Social Justice Policy Research Articles

The Economic Geography of the UK * Neil M. Coe and Andrew Jones (eds.)

The current economic crisis casts a shadow over this engaging edited volume, which provides a multi-dimensional set of accounts of the contemporary economic geography of the UK. Through the 16 chapters and two contributions by the editors, which introduce and conclude the collection, readers are offered a series of thematic windows that can be read in order or alternatively treated as discrete papers. The book is written in an accessible form both organizationally and stylistically. Individual chapters, while offering the intellectual depth of an academic journal article, are careful to explain terminology and benefit from bulleted aims at the start of each contribution allowing readers to gain a quick grasp of its focus. Such thoughtful presentation eases undergraduate students into serious academic engagement and potentially provides a springboard for further exploration into the recommended reading at the end of each chapter. The editors opt for a division of the volume into four sections. The first part—Setting the Scene: Uneven Economic Geographies—starts with a thoughtful and reflective introduction to the volume by Neil Coe and Andrew Jones who set the book within a historical context and identify thematic foci for the volume including globalization; financialization; tertiarization; flexibilization; immigration and neoliberalization. There then follows two chapters likely to be extensively used in introducing undergraduate students to the uneven geography of UK economic wealth and activity. First, Danny Dorling explores the north–south divide in terms of life expectancy, poverty, education, wealth and employment in a highly graphical and digestible manner. Such findings obviously have considerable implications for social justice and government policy and should therefore engage readers across the social sciences. Second, Ron Martin's analysis of the unevenness of regional growth under New Labour complements Dorling's contribution, noting that despite suggestions to the contrary, there has been ‘no marked closing of the growth gaps between the regions’ (p. 44) as the nature of the so-called ‘long boom’ over the lifetime of the Labour administration has been manifestly spatially uneven.

Exploring Heteronormativity in the Public Discourse of Jamaican Legislators

In Jamaica the public discourse on homosexuality is voluminous, however little or no empirical research or suitably detached policy-oriented discussion is in evidence. This multidisciplinary qualitative paper uses the content analysis of publicly available information to explore the posture of key public-policy actors on homosexuals and homosexuality. The observable implications of the findings for society and the rights of homosexuals are articulated. The paper concludes that this discourse evinces a settled heteronormative value system, reflecting a consensus on either side of the political divide and applauded by popular culture and popular opinion. At a time when most of the western world is embracing sexual diversity, these conclusions carry profound implications for legal reform, employment relations, social justice and public policy in Jamaica.

Forensic psychiatry and public protection

The prominence of risk in UK social and criminal justice policy creates opportunities, challenges and dangers for forensic psychiatry. The future standing of the specialty will depend not only on the practical utility of its responses to those opportunities and challenges, but also the ethical integrity of those responses.

Climate Change and Crime

Conflict has a carbon footprint. Crime is a subtype of conflict. Citizen on citizen predation by force or fraud, and responses to it, have carbon costs. The paper reviews relevant literatures and notes the absence of recognition of the nexus between crime and carbon-profligate lifestyles. The writers contend that looking at crime and disorder through a carbon costing 'lens' would profoundly influence social and criminal justice policy. The precise quantification of the carbon costs of crime is beyond the scope of this paper. The preliminary estimates contained herein suggest that the direct carbon costs of crime are substantial and the consequential costs more so, to the point where it is difficult to envisage a high crime society being a low carbon society. Recognition of this would lead to a major shift in policy favouring primary crime prevention through the design, implementation and maintenance of products and services less prone to crime. The costs of crime, both fiscal and carbon, would be a matter for regret rather than action were it not for the demonstrable success of schemes to design out crime, for example from residential environments. These are briefly discussed. The scope for further improvement in designing out crime seems considerable, and an intensive programme of research to explore avenues for advance is advocated.

The impact of Every Child Matters on trainee secondary teachers' understanding of professional knowledge

This study is concerned with the way in which the introduction in England of Every Child Matters (ECM), a mandatory framework for the well‐being of all pupils, has created new intraprofessional and interprofessional expectations about the development of professional knowledge for pre‐service secondary school teachers. In the light of current literature, the paper seeks to establish whether ECM for secondary teachers provides a simple reconciliation between subject expertise and the facilitation of human learning or a much more profound challenge to the development of values‐based autonomous professional knowledge. The research undertaken using questionnaires and interviews with cohorts of trainee secondary teachers between 2005 and 2008 aims to identify the impact of ECM on the development of their pre‐service professional knowledge. The data demonstrate a degree of movement in emphasis from an organic, values‐based understanding to a propositional, skills‐based understanding of professional knowledge. It is argued that this movement in emphasis is, to some degree, related to the instrumental implementation of a social justice policy that may have contributed to the weakening of the intrinsic relationship between teachers' values, ownership of professional knowledge and pupil well‐being. The study concludes that the challenge for teacher educators is to find the critical questions and pedagogies to counter the view that professional knowledge is simply the acquisition of strategies, skills and safeguarding knowledge that ensures accountability and legality in the classroom.

