary to underpin any policy changes and that there are very different kinds of practices with children which go on in nursery education, childcare and welfare settings.
Abstract: Historically there have been three strands of policy concerning provision for young children. Nursery education has traditionally been provided for three and four-year-olds as a free, part-time, school based service provided by qualified teachers, and is regulated by education legislation. Childcare for working parents is a full-time care service for children 0–5 to cover working hours, provided by nursery nurses or unqualified care staff in a variety of private settings including domestic settings; finding and paying for this service has until now been the responsibility of parents. Childcare is subject to the 1989 Children Act and the regulation is carried out by social services departments. Welfare care for vulnerable children or children in need is provided for young children aged 0–5 referred by social workers to local authority social services or voluntary run day nurseries or family centres, and also regulated under the terms of the Children Act. All these policy strands are now under review by the government. There are a number of local authorities, voluntary organisations and private firms who have attempted to provide nurseries which combine all three strands of nursery education, childcare and welfare for vulnerable children. This article draws on case study research carried out in 1995–97 on five such innovative integrated nurseries. The findings suggest that there are very different kinds of practices with children which go on in nursery education, childcare and welfare settings, and that these practices tend to persist even when the functions of the institution are broadened. The article concludes that a more fundamental analysis of daily practice in nurseries is necessary to underpin any policy changes.
TL;DR: This article argued that Australia's policies of multiculturalism have played an important role in contributing to the state of relative peacefulness of Australian society, and that the reason for this is the contribution of these policies to engendering and reinforcing those very virtues which liberal democracies require in order to sustain themselves over time.
Abstract: Australia's post-war programme of mass immigration has been accompanied by growing ethnic and racial diversity. This process of diversification accelerated markedly from the 1970s onwards after the abandonment of the White Australia Policy in the 1960s. Despite this diversification, Australia has been able to sustain itself as a peaceful liberal democracy. It is the contention of this article that Australia's policies of multiculturalism have played an important role in contributing to this state of relative peacefulness. This article seeks to assemble some evidence from the Australian experience to ‘test’ the notion that the peacefulness of Australian society may, in some measure, be understood as a product of the contribution of its policies of multiculturalism to engendering and reinforcing those very virtues which liberal democracies require in order to sustain themselves over time.
TL;DR: In the field of the care of older people, as part of the strategy for restructuring the Japanese welfare system, the emphasis is now more on market activities, which is in accord with the assumptions underlying the residual welfare model of social policy as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In Japan the ideology of familism has reproduced patriarchal family values. It successfully retained family centred welfare provision and gender inequality in informal care work, and ensured formal care services were residual. However, the advancement of modernisation has weakened the effectiveness of the informal care sector, and the demand for care has increased steadily along with the ageing of the population. Moreover, informal care based on the self-sacrifice of family carers tends to be less popular. This tendency is especially evident in the opinions of the younger generation and females. Furthermore, structural shifts in their working circumstances, particularly of females, makes the continuation of the patriarchal approach to informal care more difficult. In the field of the care of older people, as part of the strategy for restructuring the Japanese welfare system, the emphasis is now more on market activities, which is in accord with the assumptions underlying ‘the residual welfare model of social policy’ (Titmuss, 1974).
TL;DR: In this article, three models of access to social rights mirror these accounts: the institutionalised rights model, based on the post-war welfare state, stresses education and information, the market efficiency model, stressing the need for consumer information, stems from contemporary neo-liberal, consumerist approaches to welfare provision and the radical model challenges the assumption of a level playing field for all citizens.
Abstract: In current debates about citizenship, three approaches to social rights can be detected. Three models of access to social rights mirror these accounts. The institutionalised rights model, based on the post-war welfare state, stresses education and information. The market efficiency model, stressing the need for consumer information, stems from contemporary neo-liberal, consumerist approaches to welfare provision. The radical model challenges the assumption of a level playing field for all citizens. As the state's role in housing has been transformed and governments have stressed the market efficiency model, housing advice services have expanded in both state and voluntary sectors. The objectives and work of these services is examined and shown as providing a close fit with the institutionalised rights model in the local authority sector, while in the voluntary sector the radical rights model dominates. In addition, the campaigning work of voluntary organisations is shown to promote a radical view of citizenship rights.
TL;DR: The recent apparent convergence in policy thinking on pensions between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party highlights the importance of core ideological principles of freedom and personal responsibility as discussed by the authors, and the Conservatives persistently over time implemented policies in line with these beliefs.
Abstract: Pensions are a controversial issue in Britain. During the past fifty years, pension reforms have been challenged by the competing policies of the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. There were differences in the nature, scope and extent of pension policies between them: the Conservatives encouraged private pension provision while the Labour Party promoted state provision. Based on core principles of freedom and personal responsibility, the Conservatives persistently over time implemented policies in line with these beliefs. This article explores this transformation of the post-war pension regime. An attempt is made here to sketch out a new explanation of this transformation in drawing on recent theories of the role of ideas and ideology in the policy process. The recent apparent convergence in policy thinking on pensions between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party highlights the importance of core ideological principles.
