Social Policy, Social Welfare and Scandal: How British Public Policy is Made

by I. Butler, M. Drakeford

Overview

This book explores the complex relationship between public policy and scandal. By critically examining some of the landmark scandals of the post war period, using a variety of contemporary records and by close examination of the public inquiries which followed, this book describes the process whereby scandals are constructed and pursued, and demonstrates how scandals coincide with key shifts in public policy, in ways that are more complex and reciprocal than might first appear.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780333747629
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	12/10/2002
Edition description:	2003
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

IAN BUTLER is a qualified social worker with considerable practice and managerial experience. He has worked in residential and field settings, mainly with children and their families, in the statutory, voluntary and independent sectors. He also worked as a parliamentary research assistant for members of the Labour Party before taking up a post as a lecturer in Social Work Studies at Cardiff before moving to Keele University where he is now Professor of Social Work. Together with Mark Drakeford, he is currently Editor of the British Journal of Social Work.

MARK DRAKEFORD is a senior lecturer in social policy and applied social sciences at the University of Wales, Cardiff. For fifteen years, he worked as a probation officer and community development worker. Together with Ian Butler, he is current editor of the British Journal of Social Work. Since 2000, he has been seconded to work as the Cabinet's health and social policy adviser, and special adviser to the First Minister at the National Assembly for Wales.

Table of Contents

Scandal 'Gothic Nightmare': Madness and Public Policy from the Eighteenth Century 'The Corruption of Care': The Ely Hospital Inquiry 1969 'Household Happiness, Gracious Children': Children, Welfare and Public Policy 1840-1970 The Story of Cinderella: The Maria Colwell Inquiry 1974 'Mere Oblivion': The Development of Community Care 'Carnage in the Community': The Christopher Clunis Inquiry 1993 'An Ambience of Uneasiness': The Residential Care of Children 1834-1990 'A Narrow, Punitive and Harshly Restrictive Experience': The Staffordshire Childcare Inquiry 1991 Scandal, Welfare and Public Policy

Editorial Reviews

'This is an original and thought-provoking book which is very much to be welcomed.' - Social Policy

'For those who have concerns about the development of policy and the media representation of social work and social care, this is an important book.' - Brian Littlechild, University of Hertfordshire

'...a significant and timely contribution to our understanding of how public policy is made.' - Karin Crawford, Children & Society

'Butler and Drakeford present a convincing account of the peculiar significance of public scandal in this well-written and clearly constructed volume.' - Sir William Utting, The Mental Health Review

From the Publisher