Critical Social Policy recent issues

Forced marriage in the UK: Religious, cultural, economic or state violence?

Chantler, K., Gangoli, G., Hester, M. — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:38:52 PDT

Our paper is based on a qualitative empirical study of forced marriage in the UK and offers a multidimensional view which challenges four key points that are currently central in the forced marriage debate. First, the study explores the problematic of current UK and European Union policies on preventing forced marriage which focus on raising the age of sponsorship and marriage age for non-EU nationals migrating to the UK. Second, current conceptualizations of forced marriage focus on consent at the entry point into marriage. In contrast, survivors of forced marriage, and women’s organizations experienced in providing services to this group, both attach equal importance to exiting (forced) marriages. Third, within the forced marriage debate, South Asian and Muslim communities are perceived as being largely responsible for forced marriages, whilst our research demonstrates that the range of communities in which forced marriage occurs is much wider. Fourth, forced marriage is often seen as a product of a ‘backward’ culture or religion in a pathologizing manner. The narratives in our study illustrate the interplay between culture, religion, poverty and state practices including immigration practices which points to the need for a more sophisticated and nuanced understanding of forced marriage. We end our paper by outlining measures that could be put into place to support women experiencing forced marriage.

Regeneration works? Disabled people and area-based urban renewal

Edwards, C. — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:39:41 PDT

Disabled people are increasingly being drawn into the UK Labour government’s strategy to address area-based deprivation through projects which focus on employability as a means of tackling social exclusion. This paper draws on a case study of an employment project aimed at young people with learning difficulties funded as part of the Single Regeneration Budget, to explore how such projects operate in the context of area-based renewal, and with what gains, if any, for disabled people. The case study suggests that the perceived contribution of the project — and people with learning difficulties — to the area was as much about social regeneration, as building a local economy through the creation of active workers. Whilst being part of the SRB seemed to offer some opportunities for participation, the parameters of the policy itself — including its spatiality — acted to circumscribe some of the potential linkages with broader area renewal processes and the potential benefits for project participants, thus raising questions about New Labour’s social inclusion agenda.

New Public Management, care and struggles about recognition

Dahl, H. M. — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:40:28 PDT

New Public Management (NPM) is usually perceived as a homogeneous discourse. However, when we examine it by looking at micro-politics in municipalities and understand its consequences drawing on the voices of home helpers, the picture is more complex and ambiguous. NPM is seen as disciplining paid public elderly care by limiting and forming the understandings applied through two combined but different logics: a usually dominant logic of details and a usually minor logic of self-governance. The bottom-up study presented here investigates the translation — the understanding and application — of these two logics in two different Danish municipalities that are strategically chosen to illustrate differences along the continuum of NPM translations. It asks which logic the home helpers feel is most dominant and relates the results to feelings of recognition and misrecognition as well as to strategies of resistance. The analysis applies feminist theories of recognition and care, and its findings are based on focus group interviews and feminist discourse analysis.

Removing barriers to work: Building economic security for people with psychiatric disabilities

Morrow, M., Wasik, A., Cohen, M., Elah Perry, K.-M. — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:40:56 PDT

Using findings from two studies conducted in British Columbia, Canada, that examined income and employment supports for people with psychiatric disabilities we argue that economic security is essential for mental health recovery, and that supported employment and social enterprise models are well suited to support these goals. We contend that the aims and values underlying neo-liberalism, with its attendant welfare state restructuring, undermine the progressive vision of recovery and the practice of citizenship for people with psychiatric disabilities.

Structuring governance: A case study of the new organizational provision of public service delivery

McDermont, M., Cowan, D., Prendergrast, J. — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:58:54 PST

Drawing on research findings concerning the new management structures and paradigms in the range of services formerly provided within the public sector, this paper reports on research conducted into the governing structures of a newly registered social landlord, formed to take over a local authority’s housing stock. Using a variety of ethnographic methods, the research looked at the ways in which the members of the governing body translated understandings of neutrality into their everyday practices and how expertise was constructed by the members themselves as well as their perceptions of each other’s expertise. We conclude by relating the findings of our research to other literature on citizen participation and argue that these elements of neutrality and expertise lie in tension with, and constrain, effective participation.