The Sport, Development and Peace Sector: A Model of Four Social Policy Domains

AbstractThis paper examines the ‘sport, development and peace’ (SDP) sector which has grown substantially at a global level over the past decade. The SDP sector is located conceptually within the broader ‘global civil society’, a highly contested policy field that features diverse political actors and ideologies. The main discussion sets out four ideal-types within the SDP policy domain that tend to be associated with specific institutions: first, neo-liberal social policies, as embodied by private or commercial interests, such as transnational corporations and forms of ‘corporate social responsibility’; second, ‘developmental interventionist’ policies associated with non-governmental and community-based organisations; third, ‘strategic developmentalist’ policies associated with national and international governmental organisations, and sport federations; and, fourth, social justice policies associated with new social movements and critical NGOs. Each of these domains is examined in detail. Three main types of interrelationship across the domains are then identified. The paper concludes by arguing for a more sophisticated understanding of sport's policy capabilities, stronger cross-domain partnerships and a renewal of the SDP sector through a fresh focus on social justice issues.

Social justice and urban regeneration policy in Scotland

The notion of social justice is used in a variety of policy discourses, including urban regeneration policy. At least in rhetorical terms, this usage has been particularly strong in Scotland (Mooney, G., and Scott, G., 2005. Introduction: themes and questions. In: G. Mooney and G. Scott, eds. Exploring social policy in the ‘new’ Scotland. Bristol: Routledge.), for several reasons, including the strengthening of national policy following the creation of the Scottish Parliament (Keating, M., 2005. The Government of Scotland: Public policy making after devolution. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.) and the promotion of national distinctiveness in many aspects of policy. However, this article asks the question: to what extent has this promotion in rhetoric been matched by the reality of policy application? To answer this question, the experience of urban regeneration policy in Scotland since 1997 is examined, highlighting a broad similarity with policy in England (in spite of espoused distinctiveness), and a general shift in approach away from social justice. Conclusions are then suggested for the operation of urban regeneration policy with possible wider application within other countries in Europe.

Book Review: G. Craig, T. Burchardt and G. Gordon (2007) Social Justice and Public Policy: Seeking Fairness in Diverse Societies

Book Review: G. Craig, T. Burchardt and G. Gordon (2007) Social Justice and Public Policy: Seeking Fairness in Diverse Societies

Social Justice and Public Policy: Seeking Fairness in Diverse Societies

Health & Social Care in the CommunityVolume 18, Issue 1 p. 110-111 Social Justice and Public Policy: Seeking Fairness in Diverse Societies Sara McCafferty, Sara McCafferty Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle UniversitySearch for more papers by this author Sara McCafferty, Sara McCafferty Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle UniversitySearch for more papers by this author First published: 15 December 2009 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2524.2009.00898_5.xCitations: 1Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume18, Issue1January 2010Pages 110-111 RelatedInformation

Discipline and Devolution: Constructions of Poverty, Race, and Criminality in the Politics of Rural Prison Development

Abstract: The soaring expansion of the US prison population is transforming the geographies of both urban and rural landscapes. As the trend in mass incarceration persists, depressed rural spaces are increasingly associated with rising prison development and the increasing criminalization of rural communities of disadvantage. Drawing on in‐depth archival and interview research in rural communities in the Northwestern states of Idaho and Montana, this paper explores how cultural productions of poverty and exclusion intersect with rural prison development. I examine how representations of poverty and criminality are entangled with processes of economic restructuring and the localization of economic development and social welfare. I explore the ways in which the rural prison geography of the Northwest is linked to the material and discursive construction of those in poverty and how these narratives are produced through local relations of race, ethnicity, and class. I suggest that the mobilization of these constructions legitimates rural prison expansion, increasingly punitive social and criminal justice policies, and the retrenchment of racialized and classed inequality. Further, I argue that these discursive imaginations of the poor work to obscure the central dynamics producing poverty under the neoliberal restructuring of rural economies and governance.

Entrevista com Stephen J. Ball: um diálogo sobre justiça social, pesquisa e política educacional

It is an interview with Professor Stephen J. Ball. The questions are related to the concept of social justice, research and education policy. Stephen J. Ball is the Karl Mannheim Professor of Sociology of Education at the Institute of Education – University of London. He is one of the most eminent scholars in the field of education policy. He provides interesting intellectual resources for understanding how education policy is produced, what it seeks to do and what its effects are.

