Books published by Bristol University Press

An Introduction to Critical Criminology offers an accessible introduction to foundational and contemporary theories and perspectives in critical criminology which introduces students to theories and perspectives about the causes of crime, and the operation of the criminal justice system.

The public sector is going through a period of fundamental change. Service delivery, policy making and policy processes are being carried out by new actors and organisations with new interests, methods and discourses, related to the emergence of new forms of governance. This timely book from bestselling author Stephen Ball and Carolina Junemann uses network analysis and interviews with key actors to address these changes, with a particular focus on education and the increasingly important role of new philanthropy. Critically engaging with the burgeoning literature on new governance, they present a new method for researching governance - network ethnography- which allows identification of the increasing influence of finance capital and education businesses in policy and public service delivery. In a highly original and very topical analysis of the practical workings of the Third Way and the Big Society, the book will be useful to practicing social and education policy analysts and theorists and ideal supplementary reading for students and researchers of social and education policy.

Trust is fundamental to everyday interactions and the functioning of society. How trust develops, or fails to develop, within contexts of severe mental illness is a pertinent topic for social scientists and healthcare professionals, not simply because it is an under-researched area but because heightened uncertainty and amplified vulnerability amidst psychosis represent a crucible of the conditions where trust becomes relevant. Grounded in research within this crucible, this book explores a number of questions which are central to contemporary theoretical debates around the nature of trust. The authors link these abstract concerns to empirical analysis, involving interviews with service-users, practitioners and managers. This book will appeal to anyone interested in the concept of trust, including social science researchers and students, as well as practitioners, managers and policy makers working with vulnerable people.

By introducing readers to national perspectives of issues relating to rape, the book presents a comparative approach which highlights similarities and differences between countries, contexts, laws, key issues and policies and interventions.

Drawing on practices and theories of sustainability, Environmental policy and sustainable development in China explores the prospects for achieving environmentally benign economic and social development in China and beyond. Using the Chinese 'world city' of Hong Kong as a backdrop and case study, it introduces major conceptions of sustainability, describes historical and political contexts for environmental policymaking, and analyses key challenges related to sustainable development, including air pollution, water quality, waste, transport and climate change. The book will be a valuable and unique resource for students, teachers and readers interested in environmental policy, sustainable development and ecological governance, especially in China and Hong Kong. All of the author's royalties from sales of this book will be donated by Policy Press to Friends of the Earth (Hong Kong) and WWF (Hong Kong).

This book presents an academically rigorous yet practical guide to efforts to understand how knowledge, policy and power interact to promote or prevent change.It offers a power analysis perspective on the knowledge-policy process, illustrated with rich empirical examples from the field of international development, combined with practical guidance on the implications of such an approach. It provides ways to identify and address problems that have hampered previous attempts to improve the space between knowledge and policy; such as difficulties in analysing political context, persistent asymmetric relationships between actors, ignorance of the contributions of different types of knowledge, and misconceptions of the roles played by intermediary organisations. Most importantly, the book gives readers the ability to develop strategies for negotiating the complexity of the knowledge-policy interface more effectively, so as to contribute to policy dialogues, influence policy change, and implement policies and programmes more effectively.The authors focus on the dynamics of the knowledge-policy interface in international development; offering novel theoretical insights and methodological approaches that are applicable to a broader array of policy arenas and their audiences, including academics, practitioners and students.

Neighbourhood planning offers a critical analysis of community-based planning activity in England, framed within a broader view of collaborative rationality and its limits. From the recent experience of drawing up parish plans, and attempts to connect these to formal policy frameworks, it identifies lessons for future planning at the neighbourhood scale. It is not a manual on community planning practice, nor does it provide a formula for producing parish or neighbourhood plans. But in the context of the latest 'localism' agenda in England it, first, examines the potential contribution of neighbourhood planning to building a 'collaborative democracy' and, second, asks how much movement towards genuine local partnership, and consensus around development decisions, can be achieved through the rescaling of 'statutory' planning as opposed to expending greater effort locally on building stronger relationships, and generating trust, between 'people and planning'

This highly topical book presents recent, significant research from eight nations where childcare markets are the norm.

This highly topical book aims to undermine unsubstantiated myths by examining Muslim integration in Germany, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, states which dominate the debate on minority integration and the practice of Muslim religious traditions. These nations have a range of alternative relationships between religion and the state, as well as strategies for coordinating individuals' ethnic and state identities. Using the European Parliament's benchmarking guidelines, surveys and other non-official data, the authors find that in some areas Muslims are in fact more integrated than popularly assumed and suggest that, instead of failing to integrate, Muslims find their access to integration blocked in ways that reduce their life chances in the societies in which they are now permanent residents. The book will have an impact on research and policy especially with the commencement of the EU-wide integration benchmarking effort and will be an excellent resource for researchers, academics and policy makers.