TL;DR: In this paper, five evaluations of the same community regeneration project in Newcastle upon Tyne are compared and it is argued that the separate evaluations are weak in method, atheoretical, ahistorical and lacking in a sense of social structure.
Abstract: Five evaluations of the same community regeneration project in Newcastle upon Tyne are compared. It is argued that the separate evaluations are weak in method, atheoretical, ahistorical and lacking in a sense of social structure. To progress, community evaluations must typologise communities rather than treat community as a nebulous quality of relationships. A typology is offered. Further, it is suggested the community regeneration in this case was an extension of urban governance which artificially constructed what is called an ‘inverse’ community.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the possibility that higher deprivation levels among Catholics may have been partly due to the fact that they possess, to a greater degree than Protestants, the attributes that were correlated with deprivation, and they concluded that Catholics were penalised more harshly than Protestants for possessing these attributes.
Abstract: This article addresses two issues. First, using data drawn from the Sample of Anonymised Records of the 1991 Northern Ireland Census, for over 13,000 individuals, it constructs a deprivation index and then, using this index, compares the deprivation levels of Catholics and Protestants. Second, it relates the level of deprivation of the individuals in the sample to their personal characteristics and circumstances. In particular, it examines the possibility that while higher deprivation levels among Catholics may have been partly due to the fact that they
possessed, to a greater degree than Protestants, the attributes that were correlated with deprivation, it may also have been the result of Catholics being penalised more harshly than Protestants for possessing these attributes.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors draw out some policy lessons from a study of self-help activity amongst 200 households in deprived urban neighbourhoods of Southampton, and propose both bottom-up and top-down solutions to tackle the barriers to participation in self-hel among unemployed households.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is draw out some policy lessons from a study of self-help activity amongst 200 households in deprived urban neighbourhoods of Southampton. Commencing with a critique of the popular prejudice that promoting self-help should be opposed in case it leads to a demise of formal welfare provision, the paper then interrogates the empirical evidence to understand and explain the nature and extent of such work in deprived neighbourhoods. Finding that self-help is a crucial component of household coping practices, but that no-earner households are unable to benefit from this work to the same extent as employed households, the paper proposes both bottom-up and top-down solutions to tackle the barriers to participation in self-help amongst unemployed households. In particular, it calls for a modification to Working Families Tax Credit and the creation of Community Enterprise so as to recognise and value much of the self-help activity that currently takes place but remains unrecognised and unvalued.
TL;DR: The Third Way: new politics for the new century, pamphlet no. 588, Fabian Society, London, 1998, 20 pp., £3.50, £12.00, £7.50.
Abstract: Tony Blair The Third Way: new politics for the new century , pamphlet no. 588, Fabian Society, London, 1998, 20 pp., £3.50. Stephen Driver and Luke Martell, New Labour: politics after Thatcherism , Polity Press, Cambridge, 1998, xii + 210 pp. £45.00, £12.99 (pbk). Anthony Giddens, The Third Way: the renewal of social democracy , Polity Press, Cambridge, 1998, x + 166 pp., £25.00, £7.99 (pbk). Colin Hay, The Political Economy of New Labour: labouring under false pretences? , Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1999, xiii + 242 pp. £45.00, £14.99. Martin Powell (ed.), New Labour, New Welfare State? The ‘third way’ in British social policy , The Policy Press, University of Bristol, 1999, ix + 351 pp., £45.00, £18.99. Having just returned from a month in the USA, teaching summer school to graduate students on social and family policy in education, I eagerly read and/or reread these publications to get a renewed sense of politics and policy in Britain today. Whilst I was in the USA I became steeped in discussions of ‘post’ perspectives – post-colonial, post-modern, post-structuralist, post-feminist – on ‘discourses of welfare’ or the welfare state which now may include education and even communitarianism. I found myself longing for a more pragmatic as well as programmatic, or what might be called ‘critical realist’, perspective. So I was not disappointed by having to engage with these four books and the pamphlet, although initially they seemed a long way from my current research interests on ‘family and education’ from a feminist perspective. I have had a very enjoyable, exciting and even exhilarating time reading them. Together they present a most appealing package of accounts of New Labour as we are about to enter the new millennium. One gets the feeling of tremendous political activity and policy action over the last few years with plans and proposals galore for the future. To paraphrase the words of Celine Dionne for the heroine of Titanic ‘It will go on...’
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss social security and income maintenance in the voluntary sector, and the treatment of the offender in the criminal justice system and the labour market in the UK.
Abstract: Contents1 Social security and income maintenance2 Health (formerly Health care)3 Education4 Housing and environment5 Personal social services6 Law and the treatment of the offender7 Unemployment and the labour market8 Race relations9 The voluntary sector10 Government (formerly Local government)11 Gender12 Demography
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss social security and income maintenance in the voluntary sector, and the treatment of the offender in the criminal justice system and the labour market in the UK.
Abstract: Contents1 Social security and income maintenance2 Health (formerly Health care)3 Education4 Housing and environment5 Personal social services6 Law and the treatment of the offender7 Unemployment and the labour market8 Race relations9 The voluntary sector10 Government (formerly Local government)11 Gender12 Demography