Books published by Bristol University Press

Some have argued that the rate and scale of human-induced global environmental change is so significant that it now constitutes a new geological epoch in the Earth's history called the Anthropocene (Zalasiewicz et al, 2011; Steffen et al, 2011). More than ever, there is a need to have appropriate and effective environmental policies that address the challenges of climate change, biodiversity, food, water and energy insecurity, environmental pollution, poverty alleviation and environmental equity. The short guide to environmental policy provides a concise introduction to post-war environmental policies, bringing together perspectives from a range of fields including economics, sociology, politics and social policy. It covers a broad range of issues, including causes and effects of contemporary environmental issues, policy approaches to addressing environmental problems, challenges to implementing environmental policies and future environmental challenges. This book is an essential introduction to all those interested in how policies can address environmental problems.

This original edited collection explores the value of public engagement in a wider social science context. Its main themes range from the dialogic character of social science to the pragmatic responses to the managerial policies underpinning the restructuring of Higher Education.

This is the first book in the UK or US to set on record the recent cultural phenomenon of the use of certain dog breeds - both legal and illegal - to 'convey status' upon their owners. Such dogs are easily visible on social housing estates throughout the UK and in projects in the USA and provide acquired authority, respect, power and control. However they are increasingly linked to urban street gangs as 'Weapon Dogs' and present a danger to the ordinary public especially those using parks and open spaces with increased injuries being presented at UK hospitals. Though initially slow to react, local and statutory authorities are now seeking to address the issue through action plans and interventions. Written in a fresh, engaging and accessible style, this unique book contextualizes the phenomenon in terms of sociology, criminology and public policy. It considers a complex mix of urban and social deprivation, social control of public space and the influence of contemporary media imagery and 'gangsta' culture. It will make essential reading for academics and policy makers in criminology and criminal justice and those working with animal rights/animal welfare groups.

This book provides the first detailed discussion of domestic violence and abuse in same sex relationships, offering a unique comparison between this and domestic violence and abuse experienced by heterosexual women and men. It examines how experiences of domestic violence and abuse may be shaped by gender, sexuality and age, including whether and how victims/survivors seek help, and asks, what's love got to do with it? A pioneering methodology, using both quantitative and qualitative research, provides a reliable and valid approach that challenges the heteronormative model in domestic violence research, policy and practice. The authors develops a new framework of analysis - practices of love - to explore empirical data. Outlining the implications of the research for practice and service development, the book will be of interest to policy makers and practitioners in the field of domestic violence, especially those who provide services for sexual minorities, as well as students and academics interested in issues of domestic and interpersonal violence.

At a time when transport is high on the political agenda and government decision-making is being vigorously scrutinised, there is a need for an incisive and accessible analysis of the key policy issues. This book is a highly readable introduction to the transport debate from two experts in the field. The authors celebrate the advantages of a modern transport system, but argue that years of poorly conceived and executed transport policy have resulted in Britain's transport system being far worse than it should be. They show that a substandard transport system creates economic, social and environmental costs, but demonstrate how these can be addressed through affordable and politically deliverable changes. Using a refreshingly novel approach, Shaw and Docherty use the familiar idea of the journey as the basis for their discussion. The book follows members of the Smith family as they uncover a wide array of transport issues, including why the problems we all encounter as we travel around actually come about; which policy trade-offs were responsible for creating them in the first place; what impacts we all have to suffer as a result; and what we can do to fix them. This lively and engaging approach will make the book ideal for a wide readership.

Poverty is not a neutral phenomenon, nor are social inclusion programmes neutrally conceived, designed and implemented.Their ultimate nature is built upon ideas, values, actors, politics and economic constraints.This topical book is one of the first to examine the social and political construction of anti-poverty programmes in Central Eastern Europe and their transformation from communist rule to the current economic crisis. It covers the approach towards the 'parasite' poor through to Guaranteed Minimum Income Schemes and illustrates how the distinction between different categories of 'deserving' and 'undeserving' poor has evolved over the years as the result of changing paradigms, combined with the pressure exerted by domestic and international actors, the European Union and the World Bank among others. This text breaks new ground for social policy students and scholars interested in understanding how differently post-communist welfare states have represented, legitimised and dealt with poverty, need and social justice in accordance with divergent normative frameworks constructed at national level.

In this book, leading experts examine how early education and care is organised and funded in eight different countries. Bringing together recent evidence, the book provides rich insights on how policies work in practice, and the extent to which they help or hinder the provision of high quality education and care.

Lavalette and Penketh reveal that racism towards Britain's ethnic minority groups has undergone a process of change and affirm the importance of social work to address issues of 'race' and racism in education and training, presenting a critical review of a demanding aspect of social work practice.

Lavalette and Penketh reveal that racism towards Britain's ethnic minority groups has undergone a process of change and affirm the importance of social work to address issues of 'race' and racism in education and training, presenting a critical review of a demanding aspect of social work practice.

