Focusing on the policy approaches of Conservative governments since 2015, this book examines key social policy areas including education, health, housing, employment, children and young people and more. Respected social policy researchers explore the degree to which the positions and policies of recent Conservative governments have differed from the previous Coalition government (2010-2015). They consider the extent to which austerity has continued and the influence of other policy emphases, such as a ‘levelling up’ agenda. Reflecting the rapid changes of Prime Minister, they compare the themes of the Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak administrations, critically examine the impacts of the external shocks of Brexit and COVID-19, as well as changing patterns of public expenditure.

Focusing on the policy approaches of Conservative governments since 2015, this book examines key social policy areas including education, health, housing, employment, children and young people and more. Respected social policy researchers explore the degree to which the positions and policies of recent Conservative governments have differed from the previous Coalition government (2010-2015). They consider the extent to which austerity has continued and the influence of other policy emphases, such as a ‘levelling up’ agenda. Reflecting the rapid changes of Prime Minister, they compare the themes of the Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak administrations, critically examine the impacts of the external shocks of Brexit and COVID-19, as well as changing patterns of public expenditure.

While successive moral panics have cast working class mothers - associated by the tabloids with social problems as diverse as crime, underachievement, unemployment and mental illness - as a threat to civilization, the voices and experiences of these women are remarkably absent from discussions.
The book attempts to address this gap by examining how such mothers make sense of their lives with their children and families, how they position themselves within a context of inequality and vulnerability, and how they resist, subvert and survive material and social marginalization. By focusing specifically on working class mothers and their opportunities and choices, Val Gillies challenges common assumptions about "good parenting." She draws on her findings to make their implications clear and to give practical advice to professionals who work with children and families. The themes addressed in the book will include:
- children's poor academic performance
- truanting
- conduct disorder
- juvenile delinquency
- teenage pregnancy.
This controversial text provides a detailed insight into the experiences of mothers who are so often the focus of public concern and intervention. It will be of interest to students and researchers in sociology, social work and social policy, as well as social workers, health professionals and social policy-makers.

As the everyday family lives of children and young people come to be increasingly defined as matters of public policy and concern, it is important to raise the question of how we can understand the contested terrain between "normal" family troubles and troubled and troubling families. In this important, timely and thought-provoking publication, a wide range of contributors explore how "troubles" feature in "normal" families, and how the "normal" features in "troubled" families. Drawing on research on a wide range of substantive topics - including infant care, sibling conflict, divorce, disability, illness, migration and asylum-seeking, substance misuse, violence, kinship care, and forced marriage - the contributors aim to promote dialogue between researchers addressing mainstream family change and diversity in everyday lives, and those specialising in specific problems which prompt professional interventions. In tackling these contentious and difficult issues across a variety of topics, the book addresses a wide audience, including policy makers, service users and practitioners, as well as family studies scholars more generally who are interested in issues of family change.

This book goes to the heart of academic, political and popular debates, as well as professional concerns, about the nature of contemporary family life and parenting. Families are widely discussed in western societies as breaking down or as radically changing, with step-families in particular seen as evidence of such trends. In one of the first British in-depth sociological research studies for over two decades, this book provide evidence of parents' and step-parents' own understandings and experiences of their parenting in step-families.

It addresses questions such as: What does it mean to be a family? Do people in step-families see themselves as making a different kind of family? Is individual happiness in a couple relationship prioritised at the expense of responsibilities towards children? Can a step-parent ever be regarded as the same as a biological mother or father? What do people in step-families do to try to make step-family life work?

The book looks at how people create, understand and experience their parenting and family lives. It reveals how these understandings are rooted in a strong sense of moral responsibility, but that what such responsibility constitutes varies according to gender and social class. In particular, it draws out key theoretical implications for understanding the nature of morality, fairness and justice, and questions ideas about individualisation and the democratisation of family life.

This book will be essential reading for those concerned with the study of contemporary family lives, including sociologists, social policy analysts, family therapists, professionals and practitioners. It is also relevant to those interested in contemporary morality and everyday experiences.