Wild guesses and conflated meanings? Estimating the size of the sex worker population in Britain

Cusick, L., Kinnell, H., Brooks-Gordon, B., Campbell, R. — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:41:02 PDT

This paper reports the number of sex workers in Scotland and England who are in contact with specialist services for sex workers. Then, using methods and multipliers derived from the frequently quoted Kinnell study (1999) the paper provides various updated estimates of the wider population of sex workers. We point out the limits of our estimates and the methodological difficulties of estimating the size of this hidden population. The paper argues that many claims about sex work made by politicians and the media are misleading especially where they conflate sex work with trafficking and abuse.

Review: Housing Market Renewal and Social Class Chris Allen Routledge, London, 2008, 248pp, ISBN 978--0--415--41561--3, {pound}22.99 (pbk)

Mooney, G. — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:41:08 PDT

Review: The Education Debate Stephen J. Ball Policy Press, Bristol, 2008, 242pp, ISBN 978--1--86134--920--0, {pound}12.99 (pbk)

Elley, S. — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:41:10 PDT

Review: The McDonaldization of Social Work Donna Dustin Ashgate, Aldershot, 2007, 189pp, ISBN 978--07546--4639--6, {pound}55 (hbk)

Carey, M. — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:41:11 PDT

Review: Policing and the Legacy of Lawrence Nathan Hall, John Grieve and Stephen Savage (eds) Willan, Cullompton, 2009, 320pp, ISBN 978--1--84392--505--7, {pound}22.00

Murji, K. — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:41:11 PDT

Review: Co-Production and Personalisation in Social Care: Changing Relationships in the Provision of Social Care Susan Hunter and Peter Ritchie (eds) Jessica Kingsley, London, 2007, 167pp, ISBN 978--1--84310--558--9, {pound}18.99 (pbk)

Fyson, R. — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:41:12 PDT

Review: Children, Families and Social Exclusion: New Approaches to Prevention Kate Morris, Marian Barnes and Paul Mason Policy Press, Bristol, 2009, 161pp, ISBN 978--1--86134--965--1, {pound}21.99 (pbk)

Welshman, J. — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:41:12 PDT

Reflections on Critical Social Policy at 100

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

Towards a hundred issues of Critical Social Policy

Rogowski, S. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

Despite the current economic crisis facing the global economy we continue to be faced with the seeming triumph of global capitalism/ neo-liberalism. This is despite the great insecurity, difficulties and hardship that undoubtedly result for the majority of people. Social workers have to deal with many of the casualties of this system on a day-to-day basis, and I argue they require journals like CSP to provide a critical perspective on social policy issues and developments at both a practical and theoretical level. This piece highlights some of the main CSP articles which have helped one social worker in this regard over the last almost thirty years of his career.

Women's disconnection from local labour markets: Real lives and policy failure

Grant, L. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

This paper is based on research amongst women living in England who are on the margins of the labour market. It analyses why current policy works so inadequately for this group of women, whose existence is often marked by poverty and social exclusion. It emphasizes the significance of the reality of women's lived experiences and the nature of local labour markets, and discusses how and why policy fails to respond to these. Women lack bespoke support and are channelled into `women's jobs', perpetuating gender inequalities in employment and reinforcing precarious relationships with the labour market. In addition, the effect of the key ideas underpinning policy, in particular `welfare dependency' and a `work first' orientation, is to distort the responses to women claimants and to ignore the needs of non-claimant women returners. In conclusion the paper argues that current policy both overlooks the specificity of women's labour market disconnection and contributes to its reproduction.

The capabilities approach and critical social policy: Lessons from the majority world?

Carpenter, M. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

The capabilities approach (CA) most closely associated with the thinner and thicker versions of Sen and Nussbaum has the potential to provide a paradigm shift for critical social policy, encompassing but also transcending some of the limitations associated with the Marshallian social citizenship approach. The article argues, however, that it cannot simply be imported from the majority world, rather there is a need to bear in mind the critical literature that developed around it. This is generally discussed and then critically applied to case studies of CA in the developed capitalist world, particularly the Equalities Review conducted for the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Personalization and de-schooling: Uncommon trajectories in contemporary education policy

Pykett, J. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

`Personalized learning' has become a popular term within education policy and practice in England, and is part of wider moves towards the `personalization' of public services and the promotion of personal responsibility within social policy discourse — including education, welfare, health and adult social care. In analysing personalization in education policy as a discursive formation, this paper visits some of the tensions, ambiguities and apparently `uncommon' trajectories in contemporary education policy, including its association with the `de-schooling' movement. It is argued that personalization cannot be understood simply as the most recent incarnation of the neoliberalization of education policy, nor as a politically neutral set of learning practices. In conclusion, unpacking personalization as a generative discourse enables us to understand the continuities and contradictions in New Labour social policy without relying on the sometimes heroic, revelatory and emancipatory intentions of critical analysis.

