Over the past three decades, professions across the European Union have faced significant and radical challenges. This book analyses three professional groups involved in the academic and health sectors and how they are affected by different national Welfare State models such as Mediterranean, Scandinavian and Anglo Saxon.

Burton offers a thorough and thoughtful review of research and arguments concerning poverty in the United States. He cites and summarizes the views of influential conservative thinkers and he provides solid evidence to defeat their arguments. While conservative writers have traditionally presented the poor as lazy and unfortunate offshoots of a generally prosperous nation, Burton convincingly demonstrates that poverty in America is widespread and that it is not caused by a lack of ambition. The text begins with an overview of the true extent of poverty in America, including an examination of how poverty is defined and measured. Burton then analyzes the cultural characteristics of the poor, the homeless, and the underclass. He then turns his attention to welfare, workfare, and the generation of jobs. A final set of chapters probes more deeply into the political dimension of poverty and the role of government in alleviating it. Throughout the study, Burton refers to numerous influential works by conservative authors, and he deftly addresses their shortcomings. An extensive bibliography adds to the usefulness of the text. The result is a clear and comprehensive treatment of poverty in America.

Governmental social institutions are responsible for major policy decisions that deeply affect our everyday lives. This edited collection analyzes the effects of the main macro-social systems--law and politics, economic development, education, social welfare, health, mental health, transportation, housing, and religion--on the lives of African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans. The contributors, who are experts with the particular fields they address, reveal that macro-social systems are characterized by widespread, severe discrimination in the form of laws, attitudes, and behaviors towards ethnic minorities. Their analyses, which include both historical and contemporary perspectives, are accompanied by suggestions for policy measures aimed at improving the lives of ethnic minorities.

The increasing importance attached to the economic and social cohesion of the European Union since the 1980s, and the role of competition policy in achieving this objective, has special significance for the control of regional aids, given the general ban on State aid. Regional aids are considered to have the potential to contribute to economic and social cohesion and to undermine its attainment. The notion of competition policy as an instrument of economic and social cohesion has become a standard part of Commission rhetoric in defence of its actions. This book is concerned with the influence of EU competition policy on the regional policies of the Member States. It focuses on how the European Commission has interpreted the derogations from the State aid ban to enable the conduct of regional aid policies. The book takes both a historical perspective, tracing the evolution of policy, and a thematic one, examining in particular the relationship between EU competition and cohesion policies and the treatment of aid to very large projects. The author clearly demonstrates that, in reality, the competition policy control of regional aids is of much longer standing than the community's explicit regional aid policy and, in many respects, of arguably greater influence. She shows how competition policy has for almost thirty years shaped the design, scope and implementation of national regional aid policies; in no EU country has regional policy been unaffected by Commission intervention in the name of competition policy. Moreover, the policy principles developed for the EU now apply extraterritorially to members of the European Economic Area and to the current applicant countries. The study'soverall perspective is policy-oriented. It considers both the impact of Commission intervention in the past and the implications of policy for the future, especially in the context of enlargement and a wider Europe. It will be an invaluable resource for all policymakers and practitioners active in the fields of economic development, regional policy and State aid law at European, national and subnational levels.

This book seeks to understand the politics of deservingness for future Social Security reforms through an interpretive policy analysis of the 2005 Social Security privatization debates. What does it mean for politics and policymaking that Social Security recipients are widely viewed as deserving of the benefits they receive? In the 2005 privatization debates, Congress framed Social Security in exclusively positive terms, often in opposition to welfare, and imagined their own beloved family members as recipients. Advocates for private accounts sought to navigate the politics of deservingness by dividing the "we" of social insurance to a "me" of private investment and a "them" of individual rate of return in order to justify the introduction of private accounts into Social Security. Fiscal stress on the program will likely bring Social Security to the policy agenda soon. Understanding the politics of deservingness will be central to navigating those debates.

