Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309264146
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 421
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Book Description
The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries. In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings. U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage.
Author: Robert F. Drake
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1137121890
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 188
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Book Description
The Principles of Social Policy provides a powerful exposition of policy making in the contemporary nation state. Social policies are shaped by prevailing political beliefs and values and they are made tangible in the form of overarching policy objectives. These may include, for example, the promotion of equality, the securing of justice or the preservation of liberty. In this text the key principles that underpin social policy in Western democracies are identified and scrutinised in clear, jargon-free language. The aims of this ground breaking text are clearly reflected in its structure. Opening chapters explore the multi-dimensional nature of the values and principles that stand behind political thought. Following this, a discussion of concepts such as equality, justice and freedom reveals the importance of values and principles in shaping the contours of social policy. In conclusion the centrality of the influence of key principles is examined as theoretical ideas introduced earlier in the book are related to the development of policy and practice in real society. This raises questions about the future of social policy and the serious implications for welfare in a fast changing world. This will be essential reading for students of social policy, applied social studies, politics and other courses concerned with the role of government and the provision of public services.
Author: J. Stewart
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230240755
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248
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Book Description
More and more policy issues involve issues that are explicitly values-based, yet public policy analysis tends to skirt around the question of values. Public Policy Values overcomes this reluctance by showing how public policies enable values-choices to be made, often without seeming to do so.
Author: Jean Hardy
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000854086
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 113
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Book Description
First published in 1981, Values in Social Policy provides a means towards understanding the conflicts, contradictions and uncertainties involved in working in a welfare state. In the nine chapters, Jean Hardy explores the conflicting values posed within nine contradictions: authority versus liberation, for example, or the personal versus the political, equality versus freedom, bureaucracy versus professionalism. The author demonstrates how values can be contrasted with their supposed opposites; she traces the roots of the different values and, in so doing, sets out a clear and original account of the issues involved when choices have to be made and decision taken. This book will be of interest to students of sociology, social policy, and economics.
Author: Muers, Stephen
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN: 1447356152
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 186
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Book Description
Why do so many government policies fail to achieve their objectives? Why are our political leaders not held to account for policy failures? Drawing on his years of experience as a senior government policy maker, as well as on global research, Stephen Muers uses examples ranging from the collapse of the Soviet Union to Cold War Germany, the election of Donald Trump and the Brexit referendum to expose the crucial impact culture and values have on policy success and political accountability. This illuminating study sets out why policy makers need to take culture seriously, how culture and values shape the political system and presents essential, practical recommendations for what governments should do differently.
Author: Ira C. Colby
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118176995
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 230
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Book Description
A comprehensive overview of domestic and global social welfare policy Written by a team of renowned social policy experts sharing their unique perspectives on global and U.S. social welfare policy issues, Social Work and Social Policy helps social workers consider key issues that face policymakers, elected officials, and agency administrators in order to develop policies that are both fair and just. Designed as a foundational social welfare policy text, this important book meets the Council on Social Work Education's (CSWE) Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS). Encouraging readers' critical thinking on various issues, each chapter begins with an overarching question and "what if" scenarios, and ends with a set of suggested key terms, online resources, and discussion questions. Recognizing that policy work requires practitioners to be as fully versed as possible with the issue at hand, Social Work and Social Policy thoroughly explores: Social welfare policy as a form of social justice The evolution of the American welfare state Human security and the welfare of societies Social policy from a global perspective Challenges for social policies in Asia Welfare reform and the need for social empathy The U.S. Patriot Act and its implications for the social work profession Human rights and emerging social media Compelling and broad in scope, Social Work and Social Policy is an indispensable text for students and a valuable resource for practitioners concerned with creating social policy and governmental action guided by justice for all.
Author: Wim van Oorschot
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1848440235
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 337
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Book Description
. . . the book focuses on a very interesting and important. . . dimension of welfare analysis. . . the book provides a very rich and interesting range of analyses of the complex links between culture and welfare state. It deserves to be read both by advanced undergraduates and academics working in this area, and perhaps should also be read by policy-makers and politicians as a useful corrective to an overly economistic approach to welfare in the straitened years ahead. Rob Sykes, Social Policy and Administration The essays in this collection advance cultural analysis of the welfare state by describing the experiences of a large array of developed nations. . . Highly recommended. D. Stoesz, Choice Culture and Welfare State provides comparative studies on the interplay between cultural factors and welfare policies. Starting with an analysis of the historical and cultural foundations of Western European welfare states, reflected in the competing ideologies of liberalism, conservatism and socialism, the book goes on to compare the Western European welfare model to those in North America, Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. Comprehensive and engaging, this volume examines not only the relationships between cultural change and welfare restructuring, taking empirical evidence from policy reforms in contemporary Europe, but also the popular legitimacy of welfare, focusing particularly on the underlying values, beliefs and attitudes of people in European countries. This book will be of great interest to sociologists and political scientists, as well as social policy experts interested in a cultural perspective on the welfare state.
Author: Gal, John
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN: 1847429734
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 224
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Book Description
Social Workers Affecting Social Policy is the first book to undertake a cross-national study of social worker engagement in social-policy formulation processes. At its core, it asks how social workers influence social policy in various national settings. It offers insights into social worker involvement in policy change, the social work discourse, and education in different countries. It will be of interest to social work practitioners, students, educators, and researchers, as well as to social-policy scholars.
Author: Barry Bozeman
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
ISBN: 9781589014015
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 228
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Book Description
Economic individualism and market-based values dominate today's policymaking and public management circles—often at the expense of the common good. In his new book, Barry Bozeman demonstrates the continuing need for public interest theory in government. Public Values and Public Interest offers a direct theoretical challenge to the "utility of economic individualism," the prevailing political theory in the western world. The book's arguments are steeped in a practical and practicable theory that advances public interest as a viable and important measure in any analysis of policy or public administration. According to Bozeman, public interest theory offers a dynamic and flexible approach that easily adapts to changing situations and balances today's market-driven attitudes with the concepts of common good advocated by Aristotle, Saint Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, and John Dewey. In constructing the case for adopting a new governmental paradigm based on what he terms "managing publicness," Bozeman demonstrates why economic indices alone fail to adequately value social choice in many cases. He explores the implications of privatization of a wide array of governmental services—among them Social Security, defense, prisons, and water supplies. Bozeman constructs analyses from both perspectives in an extended study of genetically modified crops to compare the policy outcomes using different core values and questions the public value of engaging in the practice solely for the sake of cheaper food. Thoughtful, challenging, and timely, Public Values and Public Interest shows how the quest for fairness can once again play a full part in public policy debates and public administration.
Author: Jonathan Dickens
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317702395
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 259
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Book Description
An understanding of social policy is vital for engaging practically with social work values, and dealing with political and ethical questions about responsibility, rights and our understanding of ‘the good society’. This textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to social policy, tailored to the needs of a social work audience. The new edition of this popular and accessible text analyses current policies and policy themes relevant to social work, and locates them in the context of fundamental social policy principles and debates. It discusses the nature of social policy and its relationship to social work, and covers essential themes such as: - service user participation and involvement - the balance between individual, societal and state responsibility for people’s wellbeing - the interactions of the state, the private sector, voluntary organisations and the family - the relationships between needs, rights and choices - the purposes and challenges of professional social work - the meanings of ‘equality’, ‘prevention’ and ‘personalisation’. Each chapter ends with activities for reflection and analysis, and suggestions for further reading. Social Work and Social Policy is invaluable for students undertaking social work qualifying courses, all of whom are required to demonstrate an understanding of the social policy contexts of practice.