Care research and disability studies: Nothing in common?

Kroger, T. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

Disability researchers have voiced the criticism that the concept of care, together with research based on it, consists of the view that disabled people are dependent non-autonomous second-class citizens. The perspectives of disability studies and care research certainly are different from each other. Disability studies analyse the oppression and exclusion of disabled people and emphasize that disabled people need human rights and control over their own lives. Care research focuses rather on care relationships, informal and formal care, care-giving work and `an ethics of care'. Nevertheless, it is suggested here that the two perspectives are not mutually exclusive and that the two groups could learn from each other's approaches. For example, the relationship between disabled people and their personal assistants has much the same characteristics as the care relationship and requires a balancing of the needs and interests of the two parties. On the other hand, access to adequate care could be perceived as a basic civil and human right.

Empowering the powerful: Challenging hidden processes of marginalization in youth work policy and practice in Belgium

Coussee, F., Roets, G., De Bie, M. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

On the basis of extensive research, we turn a critical eye on often unnoticed processes of marginalization at play in current youth work policy and practice in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium). Although the historical situation seems different from that in the UK, current policies show similar results: vulnerable youth is increasingly monitored into particular target categories and separated into distinct and professionalized youth work initiatives. Inspired by critical class theory, we raise the veil of youth work as a hidden civilization strategy that empowers the yet powerful and has served the often unconscious agenda of enforcing social control on vulnerable youth to create order in late capitalist societies. The perspective of the critical social theorist Hermann Giesecke who perceives youth work as `politische Bildung' (a process of political socialization) allows us to explore strategies for inclusion which can be implemented to energize future youth work praxis.

Evidence, values and drug treatment policy

Valentine, K. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

Despite the controversial nature of illicit drug treatment, there is a relative lack of research on policy formation in this area. This paper draws on qualitative interviews with service providers and analysis of policy documents, conducted for an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council funded project entitled `Comparing the role of takeaways in methadone maintenance treatment in New South Wales and Victoria', to examine the formation and implementation of drug treatment policy. In particular, it considers two forces widely acknowledged to be important to drug treatment, and often argued to be antithetical to each other: community values and scientific evidence. Separation of the `social' and the `scientific' in treatment is a much-used but conceptually limited distinction. Two alternatives to evidence-based policy are proposed. The first, values-based policy, is increasingly important to critical discussions of social policy and could potentially add much to debates around drug treatment policy. The second alternative is suggested by social studies of science (STS), in particular feminist STS.

Post-Foucauldian governmentality: What does it offer critical social policy analysis?

Mckee, K. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

This article considers the theoretical perspective of post-Foucauldian governmentality, especially the insights and challenges it poses for applied researchers within the critical social policy tradition. The article firstly examines the analytical strengths of this approach to understanding power and rule in contemporary society, before moving on to consider its limitations for social policy. It concludes by arguing that these insights can be retained, and some of the weaknesses overcome, by adopting Stenson's realist governmentality approach. This advocates combining traditional discursive analysis with more ethnographic methods in order to render visible the concrete activity of governing, and unravel the messiness, complexity and unintended consequences involved in the struggles around subjectivity.

Privatizing employment services in Britain

Grover, C. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

This paper focuses upon the privatization of Britain's employment services. It explores the extent to which the private sector is involved in the delivery of state-funded employment services, and the reasons why its involvement is to be extended in the future. The paper examines the catalyst — the Freud review of work-related social security policies — for extending private sector involvement in employment services before going on to critically engage with the privatization of such services. Here, the focus is upon ways in which such developments commodify non-employed people by creating an economic value for them, and the amount and nature of paid work that will be available through such services. The paper argues that the privatization of employment services will be more advantageous to the private sector than it will be to non-employed people because it is essentially a conservative policy that will not address the barriers that people face in securing paid employment.

