Social justice and social policy in Scotland offers a critical engagement with the state of social policy in one of the devolved nations of the UK, a decade after the introduction of devolution. Promoting greater social justice has been held up as a key vision of successive Scottish administrations since devolution began. It is argued throughout this important book that the analysis of Scottish social policy must therefore be located in wider debates around social injustice as well as about how the devolution process affects the making, implementation and impact of social policy. Social justice and social policy in Scotland focuses on a diverse range of topics and issues, including income inequalities, work and welfare, criminal justice, housing, education, health and poverty, each reflecting the themes of social inequality and social justice. This book will be essential reading for academics, researchers, policy makers and practitioners as well as students of social policy and of society in Scotland and other devolved nations.

Exploring social policy in the 'new' Scotland is the first book to integrate the description and analysis of social policy in Scotland since devolution in 1999. It has been designed to support the delivery of social policy and related courses in Scotland itself but also to appeal to students on social policy, politics, sociology, public policy and regional studies courses across the United Kingdom, on which devolution and its impact are examined. across the social sciences. The book therefore presents a variety of perspectives and approaches with which to consider the key issues. The following unifying themes are explored in each chapter: consideration of the 'newness' of social policy in Scotland through evaluation of pre- and post-devolution policies; social policy convergence and divergence between post-devolutionary Scotland and the rest of the UK; social inclusion, social inequalities and social divisions as they relate to and impact on the social policy issue in question; what needs to be done and what needs have yet to be met in each social policy area. and welfare, health and social work, criminal justice, education, and urban policy, means that the book will be valuable to academics, researchers, policy makers and practitioners, as well as students.