This sociological collection advances the argument that the concept of a "turning point" expands our understanding of life experiences from a descriptive to a deeper and more abstract level of analysis.

Based on the authors' twenty-five year experience of consultancy in the public services, this book develops an empowering approach to thinking about and doing consultancy with public services. It challenges the traditional view that the consultants are brought in as experts and instead examines ways of using consultancy to empower staff, patients, service users and members of the public, so that they can take part in developing, changing, innovating and ultimately transforming these services. The book includes chapters explaining consultancy, on preparing bids, on negotiations and on the importance of assessment and review which are geared towards the needs of those working in public and third sectors, either as or with consultants. It includes a glossary, abbreviations, helpful contacts and websites which are valuable for quick reference and to aid further understanding.

This book looks at how community capacity building is delivered within neighbourhood regeneration programmes, focusing on the key issue of resourcing. This review is framed within the context of the government's emerging national strategy for neighbourhood renewal, and the New Commitment to Regeneration initiative.

This original and valuable book considers notions of risk and rehabilitation in detail.

Voluntary and community organisations have moved to the centre of political debates, as the new UK government reduces the scope of the state and locates solutions in civil society. This new book explores the extensive growth and reshaping of the voluntary sector following sweeping changes to social and welfare policy over 30 years. It draws on contemporary social and organisational theory and debates to consider whether surviving in the voluntary sector now depends on realigning activities and compromising independent goals and values.

This latest edition of Social Policy Review presents an up-to-date and diverse review of the best in social policy scholarship with a special focus on work, employment and insecurity.

Using international and cross-country comparative analysis, this book explores how governments influence international student welfare, and how students shape their own opportunities.

This book is the first specifically to explore methodological issues relating to the involvement of refugees in both service evaluation and development and research. It builds on a two-year seminar series funded by the ESRC where the participants jointly drew up a set of good practice guidelines that are re-produced in the book for the first time.

This book brings together theoretical, methodological and policy-relevant contributions by leading researchers on international child poverty.

Taking a comparative perspective, this book casts new light on the changing inequalities in Europe.

Malcolm Dean, The Guardian newspaper's longstanding chief monitor of social affairs, expertly indicts his own trade through a series of seven case studies on the influence of media on social policy. Drawing on four decades of top-level Whitehall briefings, topped up by interviews with 150 policy-makers, the book is packed with insights, and colourful stories from events in Whitehall's corridors, culminating in a damning list detailing the seven deadly sins of the 'reptiles' (modern journalists). A new final chapter reports on the News International hacking scandal, and the subsequent Leveson Inquiry, prompting criminal and civil lawsuits and leading to a radical press regulator plan. Written in an engaging way, it offers a unique insider's perspective and a detailed and valuable account of what goes on in news rooms, pressure groups, departmental policy divisions and Parliament.

'Adult Lives' is a diverse collection of readings from all stages of life which aim to understand how those living and working together in an ageing society relate to each other. It uses a holistic approach to understanding ageing in adulthood that is applicable to all, including those developing policy and in practice.

Obama and the Biracial Factor is the first book to explore the significance of mixed-race identity as a key factor in the election of President Obama and examines the sociological and political relationship between race, power, and public policy in the United States.

Understanding Family Meanings provides an overview of the basic concepts and theories related to families using readings with questions and analysis to encourage reflection and learning. It focuses on family meanings as the key underpinnings for academic study and professional training.

Leading scholars and practitioners from a range of backgrounds and regions use area-specific case studies to critically assess the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) project and its impact.

This book looks at what is needed to prevent the proliferation of harm and the gradual collapse of civil society. A wide range of expert contributors outline what might help to make better societies and which mechanisms, interventions and evidence are needed when we think about a better society.

A substantial, authoritative, third edition of this important textbook about the impact of economic priorities and pressures on social policies at a time when neo-liberal arguments for reducing the burden of welfare are more dominant than ever before.

This second edition of a highly successful textbook offers a comprehensive introduction to social policy in Ireland addressing a range of social policy topics of growing importance in contemporary Irish society including issues related to children, service users and groups, migration, ethnicity, sexuality and climate change.

Living on the margins offers a unique insight into the working lives of undocumented (or 'irregular') migrants living in London, and their employers. It offers an international context to the research and provides theoretical, policy and empirical analyses.

This book is a challenge to the concept of wellbeing as applied to children, suggesting that it should be understood at the level of the child, rather than a list of things that are needed in order to live well.

The book is unique in drawing together contributors from a range of different disciplines to consider the issues and challenges involved for social work practice in multi agency working.