An introduction to Social Policy

Paul Spicker

Social Policy

Social Policy is the study of social services and the welfare state. In general terms, it looks at the idea of social welfare, and its relationship to politics and society. More specifically, it also considers:

• policy and administration of social services, including policies for health, housing, income maintenance, education and social work;
• needs and issues affecting the users of services, including poverty, old age, health, disability, and family policy; and
• the delivery of welfare.

This site is a free, educational resource outlining the main issues.

Please note that this site is closing down. The materials will continue to be accessible at this address but the educational content will not be updated.

A-Z of subjects

A

• Absolute poverty
• Administration of social services
• The administration of welfare in the UK
• Arguments for welfare
• Arguments against welfare

B

• The Beveridge report
• The Beveridge scheme
• Birth
• Biology
• Blog
• The body
  
• Bureaucracy

C

• Child Benefit
• Child abuse
• Child protection in the UK
• Children, needs of
• China, welfare state
• Christian Democracy
• Citizenship
• Class
• Conservatism
• Community care
  • Community care (psychiatric patients)
  • Community care policy in the UK
• Comparative social policy
• Conditionality
• Co-production
• Corporate social responsibility
• Council housing
• Corporatism
• Criminal justice services
  • Criminal justice services in the UK
• The "crisis" of welfare

D

• Death
• Democracy
• Deviance
• Developing countries
  • Gender and development
    
• Disability
  • Commentary on benefits for disability
• Discretion
• Discrimination
  
• Discretionary benefits
• Domestic violence
  

E

• The economics of the welfare state
• Economic policy in the UK
• Education
  • Educational disadvantage
  • Education policy in the UK
  • Educational standards in the UK
  • Models of education
• Elites and power
• Employment services
  
• Empowering users
  
• Equality
  • Policies for equality
  • Redistribution
  • The strategy of equality
• Equalities (anti-discrimination law)
• European Union
• Evaluating policy
  
• Exclusion

F

• Family
  
• Fascism
• Feminist perspectives
• France
• Fraud and error in social security benefits
• Freedom
  
• Functionalism

G

• Gender and social policy
  • Gender and development
• Genetics
• Germany
• Globalization
• Government

H

• Health
  • Health care
  • Financing health care
  • Health inequalities
  • Health care in the UK
  • Development of health care in Britain
• Higher and further education
• Historical interpretations of the development of welfare states
• History of British social policy
• Housing
  • Housing problems
  • Homelessness
  • Housing and deprivation
  • Housing policy in the UK
• Housing Benefit
• Human beings
• Human rights

I

• Ideology and social welfare
• Immigration
• Incapacity benefits
  • Incapacity benefits in the UK (commentary)
• Income and wealth
• India
  
• Individual and social well-being
• Individualism
• Inequalities in health
• Inequality
• Informal sector
• Institutional welfare
• Interactionism
• Internet resources

J

• Justice
  • Criminal justice services
  • Criminal justice services in the UK

K

• Keynesian economics

L

• Labour markets
• Labour movement
• Law
  
• Learning disability
• Left wing politics
• Liberal individualism
• The Liberal Government 1905-1911 (UK)
• Local authority housing (UK)
• Local government (UK)

M

• Management
  • New Public Management
    
• Markets
• Marriage
  
• Marxism
• Means testing
  
• Mental illness
  
• The mixed economy of welfare
• Models of welfare
• Monetarism
• Morality
  
• Mutual aid

N

• Nation
• National Health Service
  • The NHS in principle
  • The NHS and the hospitals
  • The organisation of the NHS
  • The NHS and quasi-markets
    
• Need
• New Public Management
  
• Non-contributory benefits
• Non-decisions
• Normalisation

O

• Old age
• One parent families
• Online resources
• Owner-occupation

P

• Paul Spicker's blog on social policy
• Pensions
  • Pensions (UK)
  • Commentary on pensions
• Persons
  
• Personal social services
  • Personal social services in the UK
• Personalisation
• Physical disability
• Planning
• Pluralism
• Poland
• The politics of welfare
• The Poor Law
  • The Old Poor Law
  • Settlement and removal
  • Workhouses under the Old Poor Law
  • Out relief
  • The Poor Law of 1834
  • The workhouse under the New Poor Law
  • The Poor Law and Public Health
  • ...and Local Government
  • ... and Education
  • ... and Health services
  • The end of the Poor Law
• Populism
  
• Poverty
  • The causes of poverty
  • Measuring poverty
  • Targeting the poor
  • Policies for poverty
    
  • Commentary on poverty
• Power
• Prejudice
  
• Professionalism
• The provision of welfare
• Psychiatric care
• Primary education
• Private sector
• Private rented housing
• Problem estates
• Public sector
• Public services
  • finance
  • management
  • paying for welfare

R

• Race and social policy
  
• Rationing
• Readings in social policy
• Redistribution
• Relative poverty
• Religious influences
• Residual welfare
• Welfare régimes
• Right wing politics
  • The radical right
  • Right wing arguments against welfare
• Rights
• The right to welfare
• Risk

S

• Sanctions
• Scotland
  • Commentary on social policy issues in Scotland
• Selectivity
  • Selectivity and poverty
• Service delivery
• Sexuality
  
• Single parents
• Social administration
• Social control
  
• Social democracy
• The social division of welfare
• social investment
• Social Policy
• Social policy and administration
• Social problems
• Social security
  
• Social security benefits
• Social service management
• The social structure
• Social work
• Socialism
• Solidarity
• Source material, guidance to students
• Spicker, Paul
• The state
• Status
• Stigma
  
• Stratification
• The structure of social services
• Subcultures
• Suicide
  
• Sweden

T

• Targeting
  • Targeting the poor
    
• Tax
• Teenage pregnancy
• Terminating pregnancy
  
• Trades unions

U

• Unemployment
  • Social security for unemployed people (UK)
  • Commentary on UK unemployment issues
• The United Kingdom
• The social policy of the United Kingdom
  • The government of welfare in the UK
  • The main government departments dealing with social policy in the UK
• United States
• Universality and selectivity
• Universal benefits
• Universal credit
• Urban deprivation and the inner cities
• Urban policy

V

• Violence, interpersonal
  
• Voluntary sector
• Vulnerability

W

• The Web - sources on social policy
• About the website
• Welfare
• Welfare pluralism
  
• Welfare to work
• Well-being
• Welfare state
• Welfare states
• The welfare state and economic performance
• The welfare state in Britain
  • Before the welfare state
  • The British welfare state after 1948
• Who is welfare for?
• Work and society
• The Work Programme
• The workhouse
• Writing about social policy