Social Policy

The future and shape of the British Welfare State has been the subject of much debate in the 1980s, involving sociologists as well as politicians. This book seeks to introduce the main sociological issues underlying this debate, and to provide a wider understanding and analysis of the relationship between social policy and the Welfare State. Social policy is also considered in relation to other sociological concepts which have a particular application to the study of social policy, such as class conflict and social control. The "Sociology in Focus" series is designed to cover the requirements of A level sociology syllabuses. Each book is written by a specialist in the area and contains a selection of readings and documentary extracts, including statistical and quantitative data as well as textual analysis.