There is a profound crisis in the United States' foster care system, Jill Duerr Berrick writes in this expertly researched, passionately written book. No state has passed the federally mandated Child and Family Service Review; two-thirds of the state systems have faced class-action lawsuits demanding change; and most tellingly, well over half of all children who enter foster care never go home. The field of child welfare has lost its way and is neglecting its fundamental responsibility to the most vulnerable children and families in America.
The family stories Berrick weaves throughout the chapters provide a vivid backdrop for her statistics. Amanda, raised in foster care, began having children of her own while still a teen and lost them to the system when she became addicted to drugs. Tracy, brought up by her schizophrenic single mother, gave birth to the first of eight children at age fourteen and saw them all shuffled through foster care as she dealt drugs and went to prison. Both they and the other individuals that Berrick features spent years without adequate support from social workers or the government before finally achieving a healthier life; many people never do. But despite the clear crisis in child welfare, most calls for reform have focused on unproven prevention methods, not on improving the situation for those already caught in the system. Berrick argues that real child welfare reform will only occur when the centerpiece of child welfare - reunification, permanency, and foster care - is reaffirmed.
Take Me Home reminds us that children need long-term caregivers who can help them develop and thrive. When troubled parents can't change enough to permit reunification, alternative permanency options must be pursued. And no reform will matter for the hundreds of thousands of children entering foster care each year in America unless their experience of out-of-home care is considerably better than the one many now experience. Take Me Home offers prescriptions for policy change and strategies for parents, social workers, and judges struggling with permanency decisions. Readers will come away reinvigorated in their thinking about how to get children to the homes they need.

BEST OF THE 2022 RUSA Book & Media AWARDS One of Biblioracle's 8 favorite nonfiction books of 2021 in the Chicago Tribune The New York Post's BEST BOOKS OF 2021 USA Today's 5 BOOKS NOT TO MISS Alexander nimbly and grippingly translates the byzantine world of American health care into a real-life narrative with people you come to care about. --New York Times Takes readers into the world of the American medical industry in a way no book has done before. --Fortune By following the struggle for survival of one small-town hospital, and the patients who walk, or are carried, through its doors, The Hospital takes readers into the world of the American medical industry in a way no book has done before. Americans are dying sooner, and living in poorer health. Alexander argues that no plan will solve America's health crisis until the deeper causes of that crisis are addressed. Bryan, Ohio's hospital, is losing money, making it vulnerable to big health systems seeking domination and Phil Ennen, CEO, has been fighting to preserve its independence. Meanwhile, Bryan, a town of 8,500 people in Ohio's northwest corner, is still trying to recover from the Great Recession. As local leaders struggle to address the town's problems, and the hospital fights for its life amid a rapidly consolidating medical and hospital industry, a 39-year-old diabetic literally fights for his limbs, and a 55-year-old contractor lies dying in the emergency room. With these and other stories, Alexander strips away the wonkiness of policy to reveal Americans' struggle for health against a powerful system that's stacked against them, but yet so fragile it blows apart when the pandemic hits. Culminating with COVID-19, this book offers a blueprint for how we created the crisis we're in.

Focusing mainly on case studies from Australia and the United States of America, this book considers how people with dementia represent themselves and are represented in 'theatre of the real' productions and care home interventions, assessing the extent to which the 'right kind' of dementia story is being affirmed or challenged. It argues that this type of story - one of tragedy, loss of personhood, biomedical deficit, and socio-economic 'crisis - produces dementia and the people living with it, as much as biology does. It proposes two novel ideas. One is that the 'gaze' of theatre and performance offers a reframing of some of the behaviours and actions of people with dementia, through which deficit views can be changed to ones of possibility. The other is that, conversely, dementia offers productive perspectives on 'theatre of the real'. Scanning contemporary critical studies about and practices of 'theatre of the real' performances and applied theatre interventions, the book probes what it means when certain 'theatre of the real' practices (specifically verbatim and autobiographical) interact with storytellers considered, culturally, to be 'unreliable narrators'. It also explores whether autobiographical theatre is useful in reinforcing a sense of 'self' for those deemed no longer to have one. With a focus on the relationship between stories and selves, the book investigates how selves might be rethought so that they are not contingent on the production of lucid self-narratives, consistent language, and truthful memories.

Globalisation, regionalisation, new technology, demography, voters' expectations and re-structuring of societies are expected to influence welfare state development for years to come. This handbook analyses how different welfare state models and regimes will be able to cope with contemporary and future challenges, providing a variety of evidence based tools that make it essential reading for students, researchers and policy makers alike.

