News from the Policy Press
Housing Policy Transformed book launch at the IEA
Spring textbooks now available for inspection
Apology to forcibly removed child migrants will be issued today by Gordon Brown
The Policy Press 2010 catalogue is now available
Keeping young children safe online
Rural England's ageing population
Inequality in Britain
Improvements in dementia services - still not a priority?
Care of the elderly is 'unacceptable' according to Parkinson
Professor Nutt and the new Independent Council on Drug Harms
Book launch 24 February 2010: Housing policy transformed
Season's greetings from The Policy Press and office closure information
New government initiative to keep children safe online
'Right to Buy' - The debate continues
Improving social care services for adults
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Housing policy transformed book launch at the IEA
11 March 2010
The launch of Peter King’s new book, Housing policy transformed: The right to buy and the desire to own, was marked with a wine reception at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in London on 24th February. The event included an introduction by the IEA’s Director General, Mark Littlewood and a talk by the author about his new book, followed by questions from the floor.
Spring textbooks now available for inspection
10 March 2010
We offer an inspection copy service for paperback titles and you can now order your copies of the new and forthcoming textbooks listed below. Simply go to the individual book page and click on 'Request Inspection Copy' underneath the book jacket:*
- Embodying identities
- Voyage to Utopias
- Understanding human need
- Understanding social citizenship (2e)
- The short guide to social work
- Recording in social work
- An introduction to genetic epidemiology
- Multi-agency working in criminal justice
- Social theory for beginners
- Using theory to explore health, medicine and society
- Understanding theories and concepts in social policy
- Social entrepreneurship
- Exploring modern probation
*Inspection copies are available to lecturers who wish to consider adopting them for a course of 12 or more students. If the title is recommended for purchase on a course, it may be kept. If not, it should be paid for or returned to our distributor in resaleable condition within 28 days. A maximum of three titles can be requested at any one time.
Apology to forcibly removed child migrants will be issued today by Gordon Brown
24 February 2010
Today, Gordon Brown will apologise for the role that the UK played in forcibly sending over 130,000 children to former colonies in the last century. The BBC reports that the Child Migrants Programme promised a better life to these children but instead resulted in many thousands suffering abuse and being cut off from their families. According to Harold Haig, secretary of the International Association of Former Child Migrants and their Families, the official apology will ‘help to heal a painful past’.
Roy Parker, in his book Uprooted: The Shipment of Poor Children to Canada, 1867-1917, explores the Canadian experience in-depth. The book brings together economic, political, social, medical, legal, administrative and religious aspects with evidence from recent survivors. Buy now for just £14.99. Also take a look at The Policy Press blog where Roy Parker has written a post: The Prime Minister's Apology.
The Policy Press 2010 catalogue is now available
17 February 2010
Our new 2010 catalogue is now available online. The catalogue features all of our new books for 2010, as well as the most recent and best-selling backlist titles. Some highlights include: Phoenix cities by Anne Power, Jörg Plöger and Astrid Winkler; Ferraris for all by Daniel Ben-Ami; Shoot to kill by Maurice Punch; and The migration debate by Sarah Spencer.
If you’d rather have a hard copy version, and are not currently on our mailing list, please either sign up to receive information from The Policy Press by post or email Charlotte Skelton - charlotte.skelton@bristol.ac.uk - and she’ll be happy to send a copy to you.
Keeping young children safe online
10 February 2010
A new campaign, designed to show five to seven year olds potential risks on the web, has been launched by the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, coinciding with EU's Safer Internet Day 2010. According to the BBC, 80% of children in this age group use the web and many have access to social networking sites. With growing concern from parents, child psychologist David Coleman describes how the campaign will use cartoons to increase children's understanding of 'what constitutes 'private' information' as well as 'recognising that people can pretend to be different online'. By targeting children at such a young age it is hoped that they will develop 'safe behaviour online'.
As the internet and new online technologies are becoming embedded in everyday life, there are increasing questions about their social implications and consequences. Kids online captures the timely expertise generated by the EU Kids Online project and examines the issues that children can face on the web.
Rural England's ageing population
5 February 2010
It is predicted by The National Housing Federation that by 2020 a quarter
of people living in rural England will be over 65, reports the BBC. It goes on to say that the growth in the numbers of older people in rural areas may have a negative impact on the communities who will 'struggle to support the ageing population'. It is recognised by the government that to avoid this and save many amenities a plan to provide more affordable housing must be put in place so that younger people and families can move in. This has already begun with a large-scale council house building project underway and schemes like 'Homebuy' helping low-income and first time buyers onto the ladder.