Modern welfare states are confronted with a wide variety of social and economic developments, including individualization, secularization, globalization and changing preferences and ideologies of citizens. Using in-depth analysis gathered over 15 years, this book closely analyzes the consequences of these significant changes for social policies, offering theoretical and practical insights about their responsiveness. It includes a comparative analysis of recent developments in social assistance, sheltered work and labour market policies in the Netherlands, showing how policy makers are continually trying to incorporate societal transformations into social policies while being obstructed by the path-dependent development of welfare state institutions. The insights from the case studies are related to developments in other European countries in the areas of social assistance, sheltered work and labour market policies, and show how policy makers and politicians deal with multiple challenges, interests and perspectives on social policies. This book is essential reading for academics and students interested in the institutional development of social policies.

Highlighting what can be learned from individual experiences, the book analyses the changing welfare and labour market policies which shape the lives of working carers in Finland, Sweden, Australia, England, Japan and Taiwan.

This much needed book analyses public inquiries and serious case reviews to reveal the dynamics of hostility and aggression which contribute to the failure to protect children.

This book traces the changing fortunes of radical and critical social work, and examines the theory and application of such approaches.

SPSS Step by Step: Essentials for Social and Political Science is a concise text for beginners and intermediate statistical test users. Clearly written and with no mathematical formulae, it features a chapter on qualitative data analysis; multiple regression; survival analysis ('the time until events'); and a brief cogent introduction to factor analysis. A logically ordered guide to analysing everyday problems, SPSS Step by Step is distinctive in being both easy to grasp and readable. Tests throughout the book are accompanied by clear worked examples. These include Wilcoxon; Friedman; Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis; paired and unpaired T tests; ANOVA; binomial; McNemar; Chi-square; Pearson; Spearman; partial correlation; simple linear regression; multiple regression; factor analysis; Kaplan-Meier and life tables. Invaluable for undergraduate and postgraduate students and academics undertaking or teaching research, this unique book will also be of interest to professionals in social care, the criminal justice system, health and education.

In this important, timely and thought-provoking publication, a wide range of contributors explore how "troubles" feature in "normal" families, and how the "normal" features in "troubled" families.

Written by a leading practitioner and academic in the field of youth and community work this multidisciplinary book reflects on the theoretical, social and religious impacts on the lives of Muslim young people.

The public inquiry that followed the death of Maria Colwell had profound implications for the developing profession and practice of social work in the UK. This book describes the politics, professional concerns and public interest - both local and national - that surrounded the inquiry and its aftermath, and shows how the concerns of this landmark child abuse case have still failed to find a satisfactory resolution today. Social work, then and now, remains 'on trial'.

This original book makes a timely and potentially controversial contribution both to the teaching of social policy and the wider debates surrounding it in Britain today. It offers a critical and theoretically sensitive overview of the role of religious values, actors and institutions in the development of state and non-state social welfare provision in Britain, combining historical discussion of the relationship between religion and social policy in Britain with a comparative theoretical discussion that covers continental Europe and North America. Grounded in new empirical research on religious welfare organisations from the nine major faiths in the UK, the book brings together all of these perspectives to argue for an analytical shift in the definition of wellbeing through a new concept called 'ways of being'. This reflects the moral, ideational and cultural underpinnings of social welfare. Written in a readable style, the book will appeal to students and tutors of social policy, as well as policy-makers seeking to inform themselves about the key issues surrounding faith-based welfare in modern Britain.

This book renews the collective compact that created our public services in the 1940s using voices from service users and service providers. Sections explore long-term conditions, service redesign, information technology, leadership, co-production and quality.

This book renews the collective compact that created our public services in the 1940s using voices from service users and service providers. Sections explore long-term conditions, service redesign, information technology, leadership, co-production and quality.

This book analyses male violence against women and children, and the mechanisms society develops to push it out of sight.

Social policy is now central to political debate in Britain. This collection of essays by a distinguished panel of leading social policy academics asks what has been achieved by efforts to improve services and reduce poverty, and what is needed to deliver more effective and popular services to all and increase social justice.

Set in the context of New Labour's emphasis on 'modernisation', and reflecting the growing emphasis on policy making as a skill, this unique book combines both academic and practitioner perspectives to provide critical consideration of contemporary policy-making and highlight examples of good practice at all levels of government.

The appeal of voluntary action as a solution to growing welfare needs in advanced capitalist countries raises important questions about the social impacts and spatial equity of such provision. For the first time, these issues are addressed within a single book, exploring the complex relationship between voluntary action, society and space.

There have been major shifts in the framework of social policy and welfare across Europe. Adopting a multi-level, comparative and interdisciplinary approach, this book develops a critical analysis of policy change and welfare reform in Europe.

Lack of access to transportation among low-income groups is increasingly being recognised as a barrier to social inclusion. However, 'transport poverty', and its links with wider welfare objectives, is poorly understood. This book looks at the delivery of transport from a social policy perspective to assist in a better understanding of this issue.

Richard Titmuss was one of the 20th century's foremost social policy theorists. This accessible Reader is the first compendium of his work on public health, health promotion and health inequalities.

Family life in areas of concentrated poverty and social problems is undermined by surrounding conditions. This timely book, by acclaimed author Anne Power and her team, is based on a unique longitudinal study of over 200 families interviewed annually over the last decade. It examines the initiatives introduced to help such families and the impacts on them, their future prospects and the implications for policy. Accessibly written and with clear data presentation, the book will have wide appeal to people who work with, live in and care about families, children and low-income areas.

Encompassing an extensive range of print and online media, this reader brings together a selection of highly influential writings by Danny Dorling which look at inequality and social justice.