Changing Lives: Critical reflections on the social work change programme for Scotland

Ritchie, A., Woodward, R. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

In 2004 the Scottish Executive commissioned an independent review of social work. Changing Lives, the Review Report, was published in February 2006 and described as the basis for `the biggest overhaul of social work in Scotland for 40 years'. This paper examines the background to the Changing Lives Report, discusses its main findings and considers what has happened to social work in Scotland in the two years since its publication. It is argued that the Report reflects the problems that beset social work and offers ways forward that merit consideration. It is also argued that both the Report, and the ensuing change programme, fail to critically appraise the political and social forces that have undermined the status of welfare professionals and marginalized service users in recent times. The authors suggest that, as a result, the Changing Lives agenda is, as yet, unlikely to find full resonance with either practitioners or service users.

The case of `Baby P': Opening up spaces for debate on the `transformation' of Children's Services?

Garrett, P. M. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

`Baby P', a 17 month old boy, died in August 2007 from severe injuries inflicted whilst he was in the care of his mother, her `boyfriend' and a lodger in the household. In November 2008 two men were found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable person. The mother had already pleaded guilty to the same charge. Importantly, for Children's Services, `Baby P' had been subject to a child protection plan following concerns that he had been abused and neglected. Following the convictions, the death of `Baby P', and the inadequate responses of child welfare professionals, began to dominate political and media discourses. This critical commentary initially focuses on media, particularly newspaper, reports on the case and identifies a number of key themes. It is then maintained, despite the largely pernicious newspaper accounts of the tragedy, there may now be room, following the publication of the joint area review (JAR) of Haringey Children's Services, to prompt more informed debates about `reform' within the sector.

The potential of including the UK in comparisons with other European countries in research on teenage pregnancy

Franz, A., Worrell, M., Gilvarry, C., Vogele, C. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

This article is a response to Arai (2003) `British policy on teenage pregnancy and childbearing: The limitations of comparisons with other European countries' (Critical Social Policy 23: 89—102). It discusses the arguments put forward by Arai there that cross-cultural comparisons in the area of teenage pregnancy are often problematic due to the unique demographics of the UK. While Arai's considerations are important for cross-cultural research, they need to be more sensitive to the differences between countries included in these comparisons. Our article illustrates the potential value of cross-cultural research, using Germany as an example, and concludes that, as long as countries for such comparisons are chosen carefully, the merit of cross-cultural research on topics such as teenage pregnancy far exceeds its limitations.

Cross-national comparative research and teenage pregnancy: Reply to Franz and colleagues

Arai, L. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

Review: Parental Learning Disability and Children's Needs: Family Experiences and Effective Practice: Hedy Cleaver and Don Nicholson Jessica Kingsley, London, 2007, 141pp, ISBN 978--1--84310--632--6, {pound}19.99

Tierney, P. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

Review: New Landscapes of Inequality: Neoliberalism and the Erosion of Democracy in America: Jane L. Collins, Micaela di Leonardo and Brett Williams (eds) School of Advanced Research Press, Santa Fe, 2008, 281pp, ISBN 978--1--934691--01--4, $29.95

Clarke, J. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

Review: Applied Ethics and Social Problems: Moral Questions of Birth, Society and Death: Tony Fitzpatrick Policy Press, Bristol, 2008, 270pp, ISBN 978--1--86134--859--3, {pound}17.59

Clark, C. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

Review: London Voices, London Lives: Tales from a Working Capital: Peter Hall Policy Press, Bristol, 2007, 292pp, ISBN 978--1--86134--983--0, {pound}24.99

Mooney, G. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

Review: Social Justice: Welfare, Crime and Society: Janet Newman and Nicola Yeates (eds) Open University Press, Maidenhead, 2008, 191pp, ISBN 978--0335229307, {pound}19.99 (pbk)

Page, R. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

Review: Balti Britain: A Journey through the British Asian Experience: Ziauddin Sardar Granta, London, 2008, 392pp, ISBN 978--1--86207--911--1, {pound}20 (hbk)

Murji, K. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

Special Issue of Critical Social Policy: Social Justice, Social Policy, and the Environment

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:13:31 PDT

The moralizing of obesity: A new name for an old sin?