Rural ageing: A good place to grow old?, addresses the issue of 'age-friendly' communities by providing detailed information on the characteristics of rural communities - idyllic and supportive or isolated and bereft of services - and assesses what makes them supportive to different groups of older adults.
Inequality in Britain
2 February 2010
A recent report - An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK - led by John Hills, author of Towards a more equal society?, has found that Britain has become even more unequal, with findings that show that "the gap between Britain's richest and poorest is wider than ever before" and that "the richest 10% of the population are more than 100 times as wealthy as the poorest 10% of society". Gordon Brown has described it as "sobering" and Harriet Harman concludes that the government must "sustain and step up" in order to make British society more equal.
Leading social commentator and academic Daniel Dorling, who recently commented on the report in The Guardian, addresses this issue in his forthcoming book Injustice: Why social inequality persists. The book examines the five new tenets of injustice - elitism is efficient; exclusion is necessary; prejudice is natural; greed is good; and despair is inevitable - to discover what causes inequality to persist.
Improvements in dementia services - still not a priority?
21 January 2010
Despite government promises, improvements in dementia services in England have not been given the priority they deserve explains a recent BBC article. Whilst the care services minister, Phil Hope, claims that the National Dementia Strategy is 'on track', the National Audit Office (NAO) has asked whether the ambitious plans can be realised, especially if dementia is not made a priority in the NHS. As Karen Taylor of the NAO has pointed out 'trusts would concentrate on other issues if they were not made to focus on dementia', thus increasing the risk that the money apportioned for the strategy could end up going elsewhere.
With increasing public concern and awareness of the issue and programmes such as 'My Family and Alzheimers' examining the problems with dementia care, the forthcoming Broadening the dementia debate opens up the discussion further to include socio-political perspectives and social citizenship concepts alongside existing views from biomedicine and social psychology.
Care of the elderly is 'unacceptable' according to Parkinson
18 January 2010
A recent article in the Guardian describes how Sir Michael Parkinson has condemned the care of the elderly as 'downright unacceptable' and some of the places in which they are looked after as 'hopeless and depressing'. As the government's dignity in care ambassador, Parkinson has received many reports from concerned family members regarding the lack of dignity and respect shown to their elderly relatives in care. He commented that there should be an end to 'stereotypes of older people' and for 'health and care staff to take small, cost-free steps to make sure patients and residents were treated with dignity'.
Parkinson also noted that 'if we treated young people the way we treat older people there would be an outcry'. This theme is central to Unequal ageing which analyses the vital dimensions of money, health, quality of life and identity, and demonstrates the gaps of treatment and outcomes between older and younger people. It then goes on to suggest actions and workable solutions that could change the picture of unequal ageing. Buy now for just £13.49.
Professor Nutt and the new Independent Council on Drug Harms
8 January 2010
Professor David Nutt, recently dismissed from his post as Chairman for the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) for challenging government drug policies, has set up a new group - the Independent Council on Drug Harms - which will provide, according to Professor Nutt, "independent scientific evidence about the effect of drugs". Drawing in specialists from the ACMD along with other experts in the field this group is being described as 'very powerful' and a 'rival' to the official panel. The BBC is covering this story in-depth, click here to read more.
Whilst government policy has steadfastly been set against drug legalisation, critics have increasingly argued that the present policy is unsustainable. Publishing this month, Legalising drugs: Debates and dilemmas provides a timely and much-needed examination of some of the issues surrounding this matter. Buy now for just £11.24. Also, check out the Policy Press blog entry on 'Professor Nutt, the Home Secretary and drug control'.
Book Launch 24 February 2010: Housing policy transformed
7 January 2010
To celebrate the publication of Housing policy transformed: The right to buy and the desire to own – now available with 25% discount - the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) is hosting a book launch on 24th February 2010. The author, Peter King, and Simon Heffer, Associate Editor, The Daily Telegraph will make brief remarks; this will be followed by a drinks reception. For more information and to find out how to RSVP please click here.
Season's greetings from The Policy Press and office closure information
21 December 2009
It has been an exciting year for The Policy Press; we have launched a new website and blog, published over 60 new titles and continued to produce our highly prestigious journals.
As in previous years we will donate the money we would spend on Christmas cards and postage to charity. In honour of Peter Townsend this year we will be supporting the Child Poverty Action Group which campaigns for the abolition of child poverty in the UK.
The Policy Press office will be closed from 24th December 2009 to 4th January 2010 inclusive.