"The mind and heart of America, in this tremendous hour, require an inspiration which cannot come out of the party caucus and the editorial room of the daily newspaper." So writes Russell Kirk in Prospects for Conservatives. Sixty years hence the hour is late, the situation even more dire. Our governing elites, in all areas of social, political, and cultural life, have snapped the central axis of humanity and trampled upon the principles of natural, social, and transcendent order. But such are not ever lost, and it is these that Russell Kirk offers to us in this work--perhaps his best, in terms of style as well as intellectual depth and creativity, as Bradley Birzer notes in his introduction to this new edition.

As Dr. Birzer goes on to indicate, the book's importance lies less in the specific issues it addresses than in its discussion of eternal truths. In Prospects, the author engages problems of the intellect, community, justice, order, loyalty, tradition, and power; and associates each of these either with the seven classical and Christian virtues or with the seven deadly sins. Yes, the hour is late, but transcendent order can never be entirely extinguished, and its re-articulation in Prospects for Conservatives--bringing it into clear view so that it can affect everyday living--is an unexpected grace from the pen of Russell Kirk, given to all whose intellects and imaginations have not yet lost their bearings. In an age when it is all too easily led off course, Dr. Kirk offers American conservatism a sure way forward, and reason for hope in perilous times.

While many psychosocial interventions used in social work practice have strong research evidence supporting their efficacy, a surprising number do not, potentially resulting in harmful outcomes. In this book, the authors cast a critical eye on the reality of commonly used scientific and pseudoscientific practices in social work today. Stressing the need for separating research-based practices from those not supported by adequate levels of evidence, they examine the scientific and pseudoscientific bases for popular social work interventions used in a variety of treatment settings. The text describes the history and characteristics of pseudoscience, along with the misuse of legitimate research. It examines pseudoscience practices in clinical assessment; working with children, adolescents, and adults; treating individuals with developmental difficulties; and how social work education training can and should discourage pseudoscience. The concluding chapter describes pathways through which social work practice can become more firmly grounded in contemporary scientific research. With the aim of promoting critical thinking among social work students and practitioners regarding the research behind popular interventions, this engaging book will be of value for courses in critical thinking and EBP and useful for all social work students and practitioners. Key Features: Promotes critical thinking regarding the evidence-based research-or lack thereof-behind a variety of social work interventions Written by renowned social work educators Addresses the history and characteristics of pseudoscience Examines pseudoscience practices in assessment and work with children, adolescents, adults, and individuals with developmental difficulties Presented in a clear and engaging style

The conventional wisdom has it that a balanced budget is the height of economic rationality, that social security should be privatized, and that most adult welfare recipients could and should get jobs. All our social and economic problems, we are told, are due to too much government; if we only left the American free enterprise system alone, the free market would heal all that ails our society and lead to lasting prosperity. Challenging these widespread stereotypes and myths, this book starts with the fundamental theory underlying capitalist ideology, showing that even in theory an unfettered free market cannot deal effectively with the many needs of a modern economy. Our society has many social goals to which the great majority subscribe-goals such as sustained full employment, universal health care, and quality education for all. The free market will not, the author argues, bring us quality education for every American child, affordable universal health care, Social Security for the elderly, assistance for the poor, or protection of the environment. Only an active, participant government can affect positive change in such areas of social concern.

This volume makes a valuable contribution to the dynamic and expanding field of scholarship on social policy in developing countries. In combining analytical frameworks used in comparative social policy analysis with an examination of key areas of policy and provision in selected countries, it will be a key resource for anyone interested in current debates in international social policy and welfare.' - Nicola Yeates, Open University, UKThere is increasing interest in the significance of social policy in the management of welfare and risk in the developing world. This volume provides a critical analysis of the challenges and opportunities facing social protection systems in the global South, and examines current strategies for addressing poverty and welfare needs in the region. In particular, the text explores the extent to which the analytic models and concepts for the study of social policy in the industrialised North are relevant in a developing country context. The volume analyzes the various institutions, actors, instruments and mechanisms involved in the welfare arrangements of developing countries and provides a study of the contexts, development and future trajectory of social policy in the global South. The book's comparative and interdisciplinary approach will be of interest to anyone involved in social policy research and analysis and current welfare debates. Contributors: B. Deacon, J. Doherty, P. Dornan, D. Lewis, A. McCord, D. McIntyre, C. Meth, A. Nicholls, S. Pellissery, C. Porter, R. Surender, M. Urbina-Ferretjans, A. Vetterlein, R. Walker