Townend, L. — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:12:19 PDT

The obesity epidemic is a significant issue for health and social policy, with major ramifications for economic productivity across the globe. In Western industrialized countries, however, it impacts on the population along traditional lines of economic disadvantage, its incidence being inversely related to income and education. As a health issue and matter for policy intervention, obesity is frequently presented in public discourse within an existing moral framework which links illness with moral failure. This is reminiscent of the historical treatment of poverty. It will be argued in this paper that the convergence of moralized discourses around poverty and illness is represented most visibly and powerfully in the issue of obesity, resulting in policy which addresses these moral `shortcomings' at the expense of attention to the structures which create ill health and poverty. An alternative social-structural perspective will be proposed as a potentially more helpful frame for addressing the obesity issue.

Social policies and refugee resettlement: Iraqis in Australia

Johnston, V., Vasey, K., Markovic, M. — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:12:19 PDT

In this paper, we analyse national social policies that mediate the experiences of Iraqi refugees in Australia. Drawing on qualitative in-depth interviews conducted with this population in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria in Australia, and a small town in country Victoria, we delineate how social policies can lead to visible (formal) and invisible (informal) exclusion of refugees. We use two Australian policies; temporary protection and regional resettlement of refugees, to demonstrate how official Australian government policies may negatively affect the integration experience of these new arrivals. Additionally, such policies have unintended consequences for support networks between refugees on different visa categories, and for social relationships between refugees and the broader Australian community.

Divergence or convergence? Health inequalities and policy in a devolved Britain

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:12:19 PDT

Since the advent of political devolution in the UK, it has been widely reported that markedly different health policies have emerged. However, most of these analyses are based on a comparison of health care policies and, as such, only tell part of a complex and evolving story. This paper considers official responses to a shared public health policy aim, the reduction of health inequalities, through an examination of national policy statements produced in England, Scotland and Wales respectively since 1997. The analysis suggests that the relatively consistent manner in which the `policy problem' of health inequalities has been framed combined with the dominance of a medical model of health have constrained policy responses. Our findings differ from existing analyses, raising some important questions about the actuality of, and scope for, policy divergence since devolution.

Immigration, education and the new caste society in Britain

Tannock, S. — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:12:19 PDT

We are accustomed to linking education and skill with mobility and opportunity. In recent education, employment and especially immigration policy in Britain, however, the discourse of education and skill is being used to create a segregated and inegalitarian society, in which privileges and rights are granted to a small elite while being denied to the rest of the population. Education and skill, paradoxically, which are supposed to set us free and empower us are in actuality used to divide, control and deflect our demands for justice and equality. To address problems of injustice and inequality in Britain today, for both immigrants and the native-born alike, we need to challenge the common sense acceptance of discrimination between the high and low skilled, as well as the hegemony of the language of skill itself.

Critiquing capabilities: The distractions of a beguiling concept

Dean, H. — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:12:19 PDT

The article provides a critique of the concept of `capabilities', initially advanced by Amartya Sen. The concept has directly influenced the workings of both the international United Nations Development Programme and the UK's domestic Equality and Human Rights Commission. It is argued that it is essentially a liberal-individualist concept. Despite its attractions — which the article acknowledges — the `capability approach' obscures or neglects three key realities: the constitutive nature of human interdependency; the problematic nature of the public realm; and the exploitative nature of capitalism. The article argues for an emancipatory politics of needs interpretation that would be better served by a discourse of rights than a discourse of capabilities.

Social partnership's boiling point: Environmental issues and social responses to neo-liberal policy in Ireland

Leonard, L. — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:12:19 PDT

Ireland has witnessed a succession of community-based responses to regional episodes of ecological degradation in recent years. This paper will argue that the basis for these disputes is the Irish state's neo-liberal and neo-corporatist policy framework, which favours accelerated and reckless infrastructural development while excluding community concerns about health and environmental issues.