The opening hours for our distributors, Marston Book Services, are detailed below:
Closed from 12pm on 24th December 2009
Normal opening hours: 29th – 31st December 2009
Closed: 1st – 3rd January 2010
Normal opening hours from 4th January 2010
New government initiative to keep children safe online
14 December 2009
The UK government has announced plans to launch the new 'Click Clever, Click Safe' strategy in 2010 aiming to keep children safe online. Following recommendations from Professor Tanya Byron and the UK Council on Child Internet Safety, the 'Zip it, Block it, Flag it' campaign will be taught in schools and introduced to various social networking sites. As detailed on the BBC website the campaign "will encourage children not to give out personal information on the web, block unwanted messages on social networks and report any inappropriate behaviour".
On the whole the internet provides a positive experience for those that use it; however there are risks to children's safety. Kids online, edited by Sonia Livingstone and Leslie Haddon, discusses the opportunities and threats to children and young people in the online world. Buy now for just £14.99.
'Right to Buy' - The debate continues
8 December 2009
An article published in The Observer on 6 December examines the controversial 1979 housing policy - 'Right to Buy'. It is a policy that is not only still debated - in both a negative and positive light - but one that continues to have implications for Britain's housing stocks.
In January 2010, The Policy Press will publish Peter King's 'Housing policy transformed: The right to buy and the desire to own' which argues that the 'Right to Buy' housing policy was one of the most successful. Pre-order your copy now with 25% off.
Improving social care services for adults
3 December 2009
A recent report by the Care Quality Commission has identified that improvements still need to be made in the social care of adults, in particular the elderly. As detailed by the BBC the 'annual report rated one in four homes for the elderly as being adequate at best'. Several councils will be receiving government support to develop and improve social care services for adults with both public and private care homes receiving attention.
The British population is ageing which means that this subject will remain pertinent for many years to come. The Policy Press, with its aim to improve social conditions through its publications, publishes many titles that tackle the issue of adult social care, including Calculating a fair market price for care and Unequal ageing, to view our full selection of titles on the subject click here.
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Gordon Brown to apologise to forcibly removed child migrants
17 November 2009
Gordon Brown will apologise, in the New Year, to the child migrants forcibly shipped off to Commonwealth countries – including Australia and Canada - during the last century. The children, who were cut off from their families, were promised a better life but instead were often forced into unpaid labour and suffered abuse. This story has been covered in the national media including The Guardian, The Telegraph and the BBC. Also take a look at The Policy Press blog where Roy Parker has written a post: The Prime Minister's Apology.
Roy Parker, in his book Uprooted: The Shipment of Poor Children to Canada, 1867-1917, explores the Canadian experience in-depth. The book brings together economic, political, social, medical, legal, administrative and religious aspects with evidence from recent survivors. Buy now for just £13.99.
Peter Townsend Memorial Conference 20th November 2009
2 November 2009
A free one day memorial conference for Peter Townsend is being held on 20th November 2009. Consisting of four panels of speakers talking about Inequalities in Health, Older People, Poverty, and Social Exclusion and Social Policy, the aim of the conference is to look forward rather than reminisce on the past. For free tickets email: townsend-memorial@bristol.ac.uk.
The Peter Townsend reader celebrates the distinctive work of Peter Townsend with a collection of exceptional readings. To view the Memorial Booklet for Peter Townsend please click here.
'Hate on the Doorstep': Panorama 19th October 2009
2 November 2009
An episode of Panorama, broadcast last month and entitled 'Hate on the Doorstep' highlighted the problem of racial abuse on a housing estate in Bristol. Two BBC reporters of South Asian origin posing as a married Muslim couple with limited English lived on the estate for eight weeks and were racially abused more than 50 times.
This thought-provoking, and worrying, documentary brought to light many questions that are addressed in 'Sleepwalking to segregation'?: Challenging myths about race and migration by Nissa Finney and Ludi Simpson. Is Britain really under threat from ethnic diversity? Is the social fabric crumbling as we sleepwalk to segregation? The authors argue that it is the the myths of race and migration are the real threat to an integrated society.
Policy & Politics lecture from the Director General of the Security Service
16 October 2009
The Director General of the Security Service, Jonathan Evans, gave the 14th Annual Policy & Politics Lecture on 15 October at Bristol University. The speech, entitled 'Defending the Realm', reflected on the history of the Service in its centenary year and addressed some of the important issues facing the Service today.
See the MI5 website for the complete text of the speech. The lecture has been covered extensively in the national media including on the Today Programme, in The Guardian and in The Telegraph.
Christopher Andrew, who gave the Policy & Politics lecture in 2002, has also been in the news this month. His book, 'The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5' was published on 5 October.
Image: Jonathan Evans © Crown Copyright
Launch of 'Unequal Ageing' at the Age Debate in Manchester
15 October 2009
On 9 October, the 'Age Debate' was held in Manchester's Town Hall to coincide with the publication of Unequal ageing, edited by Paul Cann and Malcolm Dean.
