Almost twenty years ago, conceptual work began in the United Kingdom on what was to become the international Looking After Children initiative. Looking After Children has had a profound influence on child welfare in Canada and some fifteen other countries, including the UK, Australia, Sweden, and Hungary. It has sharpened the developmental focus and improved the quality of services for children and adolescents who, because of abuse, neglect, extreme poverty, or other circumstances, live in...

Social workers spend their time trying to ease social suffering. They encounter the extreme casualties of social inequality: the victims of poverty, illness, addiction, and abuse; they work with abusers and offenders; and operate in the space between the State and the poor or marginalized. Social work is replete with vivid human stories: the troubled teenage boy who cannot settle in a foster home; the frail older woman who is desperate for social contact; the community seeking a way to tac...

Welfare states vary across nations and change over time. And the balance between markets and government; free enterprise and social protection is perennially in question. But all developed societies have welfare states of one kind or another - they are a fundamental dimension of modern government. And even after decades of free-market criticism and reform, their core institutions have proven resilient and popular. This Very Short Introduction describes the modern welfare state, ex...

Today the United States has one of the highest poverty rates among the world's rich industrial democracies. The Failed Welfare Revolution shows us that things might have turned out differently. During the 1960s and 1970s, policymakers in three presidential administrations tried to replace the nation's existing welfare system with a revolutionary program to guarantee Americans basic economic security. Surprisingly from today's vantage point, guaranteed income plans received broad b...

The widespread condemnation of drastic price increases on life-saving drugs highlights our growing dependency on and vulnerability to international pharmaceutical conglomerates. However, aren’t the interests of the public supposed to supersede the pursuit of private profit?In his new work, Private Profits versus Public Policy, Joel Lexchin addresses this question as he examines how public policy with respect to the pharmaceutical industry has evolved in Canada over the pas...

The UK welfare state is under sustained ideological and political attack. It has also been undermined by accusations of paternalism and past failures to engage with the very people it is intended to help.This unique book is the first to critique the past, present and future welfare state from a participatory perspective. Peter Beresford, champion of user involvement, draws on pioneering theories and practice of welfare service user movements to offer a blueprint for a new participa...

Addressing the challenge of covering heath care expenses—while minimizing economic risks.Moral hazard—the tendency to change behavior when the cost of that behavior will be borne by others—is a particularly tricky question when considering health care. Kenneth J. Arrow's seminal 1963 paper on this topic (included in this volume) was one of the first to explore the implication of moral hazard for health care, and Amy Finkelstein—recognized as one of the world's fore...

Unique in its approach and in the variety of methods and data employed, this book is the first of its kind to provide an in-depth evaluation of the financial system of Thailand, a proto-typical Asian developing economy. Using a wealth of primary source qualitative and quantitative data, including survey data collected by the author, it evaluates the impact of specific financial institutions, markets for credit and insurance, and government policies on growth, inequality, and poverty at the...

What has been the impact on social cohesion of contemporary cities in Europe, of the rise of new social risks and of the recent economic crisis? Focussing on 20 European urban contexts, this book provides an empirical analysis of the socio-economic transformations driving the emergence of new social risks and of the capacity of welfare policies.

A Handbook for Inter-professional Practice in the Human Services: Learning to Work Together is an essential text for all students of inter-professional education, and for practitioners looking to understand and develop better inter-agency working.With an emphasis on working collaboratively with fellow professionals, service users and the community, and developing an holistic approach to working, this is an essential resource for anyone studying on courses...

This study maps out the major weaknesses of each fragile situation on the latest country performance assessment exercises. It identifies the overall common issues which require special attention when crafting strategies and implementing programs and projects. Rethinking the Asian Development Bank's engagement in these fragile countries is critically important. This must be backed by a comprehensive understanding of the governance, institutional, political, and social issues that are behind...

Quality Assurance for Social Care Agencies is specifically designed to enable you to set up a Quality Assurance system within a social services setting. Including practical checklists, it covers all aspects of Quality Assurance - from what is meant by Quality Assurance and how to implement it to how to monitor and maintain quality control. Examples and details of experiences are included to help you get it right first time.