With welfare to work programmes under intense scrutiny, this book reviews a wide range of existing and future policies across Europe.Seventeen contributors provide case studies and legal, sociological and philosophical perspectives from around the continent, building a rich picture of welfare to work policies and their impact. They show how many schemes do not adequately address social rights and lived experiences, and consider alternatives based on theories of non-domination....

This groundbreaking book brings together perspectives from political philosophy and comparative social policy to discuss generational justice. Contributing new insights about the preconditions for designing sustainable, inclusive policies for all of society, the authors expose the possibilities of supporting egalitarian principles in an aging society through balanced generational welfare contracts.

Why is marriage worth £200,000 a year?Why will having children make you unhappy?Why does happiness from winning the lottery take two years to arrive?Why does time heal the pain of divorce or the death of a loved one – but not unemployment?Everybody wants to be happy. But how much happiness – precisely – will each life choice bring? Should I get married? Am I really going to feel happy about the career that I picked? How can we decide not only which choice is bet...

In The Worried Well, Gail Bell investigates Australia’s depression epidemic. Why, she wonders, do well over a million Australians now take antidepressant drugs?This is a fresh, frank and independent look at the depression culture and the move to medicalise sadness. Bell examines how the prescription culture operates, scrutinising the role of big drug companies and GPs and talking to those who take – and don’t take – the new antidepressants, from anxious st...

What damage is being done by failing welfare states? What lessons can be learned from the best welfare states? And—is it too late to stop welfare states from permanently diminishing the lives and liberties of people around the world? Traveling around the globe, James Bartholomew examines welfare models, searching for the best education, health care, and support services in 11 vastly different countries; illuminating the advantages and disadvantages of other nations' welfare states; and del...

Social Work and Human Rights has become a standard text highlighting the role of social work in protecting the rights of vulnerable populations. Through rigorous analysis, classroom exercises, and a frank discussion of the implications for practice both within and outside of the United States, the volume effectively acquaints readers with the political, economic, and social dimensions of rights issues and the documents that guarantee them. New material covers international events,...

For many people around the world, instances of what is described as organized crime may be part of their everyday experience; in their neighbourhoods, their streets, and the places they work and live. Policymakers, law enforcement, and the media rarely fail to bring up the issue when discussing the nature and seriousness of contemporary criminal threats, and the appropriate responses towards them. Many more people are familiar with the notion of organized crime, as the film and TV industry...

Europe is stumbling from crisis to crisis. The financial and debt crises are endangering the European currency union; referenda in several EU countries show widespread Euroscepticism; the economy is only slowly regaining momentum; unemployment remains high in many Member States; and the refugee crisis has deepened political divisions. We need an answer to the question of how to rescue the Euro and keep Europe together. In this volume, renowned German researchers and leading practitioners p...

For almost two decades, Community Practice has been a definitive text for social workers, community practitioners, and students eager to help individuals contribute to and use community resources or work to change oppressive community structures. In this third edition, a wealth of new charts and cases spotlight the linkages between theoretical orientations and practical skills, with an enhanced emphasis on the inherently political nature of social work and community practice. Boxe...

Improving the well-being of children is more effective when social care professionals work with the children's parents, families and communities. This collection brings together innovative interventions designed to nurture children's health and welfare, and analyses which types of programmes are most effective and why.The contributors explore the impact of poverty on children's development and assess national initiatives set up to assess and reduce need. They present examples from ...

How can unjust societies be overcome with a better distribution of opportunities to flourish? How can human development be revitalised in countries where social welfare is being questioned? In short, how can human development be fostered in practice? These are some of the important questions asked in this volume through analysis of existing policies and conceptualisations of coherent and systematic strategies for human development policies at the local, national and international level.

In the last decade the study of multiculturalism has become an established field in political and social theory. This in-depth and engaging volume focuses on public policy and the dilemmas faced by the governments of increasingly diverse societies. Offering a theoretically and empirically rich collection of essays from some of the leading specialists in the field, it fills the gap between the social and political theory of multiculturalism and institutionally based national case studies. T...