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In an era of scarce social resources the question of the changing social policy constructions and responses to disabled people has become increasingly important. Paradoxically, some disabled people are realising new freedoms and choices never before envisioned, whilst others are prey to major retractions in public services and aggressive attempts to redefine who counts as ‘genuinely disabled’.
Understanding disability policy locates disability policy into broader social policy and welfare policy writings and goes beyond narrow statutory evaluations of welfare to embrace a range of indicators of disabled people’s welfare. The book critically explores the roles of social security, social support, poverty, socio-economic status, community safety, official discourses and spatial change in shaping disabled people’s opportunities. It also situates welfare and disability policy in the broader conceptual shifts to the social model of disability and its critics. Finally it explores the possible connection between changing official and academic constructions of disability and their implications for social policy in the 21st century.
The book is supported by a companion website, containing additional materials for both students and lecturers using the book, which is available from the link above.
1 Contextualising disability welfare policy This chapter provides a brief introduction to the myriad of factors and issues that have helped shape disability welfare policy in the latter half of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Alongside laying out specific policy influences and positive developments from paternalism to increased control, those longer-run factors that continue to limit coordinated and effective disability policies are highlighted. One important example of this can be seen in the growth of disability provision, whereby benefits are based
169 Coalition dreams, new conditionality and disability policy Introduction When first conceived, this book was projected to end with an appraisal of the latest New Labour policies around disability. However, it soon became apparent that the New Labour era was to end before the book was to be completed. The accession to power of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition in June 2010 thus requires a snapshot appraisal of the key policy changes proposed and a prediction of the impact these policies could have on disabled people. Before embarking on an
153 Out of the labyrinth? The disability benefits system unpacked The inclusion of a chapter on disability benefits in this book was prompted by the growing complexity of the UK benefits system and also the almost feverish attention afforded to disability welfare benefits by governments, the media and disability organisations in the late 20th and early 21st centuries (Piggott and Grover, 2009). The focus on ‘sturdy beggars’ in the early Poor Law has never fully gone away – this consideration has, in fact, remained in more contemporary concerns over a
9 Ethnicity, disability and chronic illness Simon Dyson and Maria Berghs Overview This chapter will help readers to understand how patterns of disablement and chronic illness may partly derive from levels of material deprivation. It also: • illustrates the value of looking at the interactions not only between ethnicity and disablement, but also between other factors such as age, gender and socioeconomic status; and • shows why it is important to interpret official figures on disability and ethnicity with care, and how cultural explanations from a policy
139 Getting it right for all disabled people? The impact of disability policy on structured disadvantage The field of disability policy is complex, and the many layers of services, benefits, initiatives and policy ‘actors’ makes an assessment of policy efficacy very challenging. Some policy areas can be more easily appraised where very specific interventions are at issue. For example, we can appraise the impact of work and welfare policies for a given target group or the degree to which direct payments are reaching their target audiences (Riddell et al
Independent living and the social model of disability Overview This chapter discusses: • disabled people’s experiences of the health and social care system; • the tendency of underpinning legislation and our implicit assumptions to focus on a culture of ‘care’ and of dependency, rather than on promoting independent living; • examples of policies and statutes that constrain disabled people’s lives; • recent policy responses, including direct payments/individual budgets in social care and the long-term conditions agenda in the NHS; • key concepts such as a
This is the concise, accessible guide for students and practitioners who want a comprehensive introduction to health and social care.
Engaging practical features, such as user-focused case studies and reflective exercises, promote understanding of theoretical and conceptual knowledge. In turn, clear explanations of social policy theory help frame the policy and practice dilemmas faced by students, front-line workers and policy makers. Chapters cover partnership working and integrated care, independent living, disability and long-term conditions, discrimination, user involvement and support for carers.
This new edition has been updated to cover key developments under the Coalition and beyond, including the 2012 Health Act, the 2014 Care Act, the Francis inquiry, the Winterbourne View abuse scandal, the integrated care agenda and the impact of austerity.
The 3rd edition of this bestselling textbook has been completely revised to address the range of socio-economic factors that have influenced UK housing policy in the years since the previous edition was published. The issues explored include the austerity agenda, the impact of the Coalition government’s housing policies, the 2015 Conservative government’s policy direction, the evolving devolution agenda and the recent focus on housing supply.
The concluding chapter examines new policy ideas in the context of theoretical approaches to understanding housing policy: laissez-faire economics; social reformism; Marxist political economy; behavioural perspectives and social constructionism. Throughout the textbook, substantive themes are illustrated by boxed examples and case studies.
The author focuses on principles and theory and their application in the process of constructing housing policy, ensuring that the book will be a vital resource for undergraduate and postgraduate level students of housing and planning and related social policy modules.
As the state withdraws from welfare provision, the mixed economy of welfare – involving private, voluntary and informal sectors – has become ever more important. This second edition of Powell’s acclaimed textbook on the subject brings together a wealth of respected contributors. New features of this revised edition include:
• An updated perspective on the mixed economy of welfare (MEW) and social division of welfare (SDW) in the context of UK Coalition and Conservative governments
• A conceptual framework that links the MEW and SDW with debates on topics of major current interest such as ‘Open Public Services’, ‘Big Society’, Any Qualified Provider’, Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and ‘Public Private Partnerships’ (PPP)
Containing helpful features such as summaries, questions for discussion, further reading suggestions and electronic resources, this will be a valuable introductory resource for students of social policy, social welfare and social work at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.
