Poverty remains a problem in Europe, raising the need for new solutions. In this thought-provoking book the contributors delve deeply into the everyday lives of poor households to see which practices and resources they apply to improve their situations. One of the book’s key findings is that social resilience requires a functioning welfare state operating at an increased level. In addition to sufficient welfare transfers, there is a need for low-commodified common goods to be made available not only for the registered poor but all low-income households.
This handbook addresses the issues and challenges of the delivery of social work education in the contemporary world. It provides an authoritative overview of the key debates, switching the lens away from a Western-centric focus to engage with a much broader audience in countries that are in the process of modernization and professionalization, alongside those where social work education is more developed. Chapters tackle major challenges with respect to curriculum, teaching, practice, and training in light of globalization, providing a thorough examination of the practice of social work in diverse contexts. This handbook presents a contribution to the process of knowledge exchange which is essential to global social work education. It brings together professional knowledge and lived experience, both universal and local, and aims to be an essential reference for social work educators, researchers, and students.
Work Inequalities in the Crisis provides an in-depth overview of the effects of the financial and economic crisis on inequalities in the world of work. It examines these inequalities multidimensionally, looking at employment, wages and incomes, working conditions and social dialogue. At the same time, it investigates whether the crisis may halt the progress made in Europe towards better quality jobs and working conditions. This book offers a unique combination of research, case studies and policy discussions. An assessment of national trends in 30 European countries precedes case studies of 14 of them, in which noted European specialists report on individual enterprises or sectors. The volume's survey of national- and local-level policy solutions contributes to identifying those responses that strengthen economic competitiveness, preserve social cohesion and do not deepen inequalities. This timely resource will be of particular interest to academics, students and researchers in labour economics, to policymakers, and to those involved in European studies more generally. Book jacket.
La crisis económica está afectando a multitud de familias en todos los lugares de España. En esta publicación se trata esta situación desde la perspectiva de cómo el desempleo provocado por la crisis afecta a los hogares, qué efectos tiene en diferentes sectores sociales y el impacto sufrido en los sistemas de protección social. También se analiza cómo la opinión pública española tiene una mayor percepción social del aumento de la pobreza en España. En la primera parte del libro se esboza cómo ha sido el primer impacto de la crisis en la sociedad (las altas probabilidades de exclusión, la pobreza?). En la segunda parte de la publicación se tratan los efectos producidos en las condiciones de vida y en las relaciones sociales. También en los hogares con personas de cuidados especiales. La tercera parte del libro trata de elaborar, con perspectiva analítica, una serie de proposiciones para revisar y reforzar los mecanismos políticos. Finalmente, y como fruto del análisis del libro, se presentan distintas líneas de acción para el futuro inmediato, entre las que destacan: garantizar el acceso a unos ingresos mínimos, potenciar el mantenimiento de los jóvenes en el sistema educativo, prevenir los procesos de pérdida de la vivienda, potenciar la igualdad, integrar a los sectores de la población minoritarios y reforzar la red de servicios sociales como agente coordinador de las políticas de lucha contra la exclusión.
In the world of the 21st century, epidemics are common biological and social occurrences, with HIV perhaps emphasising this better than any other disease. Medical scientific research has undoubtedly made significant steps forward; meanwhile, the social research field is still in its initial stages, with many awaiting an equally auspicious response. A Socio-Criminological Analysis of the HIV Epidemic offers a comprehensive analysis of the multifaceted socio-criminological dimensions of the HIV epidemic and positively contributes to the ongoing sociological debate on infectious diseases. The author intends to create an independent epistemology of HIV to explicate the social forces that impact and determine the course and experience of the epidemic, while also seeking to reframe the popular discourse on HIV to reflect sociological conceptualisations. This latter step leads to the identification of the concept of social interaction as an appropriate tool for highlighting the complex social nature of this virus. The unprecedented challenge posed by the epidemic for the international community calls for global cooperation aimed at evaluating the diverse aspects of the issues that many actors in this tragic drama must deal with. Given its wide-reaching international appeal, this book is also recommended for those involved or interested in global health issues and infectious diseases. It will be of particular interest to medical researchers, health workers, social scientists, social workers, policymakers, humanitarian workers, HIV and human rights activists, and graduate students.
A comprehensive Statistical Appendix provides regional and country-by-country data in such areas as GDP, manufacturing, sector productivity, prices, trade, income distribution and living standards."--BOOK JACKET.
The book is the first major study to examine the implications of differences in welfare regimes for the experience of unemployment in Europe. It is concerned with three central questions about the way such regimes affect the experience of unemployment. The first is how far they protect the quality of life of unemployed people with respect to living standards and the experience of financial hardship. The second is their role in mediating the impact of unemployment on the individual's longer-term position in the labour market, addressing the issue of how far they help to prevent progressive marginalization from the employment structure as a result of motivational change, skill loss or the growth of discriminatory barriers. The third is how far such regimes mediate the impact of unemployment on social integration in the community, for instance with respect to the maintenance (or rupture) of social networks and the degree of psychological distress experienced by the unemployed. The book is the product of a major cross-cultural research programme, funded by the European Union (TSER), bringing together teams from eight countries. The emphasis has been on rigorous comparison rather than the all-too-frequent separate country analyses, which usually provide data which differs in format from one country to another. In addition to a systematic comparison of national data sources, it has been able to make use of a new important data source (the European Community Household Panel) produced by Eurostat which provides directly comparable information for all EU countries. The study shows that institutional and cultural differences have vital implications for the experience of unemployment. While welfare policies affect in an important way the pervasiveness of poverty, it is above all the patterns of family structure and the culture of sociability in a society that affect vulnerability to social isolation. The book concludes by developing a new perspective for understanding the risk of social exclusion.
A critical analysis of the domino effect of neoliberalism and austerity on social work. Applying theory including those of Bourdieu and Wacquant to practice, it argues that social work should return to a focus on relational and community approaches.
This country review report offers an independent analysis of major issues facing the use of school resources in Colombia from an international perspective. It provides a description of national policies, an analysis of strengths and challenges, and a proposal of possible future approaches.