A vital interrogation of the internationally accepted policy and practice consensus that intervention to shape parenting in the early years is the way to prevent disadvantage. Given the divisive assumptions and essentialist ideas behind early years intervention, in whose interests does it really serve? This book critically assesses assertions that the 'wrong type of parenting' has biological and cultural effects, stunting babies' brain development and leading to a life of poverty and under-achievement. It shows how early intervention policies underpinned by interpretations of brain science perpetuate gendered, classed and raced inequalities. The exploration of future directions will be welcomed by those looking for a positive, collectivist vision of the future that addresses the real underlying issues in the creation of disadvantage.

A vital interrogation of the internationally accepted policy and practice consensus that intervention to shape parenting in the early years is the way to prevent disadvantage. Given the divisive assumptions and essentialist ideas behind early years intervention, in whose interests does it really serve? This book critically assesses assertions that the 'wrong type of parenting' has biological and cultural effects, stunting babies' brain development and leading to a life of poverty and under-achievement. It shows how early intervention policies underpinned by interpretations of brain science perpetuate gendered, classed and raced inequalities. The exploration of future directions will be welcomed by those looking for a positive, collectivist vision of the future that addresses the real underlying issues in the creation of disadvantage.

While debates rage about educational inequality and the best way to tackle attainment gaps, a pervasive form of in-school segregation is going largely unremarked upon. Internal behaviour support units have become common fixtures in British schools. Young people may be removed from mainstream classrooms for weeks, months or even years to undergo rehabilitative programmes that incur little monitoring or oversight. This original book is the first to provide a detailed insight into the politics and practices of internal school exclusion, highlighted through the experiences of the young people attending the units. Ambitious in its scope, it draws on intensive ethnographic research with pupils, their teachers and parents to address broad questions around social justice, equal opportunities and institutional racism. It will appeal to students, researchers and practitioners in education, social policy, sociology and beyond.

This ambitious book is the first to provide a detailed insight into the politics and practices of internal school exclusion, common in British schools. It draws on intensive ethnographic research with pupils, their teachers and parents to address broad questions around social justice, equal opportunities and institutional racism.

As the everyday family lives of children and young people come to be increasingly defined as matters of public policy and concern, it is important to raise the question of how we can understand the contested terrain between "normal" family troubles and troubled and troubling families. In this important, timely and thought-provoking publication, a wide range of contributors explore how "troubles" feature in "normal" families, and how the "normal" features in "troubled" families. Drawing on research on a wide range of substantive topics - including infant care, sibling conflict, divorce, disability, illness, migration and asylum-seeking, substance misuse, violence, kinship care, and forced marriage - the contributors aim to promote dialogue between researchers addressing mainstream family change and diversity in everyday lives, and those specialising in specific problems which prompt professional interventions. In tackling these contentious and difficult issues across a variety of topics, the book addresses a wide audience, including policy makers, service users and practitioners, as well as family studies scholars more generally who are interested in issues of family change.

While successive moral panics have cast working class mothers - associated by the tabloids with social problems as diverse as crime, underachievement, unemployment and mental illness - as a threat to civilization, the voices and experiences of these women are remarkably absent from discussions.
The book attempts to address this gap by examining how such mothers make sense of their lives with their children and families, how they position themselves within a context of inequality and vulnerability, and how they resist, subvert and survive material and social marginalization. By focusing specifically on working class mothers and their opportunities and choices, Val Gillies challenges common assumptions about "good parenting." She draws on her findings to make their implications clear and to give practical advice to professionals who work with children and families. The themes addressed in the book will include:
- children's poor academic performance
- truanting
- conduct disorder
- juvenile delinquency
- teenage pregnancy.
This controversial text provides a detailed insight into the experiences of mothers who are so often the focus of public concern and intervention. It will be of interest to students and researchers in sociology, social work and social policy, as well as social workers, health professionals and social policy-makers.