The day was introduced by Councillor Sue Cooley from Manchester City Council who has special responsibility for older people, then Paul Cann gave an overview of the issues raised by Unequal ageing. Next Thomas Scharf spoke about unequal income in later life and how this is influenced by early experiences. Finally James Nazroo spoke about unequal health in later life and the differing outcomes this produces.
Participants then attended a variety of workshops on topics such as sexual health for over-50s and Manchester's Ageing Strategy. The day concluded with a lively question and answer session chaired by Malcolm Dean and with a panel of the speakers and workshop leaders. The audience, of academics, practitioners, students and older people themselves, appreciated the mix of contributions and topics.
Images: top - Paul Cann, one of the editors of Unequal Ageing: bottom - Thomas Scharf, one of the editors of Critical perspectives on ageing societies.
Article on 'Unequal Ageing' in Guardian Society
7 October 2009
Malcolm Dean has written a piece on his latest book, Unequal ageing, edited with Paul Cann, which was published in Society Guardian on Wednesday 7 October 2009. Click here to read the article.
Age Debate, Manchester, 9 October 2009
2 October 2009
To coincide with last month's publication of Unequal ageing, edited by Paul Cann and Malcolm Dean, this one day event will include a mix of lectures, workshops and a panel debate. The event will be held in Manchester Town Hall on 9 October 2009.
For more information contact Rachel York on email rachel.york@manchester.gov.uk.
Searching for community and The dilemmas of development work event
15 September 2009
An event was held in Bristol last week to celebrate the publication of two books about community, identity and power drawing on experiences from Bristol and London: Searching for community, by the late Jeremy Brent, and The dilemmas of development work by Paul Hoggett, Marjorie Mayo and Chris Miller. There was a fantastic turnout and a great atmosphere, so thank you to those involved for inviting us along!
Images: top - Paul Hoggett speaks to the assembled guests; bottom - Jeremy Brent's son, Colin, reads from Searching for community.
Book launches at the BSG
9 September 2009
Images: top left - Malcolm Dean; top right - Simon Evans; bottom - (left to right) Kathryn King, Judith Phillips, Alison Shaw.
Two thirds of England and Wales prisons overcrowded
26 August 2009
The Prison Reform Trust has published a list of the top 20 most crowded prisons in England and Wales, warning that Ministers can no longer afford to be complacent about prison overcrowding or the high reconviction rates it leads to. Almost two thirds of the prisons in Englad and Wales are ovecrowded according to Ministry of Justice figures. Read the full article here.
Last October, The Policy Press published Tackling prison overcrowding, edited by Mike Hough, Rob Allen and Enver Solomon. This book is a response to the controversial proposals for the construction of 'Titan' prisons to deal with the problem of prison overcrowding. Since the book was published, these plans have been abandoned, but it is clear that the problem still needs to be addressed.
Fear of a ‘Granny P’ tragedy
19 August 2009
The same lack of social care resources central to the tragedy of Baby Peter’s death may, according to Unison, increase the risk of a ‘Granny P’ tragedy. This comment was made in response to a survey which showed that almost two-thirds of social workers caring for elderly and vulnerable adults believe they have fewer professional resources than five years ago. Prioritizing paperwork over patients, cost-cutting and unfilled vacancies are among the pressures facing staff in their effort to manage our ageing population.
The problems regarding social care and the welfare of vulnerable adults are central to many of our publications. To find out more browse our Social Work and Social Care subject pages.
UK pensioners the fourth poorest in Europe
31 July 2009
As EU Research finds that UK pensioners are the 4th poorest in Europe our forthcoming book Unequal ageing, due in September, is extremely timely. It analyses the vital dimensions of money, health, place, quality of life and identity, and demonstrates the gaps of treatment and outcomes between older and younger people, and between different groups of older people. This powerful book, written by leading experts in the field, provides strong evidence of the scale of current disadvantage in the UK and suggests actions that could begin to change the picture of unequal ageing.
Voluntary Sector Review - a new journal coming in 2010
31 July 2009
March 2010 sees the launch Voluntary Sector Review, a new journal that will publish high-quality, peer-reviewed, accessible papers on third sector research, policy and practice. It will be an invaluable cutting-edge resource for all those researching or working in the fast-growing voluntary, community and wider third sectors. See the Voluntary Sector Review homepage for more information.
Welcome to our new website
31 July 2009
The Policy Press is delighted that you are visiting our new website. Please take the time to explore our new features, including an improved search facility, space for your reviews of our books, information pages, more featured titles and highlights, RSS feeds and our new blog. We’ve kept the features of the old site, such as easy online ordering.
If you are a registered customer you will need to re-register when you buy books, but this takes less than a minute. Please take advantage of our 25% launch discount and order some books for your summer reading!