Books published by Bristol University Press

Making a committed argument for a participative, inclusive understanding of the term, Paul Spicker examines views about what poverty is and what should be done about it.

This book uses historical and contemporary materials to document the ways in which policy-makers, in different eras, have sought to use state powers and regulations to create better, more balanced, and sustainable communities and citizens.

This book widens our understanding of hate crime by demonstrating that many offenders are ordinary people who offend in the context of their everyday lives.

This important book explores the meaning of social justice and examines how it translates into the everyday concerns of public and social policy.

This major textbook provides students with a critical understanding of poverty and social exclusion in relation to wealth, rather than as separate from it.

"Applied ethics and social problems" presents introductions to the three most influential moral philosophies and relates these to some of the most urgent questions in contemporary public debates about the future of welfare services.

This book explores what social work is. Structured around the framework of the National Occupational Standards for social work, the book examines how social work can make a difference in the lives of individuals, families and communities, and argues that to really make a difference it is necessary to think outside the box.

This collection brings together opinion, commentary, research evidence, professional guidance, debate and critique in order to understand the phenomenon of anti-social behaviour.

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.

This attractive and accessible textbook analyses and examines the policies, services and practice skills needed for collaborative, effective and equitable work with children.

This book explores the sociological basis of contemporary society and shows how social workers experience tensions and contradictions in practice.

This original and stimulating book examines contemporary issues in social work, particularly exploring the politicisation of the profession from the 1970s onwards.

This book provides an understanding of what child welfare is, explores how it can be measured and sets out the implications for children's services in incorporating child well-being into their work.

This accessible textbook illustrates how good communication and positive and participative relationships can be developed with children across the range of universal and specialist children's services.

How people can be persuaded to take more control of their own lives continues to be a subject of policy and academic debate, and the contribution of active citizens to improving societal well-being is high across different policy agendas. But the promotion of community self-help raises a wide range of questions - for people working in neighbourhoods, for policy makers, for politicians, and for residents themselves - about how we promote engagement, what would motivate people to become active, and more fundamentally about the ongoing relevance and value of community activity. DIY Community Action offers thought-provoking answers to these questions, based on detailed real-life evidence from over 100 community groups, each trying to combat neighbourhood problems. It presents a lively challenge to the existing thinking on contested debates, and proposes ways forward for community building. This timely publication is an engaging resource for policy makers, practitioners, academics, students and general readers interested in exploring community engagement and active citizenship. Its insightful analysis will be of interest to students of social policy, sociology, community work, housing and regeneration, local government studies and public policy.

How did partnerships come to emerge almost everywhere and at almost the same time? What is the inner logic of partnerships? And at what point does that logic begin to break down? This book improves our understanding of the shifting ground on which partnerships and agreements must be reached in today's hyper-complex society.

This book provides busy practitioners with a ready reference for the day-to-day problems relating to sex and sexuality that they are likely to face in key areas of engagement, such as promoting sexual health, preventing sexual violence, working with those subjected to sexual abuse, and engaging with the complexities of contemporary sexualities.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the EU Social Inclusion Process and explores the challenges ahead at local, regional, national and EU levels.

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.

This book provides the first critically informed discussion of work and workers in the UK welfare sector under New Labour. It examines the changing nature of work and explores the context of industrial relations across the welfare industry.

This book argues that the traditional government approach of exhorting individuals to live healthier lifestyles is not enough - action to promote public health needs to take place not just through public agencies, but also by engaging community assets and resources in their broadest sense.

Systemic Action Research explains how systemic thinking works and how it can be embedded into organisational structures and processes to catalyse sustainable change and critical local interventions.

Involving citizens in policy decision-making has been a central goal of the Labour government since it came to power. But what happens when the public are drawn into debate with unfamiliar others in the unknown world of policy making at national level? This book sets out to understand the contribution that citizens can realistically make.

Placing health tackles the question of how health is affected by where people live, through an examination of England's Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy and its health targets. It evaluates the evidence base for the strategy, compares experiences from similar countries, and explores the relevance of complexity theory to area-based health improvement.

"London Voices, London Lives" addresses a question of great current importance for urban policy: what kind of a place is London in the 21st century, and how does it differ significantly from other parts of urban Britain? It addresses these questions in a unique way: over one hundred ordinary Londoners provide their answers in their own voices.

This collection adds weight to an emerging argument that policies to make cities better are inextricably linked to an attempt to pacify and regulate crime and disorder. It provides discussions from a range of scholars examining policy connections that can be traced between social, urban and crime policy and the wider processes of regeneration.

Alongside the current media preoccupation with high risk offenders, there has been a shift towards a greater focus on risk and public protection in UK criminal justice policy. This report draws together a distinguished panel to consider both the theory and application of the risk concept in work with young people and young adults that offend.

Welfare reform is a central part of the modernisation programme adopted by the Labour Government since 1997. This book examines the role of Parliament in the formulation and scrutiny of welfare policy, focusing in particular on how MPs and Peers view their influence on policy.

The book is a much-needed revised and updated edition of Elders and the law (PEPAR Publications, 1993). It describes the legal framework for working with older people following the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 and the modernising agenda in health and social care.

Current community care policies and increasing numbers of older people needing assistance mean that all social workers must be up-to-date in their knowledge, skills and attitudes towards people with dementia and their carers. This book, written by experienced social workers, provides guidance on best practice in a readable and jargon-free style.