Review: Social Work Research for Social Justice Beth Humphries Palgrave Macmillan, Houndsmills, 2008, 232pp, ISBN 9781403949356, {pound}18.99 (pbk)

Averill, L. — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:12:19 PDT

Review: Rethinking Miscarriages of Justice: Beyond the Tip of the Iceberg Michael Naughton Palgrave Macmillan, Houndsmills, 2008, 233pp, ISBN 978--0--230--01906--5, {pound}45.00 (hbk)

Moore, L. — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:12:19 PDT

Review: Understanding Immigration and Refugee Policy: Contradictions and Continuities Rosemary Sales Policy Press, Bristol, 2007, 276pp, ISBN 9781861344519, {pound}15.99 (pbk)

Sigona, N. — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:12:19 PDT

Review: Youth Justice: Ideas, Policy and Practice, 2nd edn Roger Smith Willan, Cullompton, 2007, 272pp, ISBN 978--1--84392--2247, {pound}19.50 (pbk)

Rogowski, S. — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:12:19 PDT

Review: ASBO Nation: The Criminalisation of Nuisance Peter Squires (ed.) Policy Press, Bristol, 2008, 383pp, ISBN 978--1--84742--027--5, {pound}24.99

Smith, R. — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:12:19 PDT

Review: Urban Outcasts: A Comparative Sociology of Advanced Marginality Loic Wacquant Polity Press, Cambridge, 2008, 360pp, ISBN 978--0--7456--3125--7, {pound}17.99

Bonvin, J.-M. — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:12:19 PDT

The `problem' of anti-social behaviour and the policy knowledge base: Analysing the power/knowledge relationship

Prior, D. — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:08:45 PST

The high priority given to tackling anti-social behaviour in current government policy might generate an expectation that knowledge of the nature and extent of the problem would provide an empirical underpinning for policy. However, a detailed examination of the state of official `knowledge' of the problem of anti-social behaviour shows that there are substantial gaps and ambiguities in what is known, and disjunctures between some of the claims made by government about its approach and what the official evidence seems to say. The article explores the reasons for the government's lack of empirical engagement with the `problem' of anti-social behaviour in the context of the relationship between power and knowledge in current policy.

Risk discourse and politics: Restructuring welfare in Hong Kong

Chan, R. K.H. — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:08:45 PST

This paper uses the concept of risk to frame an analysis of welfare reforms and politics in Hong Kong following the financial crisis. Recently, the government and the public have been increasingly exposed to, and aware of, risk. The old welfare policies were considered ineffective in coping with new risks and were gradually replaced by new strategies, formulated in accordance with risk-led welfare discourse. The new risks and the risk management policies have reconfigured political alignments and power relationships among various stakeholders, who continue to debate risk definitions and appropriate responses. The perception and significance of risk, especially after the financial crisis, in reconfiguring risk politics, reconstituting power among the state and various groups, and constructing welfare discourse and policies will be examined. Even though actual risk has greatly diminished since 2004, risk has been entrenched in government policy.

Reconciling agency with structure: The contradictions and paradoxes of capacity building in Wales' 2000--2006 Objective 1 programme

Fudge, S. — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:08:45 PST

This article looks at the concept of `capacity building' and explores its role in the 2000—2006 European Union (EU) Objective 1 programme in west Wales and the Valleys. An increasingly significant area of policy in regard to addressing rising levels of social inequality and high unemployment, the structural funds have become illustrative of the European Commission's aims to promote social as opposed to economic Europe. Exploring interviews with policy-makers and beneficiaries involved with the community development measures of the programme, the paper looks at whether there is a fit between policy-makers' conceptions of capacity building and `agency responses to social exclusion', as viewed by those who have been directly engaged with projects in regeneration targeted areas. The argument developed explores the idea that the capacity building measures in programmes such as Objective 1 often adopt a `fixed' viewpoint of agency whereby the `capacity to act' will be facilitated by the output oriented framework of the programme. In contrast to this perspective, the paper explores the idea that capacity building programmes must acknowledge the importance of structures in addressing regeneration areas.