Don't Drink the Water is not a book trying to promote any existing religious, spiritual or national agenda. It does not attempt to blame anyone for the current state of human affairs. It is the story of how the author combined his personal experience with the thoughts of many of our more renown philosophers, states-men, scientists and long term thinkers from around the world to conclude that the goal of a secure and sustainable world for all humans is not an unattainable "Utopia." Don't Drink the Water makes a compelling case - Living in a time when we have secure and stable relations with each other and our environment is simply the logical outcome of the ongoing evolution of human intelligence.

aA lively, smart, combative collection, brimful of ideas and insights, this book takes on athe war on crimea and shows how America might move beyond it.a
--David Garland, author of "The Culture of Control"

aThis brave book challenges us, urgently, to rethink crime and punishment for the 21st century. It is not by accident that the US became the worldas largest incarcerator in just thirty-five years. After the War on Crime exposes how structural inequalities based on race and class and written into our laws, institutions and everyday practices have blackened our jails and prisons and reproduced segregated communities inside and out.a
--Susan Tucker, Director, The After Prison Initiative, Open Society Institute

Since the 1970s, Americans have witnessed a Pyrrhic war on crime, with sobering numbers at once chilling and cautionary. Our imprisoned population has increased five-fold, with a commensurate spike in fiscal costs that many now see as unsupportable into the future. As American society confronts a multitude of new challenges ranging from terrorism to the disappearance of middle-class jobs to global warming, the war on crime may be up for reconsideration for the first time in a generation or more. Relatively low crime rates indicate that the public mood may be swinging towards declaring victory and moving on.

However, to declare that the war is over is dangerous and inaccurate, and After the War on Crime reveals that the impact of this war reaches far beyond statistics; simply moving on is impossible. The war has been most devastating to those affected by increased rates and longer terms of incarceration, but its reach has also reshaped a sweeping range of socialinstitutions, including law enforcement, politics, schooling, healthcare, and social welfare. The war has also profoundly altered conceptions of race and community.

It is time to consider the tasks reconstruction must tackle. To do so requires first a critical assessment of how this war has remade our society, and then creative thinking about how government, foundations, communities, and activists should respond. After the War on Crime accelerates this reassessment with original essays by a diverse, interdisciplinary group of scholars as well as policy professionals and community activists. The volumeas immediate goal is to spark a fresh conversation about the war on crime and its consequences; its long-term aspiration is to develop a clear understanding of how we got here and of where we should go.

Particularly in the 1990s, social welfare programs have been cut back in a number of countries. Indeed, the phrases "ending welfare as we know it" or "dismantling the welfare state" have been used to describe this trend. In this analysis by well-recognized social welfare scholars, the nature and extent of changes in social welfare programs in key industrial or post-industrial countries is scrutinized. Determining if and how social welfare and employment prospects have been cut back in the United States, Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Japan helps to identify the population groups hardest hit by cutback. In the United States, for example, poor, single-mother families have suffered major reductions in income support, while more powerful groups have avoided major losses. This cross-national study not only sheds light on general trends in social welfare but also provides clues to what constitutes successful reform and what has failed. This major comparative analysis will be of interest to scholars, students, policy makers, and professionals as well as the general public concerned with social welfare issues, full employment, poverty, and economic inequality.

"An excellent, well-written study. . . . Unique in its sociological focus and its emphasis on young widows." Choice "[In] this intelligent and emotionally gripping book, [the author] peels away both the cultural-symbolic layer of heroism in war and the psychological layer of individual grief. She presents a sensitive sociological analysis." Contemporary Sociology