Social Justice and Welfare Policy: A Response to Nickel

Social Justice and Welfare Policy: A Response to Nickel

Environmental attitudes, beliefs about social justice and intention to vote Green: lessons for the New Zealand Green Party?

The vast majority of New Zealanders in 2005 considered environmental protection a high priority, yet the Green Party – then the only New Zealand political party with a clear environmental sustainability agenda – continued to poll comparatively poorly. It has been suggested that much of the potential environmental vote is lost because of the party's left-of-centre social justice policies. Would the Greens attract greater electoral support by confining themselves to environmental issues? This question is addressed analysing data from the New Zealand Values Survey. Significant correlations between reported levels of concern about environmental and social justice issues suggest that the Greens' left-of-centre social policies may well be an added attraction for those for whom protection of the environment is a stated priority.

Social justice and public policy: Seeking fairness in diverse societies

Social justice and public policy: Seeking fairness in diverse societies

Social Science, Equal Justice, and Public Health Policy: Lessons from Los Angeles

Social Science, Equal Justice, and Public Health Policy: Lessons from Los Angeles

Dimensions of oppression in the lives of impoverished black women who use drugs.

Oppression against Black women continues to be a significant problem in the United States. The purpose of this study is to use grounded theory to identify multiple dimensions of oppression experienced by impoverished Black women who use drugs by examining several settings in which participants experience oppression. Three case studies of drug using, impoverished Black women were randomly selected from two large scale consecutive ethnographic studies conducted in New York City from 1998 to 2005. Analysis revealed five dimensions of oppression occurring within eight distinct settings. While dimensions constitute different manifestations of oppression, settings represented areas within participants' lives or institutions with which participants interact. Dimensions of oppression included classism, sexism, familism, racism, and drugism. Settings included the school system, correction system, welfare system, housing and neighborhood, relationship with men, family, experiences with drug use, and employment. Findings have important implications for social justice, welfare, drug, and justice system policy.

A Study on the Social Justice and Social Policy in Europe

A Study on the Social Justice and Social Policy in Europe

Poverty, social justice and the Labour government, 1997-2007

This article explores Labour’s record on poverty and social justice since 1997. Poverty rates have fallen, but not for everyone on low incomes. And while fiscal policy has introduced a greater egalitarianism into public policy, British society remains as divided by income as it was when Labour took office. Critics continue to argue that more must be done to narrow the gap between rich and poor in the name of social justice. But the government’s record reflects the balance of priorities between a market-led strategy for growth and welfare policies for social justice in New Labour’s post-Thatcherite social democratic politics.

Ethics and Social Welfare: The State of Play

This extended editorial takes stock of the first volume of the journal Ethics and Social Welfare, offering an overview of the types of contributions in the first four issues and suggesting future themes. A critical summary is given of the contributions so far, which have included: moral philosophical theorizing; analysis of key ethical concepts; exploration of contested areas of policy and practice; empirical studies of living conditions, perceptions, attitudes and professional interventions; accounts of ethical issues in practice; ethical issues in research; and models of professional ethical decision making. Themes identified for future consideration include: service user perspectives on aspects of social welfare practice; development of practice-based ethical theories for the social welfare professions; ideas about teaching professional and practical ethics; ethical issues in managing and distributing resources; critical analysis of the ethical implications of public policies; further contributions offering moral, political and social philosophical perspectives on issues of social justice, cultural diversity, global and local policies for tackling environmental and humanitarian crises.

Measuring resource inequalities: The concepts and methodology for an area-based Gini coefficient

Although inequalities in income and expenditure are relatively well researched, comparatively little attention has been paid, to date, to inequalities in resource use. This is clearly a shortcoming when it comes to developing informed policies for sustainable consumption and social justice. This paper describes an indicator of inequality in resource use called the AR-Gini. The AR-Gini is an area-based measure of resource inequality that estimates inequalities between neighbourhoods with regard to the consumption of specific consumer goods. It is also capable of estimating inequalities in the emissions resulting from resource use, such as carbon dioxide emissions from energy use, and solid waste arisings from material resource use. The indicator is designed to be used as a basis for broadening the discussion concerning ‘food deserts’ to inequalities in other types of resource use. By estimating the AR-Gini for a wide range of goods and services we aim to enhance our understanding of resource inequalities and their drivers, identify which resources have highest inequalities, and to explore trends in inequalities. The paper describes the concepts underlying the construction of the AR-Gini and its methodology. Its use is illustrated by pilot applications (specifically, men's and boys' clothing, carpets, refrigerators/freezers and clothes washer/driers). The results illustrate that different levels of inequality are associated with different commodities. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of some possible policy implications of the AR-Gini.