Kerbcrawler rehabilitation programmes: Curing the `deviant' male and reinforcing the `respectable' moral order

Sanders, T. — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:08:45 PST

This paper has two aims: to outline the current policy and ideology behind `tackling demand' for commercial sex through targeting `kerbcrawlers' and to critique support for and rise of `kerbcrawler rehabilitation programmes' in the UK. Such attempts to `reform' sexual `deviants' through a criminal treatment process are criticized on accounts of ineffectiveness; resource intensiveness; the content of the programme; the disregard for legal process and theory; and the damaging effects of the programme. The messages behind the policy and rehabilitation programmes are examined through the discourse of respectability, and the desire to reinforce a sexual order by scapegoating this group of men as the sexual `other' alongside female street sex workers. The discourses behind New Labour prostitution policy are examined where it is argued that the governance of prostitution through criminalization amounts to `moral engineering'.

Mixed income housing policy and public housing residents' `right to the city'

Duke, J. — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:08:45 PST

Economic integration through various mixed income housing strategies has become the dominant housing policy in many parts of the world. In the United States, this strategy involves a restructuring of space often with conflict. Henri Lefebvre's `right to the city' is used to conduct a socio-spatial analysis of mixed income housing programmes, including the degree that integration increases public housing residents' access to diverse neighbourhoods, the use value of a city, and participatory space. The paper concludes that mixed income housing has the potential to increase public housing residents' `right to the city' but that policy implementers need to be proactive in the face of barriers such as community opposition to subsidized housing that can hinder the right. Future research should focus on evaluating the benefits of mixed income housing policy for neediest residents and ways to increase their rights to social, economic and political space.

(Re)Constructing women's resistance to woman abuse: Resources, strategy choice and implications of and for public policy in Canada

Paterson, S. — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:08:45 PST

While there has been considerable attention paid to Canada's anti-woman abuse policy framework, much of this attention has neglected its implications for women's resistance to abuse. This paper attempts to address this gap by using the lens of women's resistance to analyse the anti-woman abuse policy in Canada. I begin by exploring the ways in which the policy framework constructs the `problem' and considering its implications for women's choice in resistance strategy. Using the Canadian General Social Survey on Victimization (1999), I apply independent samples tests to explore women's (non)usage of various strategies, as it varies by class, race, and ability. I conclude with suggestions for policy reform.

Dementia and dying: The need for a systematic policy approach

Kellehear, A. — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:08:45 PST

In November 2006 a joint National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) guideline to improve the care of people with dementia was released. This influential policy document reflects both a medicalized approach to care (emphasizing pharmacological management and health services) as well as one characterized by professional dominance (an emphasis on professional authority and control). Despite the involvement of social sciences in its development the policy reflects common biases in other areas of policy and practice in the care of older people. Furthermore, the idea that people with dementia have complex end of life care needs is addressed only with the most cursory and clinically oriented approaches to palliative care. A critical commentary about this policy approach is supplemented with a brief description of an alternative policy vision that connects older people's care with a wider public health approach to end of life care for older people.

Review: Morals, Rights and Practice in the Human Services: Effective and Fair Decision-Making in Health, Social Care and Criminal Justice Marie Connolly and Tony Ward Jessica Kingsley, London, 2008, 200pp, ISBN 9781843104865, {pound}19.99

Fives, A. — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:08:45 PST

Review: Political and Philosophical Debates in Welfare Allyn Fives Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2008, 236pp, ISBN 978--1--4039--8738--9, {pound}19.99 (pbk)

Ginsburg, N. — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:08:45 PST

Review: Social Exclusion and the Politics of Order Kevin Ryan Manchester University Press, Manchester, 2007, 304pp, ISBN 9780719075537, {pound}55.00 (hbk)

Satka, M. — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:08:45 PST

Review: The Failed Welfare Revolution: America's Struggle over Guaranteed Income Policy Brian Steensland Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford, 2008, 304pp, ISBN 978--0--691--12714--9, {pound}19.95

Fitzpatrick, T. — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:08:45 PST

Review: The Post-Qualifying Handbook for Social Workers Wade Tovey (ed.) Jessica Kingsley, London, 2007, 296pp, ISBN 978--1--84310--428--5, {pound}18.99

Dolan, P. — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:08:45 PST

Review: The Effectiveness of Health Impact Assessment: Scope and Limitations of Supporting Decision-Making in Europe Matthias Wismar, Julia Blau, Kelly Ernst and Josep Figueras (eds) World Health Organization, Copenhagen, 2007, 291pp, ISBN 978--92--890--7295--3, {pound}21.85 (pbk)

Aldred, R. — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:08:45 PST