Kloos and Zein's excellent bibliography provides a thorough guide to an amazing amount of information. . . . With 4,614 entries, it is more than twice the size of the earlier version. Its scope includes infectious and noninfectious diseases, physical trauma, mental health, health services, maternal and child health, nutrition, and famine, including resettlement and refugees. The works are well selected, including both standard publications and less well known Ethiopian and Italian works. The broad scope makes the work useful for medical workers as well as those engaged in social or cultural research. Choice This bibliography provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive listing of published and unpublished works on health and disease in Ethiopia for the period 1940-1990. It brings together in one volume more than 4,000 citations for writings in all areas of health and disease, many of which have not been previously cited in the English-language literature on the subject. The volume's ten chapters are divided into subsections that classify major disease groups and health problems. The bibliographic entries are organized alphabetically within each chapter. Further subdivisions of the topics, including diseases and specific problems, are provided in the subject index. About half of the references deal with infectious diseases, and approximately 700 with malnutrition, nutritional deficiency diseases, famine, and supplementary feeding. An effort was made to include as many references as possible on mother and child health, health services, and traditional medicine, all extremely important, but relatively neglected subjects. While the great majority of the references cited are on Western-style medicine, many works on traditional medicine, socioeconomic problems, and famine are also included. The complexity and immensity of health problems in developing countries demand that they be understood by health officials and researchers if significant and sustained improvements in the health status of the population is to be achieved. By presenting the great bulk of the biomedical, famine, and health-related socio-economic literature, this bibliography contributes to a better understanding of both broadly based and specific health problems in one of the world's least developed countries. It will be valuable as an interdisciplinary research tool for students, senior researchers, health officials, and relief aid organizations.

The result of an intensive two-year research study, this volume examines the likely course of the AIDS epidemic over the next fifteen years. Extremely well-documented and based largely on sophisticated statistical analysis, the study makes detailed forecasts of who will become sick; explores the social, political, and economic consequences of the spread of the disease; and analyzes the controversial policy choices that must be made if the epidemic is to be contained. The authors argue that current policies have failed in their efforts to combat the spread of AIDS and suggest new public policy measures aimed at dramatically reducing the spread of the virus. AIDS researchers, health care practitioners, and policymakers will find The Catastrophe Ahead both an invaluable source of detailed statistical information about the AIDS epidemic and an urgent call to action.

Based on the study results, the authors conclude that by 2002, a million and a half people may die of AIDS and more than 4 million others may be infected with the disease. They explore various scenarios--worst, best, and middle cases--demonstrating that blacks face by far the greatest risks: under the most likely scenario some 15 percent of all blacks between the ages of 15 and 50 will carry the virus by 2002. The authors propose a universal routine voluntary testing program to avert this catastrophe, enabling people to sexually self-segregate themselves based on whether or not they carry the HIV virus. While the authors concede that this program cannot completely stem the tide of infection, they argue that it offers one of the best defenses available against the epidemic. Well written and illustrated with numerous tables and figures, this volume should be required reading for anyone involved in AIDS counseling and policymaking.

This book combines an overview of validity theory, trends in validation practices and a review of standards and guidelines in several international jurisdictions with research synthesis of the validity evidence in different research areas. An overview of theory is both useful and timely, in view of the increased use of tests and measures for decision-making, ranking and policy purposes in large-scale testing, assessment and social indicators and quality of life research. Research synthesis is needed to help us assemble, critically appraise and integrate the overwhelming volume of research on validity in different contexts. Rather than examining whether any given measure is valid, the focus is on a critical appraisal of the kinds of validity evidence reported in the published research literature. The five sources of validity evidence discussed are: content-related, response processes, internal structure, associations with other variables and consequences. The 15 syntheses included here, represent a broad sampling of psychosocial, health, medical and educational research settings, giving us an extensive evidential basis to build upon earlier studies. The book concludes with a meta-synthesis of the 15 syntheses and a discussion of the current thinking of validation practices by leading experts in the field."

This book brings together essays on modernity, social integration, social differentiation and social exclusion by Lockwood, Mouzelis and other eminent social theorists. At the same time it addresses critical issues facing Western democracies, such as social exclusion, the underclass, unemployment, new inequalities, globalization and the new competitive environment. Its novelty lies in the imaginative way it uses social theory to critique old, and suggest new, policies and political practices.

This book explores the development of state welfare in Taiwan, focusing on the interconnection between capitalist development and state welfare from 1895 to 1990, using an integrated Marxist perspective to which the capitalist world system, state structure, ideology, and social structure are considered simultaneously. It argues that neither citizenship nor welfare needs were the concern of Taiwanese social policies. A decline in legitimacy and risen social movements forced the state to expand welfare, namely the National Health Insurance, in the 1980s.