Broadening Perspectives in Social Policy

“The Times They Are Changing? Crisis and the Welfare State” presents a series of readings from international policy researchers that examine the effects of the recent financial crisis on welfare states around the world. • Provides comprehensive and in-depth coverage of changes in welfare states as a result of the financial crisis • Reveals how the financial crisis is changing our perception of the welfare states • Features contributions from policy researchers and academics from around the world

“Crime and Social Policy” provides an invaluable examination of the relationship between social policy and crime. It draws on recent empirical research to offer important insights into the impact of current social policy trends on the lives of offenders. • Provides an invaluable examination of the critical relationship between social policy and crime management • Includes illuminating case studies on the impact of social policies on offenders • Reviews current social policy trends and their influence on crime causation, crime rates, and crime management • Discusses the role for social policy in promoting more effective reintegration of offenders into the community • Draws on recent empirical research ranging from youth crime, anti-social behaviour, 'problematic families', and social security fraud • The collection offers important insights into the impact of current social policy trends on the lives of offenders

“Reforming Long-term Care in Europe” offers the most up-to-date analysis of the features and developments of long-term care in Europe. Each chapter focuses on a key question in the policy debate in each country and offers a description and analysis of each system. • Offers the very latest analysis of long-term care reform agendas in Europe • Compares countries comparatively less studied with the experiences of reform in Germany, the UK, Netherlands and Sweden • Each chapter focuses on a key question in the policy debate in each country and portrays a description and analysis of each system • Contributions from a wide range of European scholars for an exceptionally broad perspective

Bringing together researchers from the fields of social policy, economics, sociology and clinical psychology, this book offers new evidence on the inter-related problems faced by disability claimants, and identifies important lessons for policy. • Explores how reducing the level of UK benefit claiming among those with health limitations has been a priority for successive governments • Argues that current policy fails to reflect the evidence that people on long-term disability benefits face a complex combination of barriers to work and social inclusion • Demonstrates that there is a need for continuing inter-disciplinary research on the nature of the 'disability benefits problem' and the efficacy of current policy solutions and public services

By examining the role of evidence in social policymaking and the extent of its influence, Evidence and Evaluation in Social Policy delves deeply into one of the central questions of the field for the last 20 years. • Chronicles the trend towards evidence-based policy over the last decade • Assesses the ways in which scarce resources can best be used for the best care, particularly in times of austerity • Describes methodological innovation, the ways in which researchers and politicians are working together effectively, and suggestions for future improvement • Covers topics such as the role of randomized controlled trials in shaping public policy, the pitfalls of evidence-based policy as a prescriptive ideal, the challenges of measuring public support for policy interventions, and the benefits of engaging local government decision-makers with evaluation research

“Contracting-out Welfare Services” focuses on the design and overhaul of welfare-to-work systems around the world in the light of the radical re-design of the welfare system; internationally based authors utilise a national/program case study, considering employment services policy and activation practices. • International contributors bring a global comparative perspective to the subject • Contributors are all experts in their field, who also draw on a much longer intellectual legacy • Uses employment services as a case study to advance understanding in relation to a host of broader principles and concepts • Each paper included within the text uses a national/program case study, and each considers employment services policy in general, and activation practices in particular