Social Justice and Social Policy in Scotland

Description

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.

Gerry Mooney is Senior Lecturer in Social Policy and Criminology in the Faculty of Social Sciences, The Open University in Scotland. He has written widely on issues relating to social policy and urban studies. Together with Gill Scott, he is editor of Exploring Social Policy in the 'New' Scotland, Policy Press, 2005. Gill Scott is Emeritus Professor of Social Justice at Glasgow Caledonian University. She has extensively researched and written on many key areas of social policy making in the Scottish and European contexts.

"It is the central concern with issues of social inequality and social justice that binds this collection of papers on key areas of social policy in contemporary Scotland and makes it so compelling. This is an invaluable text not only for those in Scotland but for all concerned with developments in social policy across the devolved UK and elsewhere." Charlotte Williams OBE, Keele University. " Mooney and Scott have brought together a range of contributions that demonstrate the challenges Scotland faces, and the possibilities and constraints in different policy arenas that are available to its policy makers and citizens. This book offers important lessons for Scottish and wider UK social policy and will be required reading for students, policy makers and practitioners. " Kirstein Rummery, University of Stirling.