Understanding Social Problems: Issues in Social Policy - Softcover

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Margaret May is one of the editors of The Student's Companion to Social Policy (1997) and of the forthcoming Blackwell Dictionary of Social Policy (2001).

Edward Brunsdon's publications include contributing to and editing The Social Policy Review (1996-1998) and studies of private welfare (in R Page & S Silburn (eds) British Social Welfare in the Twentieth Century (1999) and welfare management (in S Horton & R Farnham (eds.) Public Management in Britain (1999).

Edward Brunsdon and Margaret May are Principal Lecturers in Social Policy in the Department of Sociology and Applied Social Studies at London Guildhall University.

Robert Page is currently a Reader in Social Policy at the University of Leicester. He is the author of Stigma (1984) and Altruism and the Welfare State (1996). He is the co-editor (with Vic George) of Modern Thinkers on Welfare (1995) and (with Richard Silburn) of British Social Welfare in the 20th Century (1999).

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The study of social problems is a major theme in undergraduate programmes in social policy, sociology and professional courses in health and social care. It also forms a key element of assessment in many applied social studies programmes.

Understanding Social Problems looks at the key social problems confronting contemporary society, ranging from child poverty and divorce to community safety and drug abuse. Each chapter is written by an expert in that particular field. Contributors examine how social problems have been conceptualized within sociology and social policy and the varying approaches of policy analysts. The book includes substantive studies of current and emerging issues and explores the role of the media in the presentation and discussion of social problems and policy responses. It also highlights the links between the analysis of social problems and policy formation.

Accessible, student-friendly, and with a range of helpful pedagogical tools, Understanding Social Problems fills an important gap in the textbook literature.