Thatcher's Grandchildren explores sociological and political issues about childhood that have that have become increasingly significant in the twenty first century within a political landscape framed by neo-liberalism. Issues addressed include child protection and abuse, the media, education and schooling, and poverty.

The new edition of Key Concepts in Gender Studies is a lively and engaging introduction to this dynamic field.Thoroughly revised throughout, the second edition benefits from the addition of nine new concepts including Gender Social Movements, Intersectionality and Mainstreaming.Each of the entries:begins with a concise definitionoutlines the history of each term and the debates surrounding itincludes illustrations ...

This book argues for the importance of age as a source of diversity and difference amongst women. It compares three generations of women’s accounts of a range of gender issues, including the domestic division of labour, equality, abortion and sexuality. It also compares their understandings of and orientations toward the feminist movement. Drawing on Karl Mannheim’s argument that an individual’s location in historical time shapes their social outlooks or world views, it is shown that women...

This book gathers together an original collection of papers on gender and qualitative research. The contributors draw on a variety of research methods and research settings to demonstrate the value of a qualitative approach for studying gender related issues. Individual chapters include discussions on participant observation, ethnographic interviewing, focus groups and the analysis of documentary sources. The volume as a whole reflects the wide range of gender focused work which is ongoing...

That childhood is a social construction is understood both by social scientists and in society generally. The authors of this book examine the political issues surrounding childhood, including law making, social policy, government provisions and political activism.; This text examines current social and political issues involving childhood. It looks at the impact of the "New Right" who talk of family values, parent power in schools, irresponsible provision of contraception to young girls a...

In this introductory text for A level students and undergraduates, Jane Pilcher covers the main issues debated about women in Britain today. Subjects covered include:* women and gender: sociological perspectives* education and training* women and paid work* household work and caring* love and sexuality* crime and punishment* politics and participation.Providing a clear sociological analysis of central debates and an introduction to ...

Changing Family Values offers a comprehensive introduction to contemporary debates and new research surrounding the family. It explores how we define traditional family values and how these values are perceived as being underthreat in contemporary society. Ranging across politics, social policy, law and sociology, the contributors focus on the diverse realities of contemporary family life. Issues covered include:* the recent backlash against single mothers* lesbian a...

Community development emerged as a recognisable occupational activity in the United Kingdom in the 1950s. Since then, whilst struggling to remain true to its basic values it has often been manipulated to serve differing policy and political purposes. This unique Reader traces its changing fortunes through a selection of readings from key writers. It will be invaluable to those pursuing community development careers, for activists, and for all those teaching, training and practising communi...

Based on interviews with key actors in the policy-making process, this book maps the changes in education policy and policy making in the Thatcherite decade. The focus of the book is the 1988 Education Reform Act, its origins, purposes and effects, and it looks behind the scenes at the priorities of the politicians, civil servants and government advisers who were influential in making changes. Using direct quotations from senior civil servants and former secretaries of state it provides a ...

Gender issues continue to be a prominent concern of academics and policy-makers, and increasingly arise in various forms to be debated in the public sphere and popular media. But what exactly do we mean by gender? How can we best understand gender differences? How are current gender relations changing? What new paths are ‘femininity’ and ‘masculinity’ taking? What would it be like to live in a society in which differences of gender were transcended?In this new edition of her popula...

Law and order has become a key issue throughout the world. Crime stories saturate the mass media and politicians shrilly compete with each other in a race to be the toughest on crime. Prisons are crammed to bursting point, and police powers and resources extended repeatedly. After decades of explosive increase in crime rates, these have plummeted throughout the Western world in the 1990s. Yet fear of crime and violence, and the security industries catering for these anxieties, grow relentl...

Community-based crime control has become one of the principal policy responses to crime and disorder across western societies, and is regarded now as one of the keys to successful crime prevention and reduction. The aim of this book is to bring together findings from case studies of community-based crime control in England as a means of examining the prospects for this approach, its evolving relationship with criminal justice and social policies, and to assess the lessons internationally t...