- John R Graham |
- Micheal L. Shier |
- Roger Delaney |
Title overview
Canadian Social Policy: An Introduction examines major social policy considerations in Canada. It is intended for an audience of graduate, senior undergraduate, and senior community college students in social work, and for professionals who want to update their knowledge of current policy contexts. It is also intended to offer insights to students and practitioners of other disciplines, such as anthropology, business administration, Canadian studies, clinical psychology, development studies, divinity, economics, education, geography, history, nursing, occupational therapy, political science, public administration, rehabilitation studies, and sociology.
The market leader in policy analysis and social work studies, Canadian Social Policy is a comprehensive text with well-respected authors, a strong framework for analyzing social policies, and a much needed Canadian perspective. It balances concepts such as feminism, postmodernism, and social diversity with examinations of major social policy considerations in Canada and the world.
New and updated features of this title
- Chapter 1 has been rewritten to provide greater conceptual clarity to the terms social policy and social welfare used throughout the text, and to provide an overview of contemporary theories of social welfare, and in particular the emergence of the nonprofit and voluntary sector in shaping social policy and social welfare development.
- Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 have been updated to draw attention to the role of the nonprofit and voluntary sector in both historic and contemporary periods of Canadian social welfare, and highlights existing realities affecting the focus of social policy efforts. Chapter 6 has been updated with new statistics and secondary literatures.
- Chapters 7 through 9 have been rewritten, and primarily focus on the application of social policy in direct practice - whether that is through engagement in socially innovative efforts at an organizational level of practice or through efforts of assessing the impact of social policy on the lived experiences of service users.
Table of contents
- Introduction to Canadian Social Policy
- Historical Influences
- Contemporary Social Policy Structures
- Ideological, Social, and Economic Influences
- Social Policy and Emerging Realities
- Diversity and Social Policy
- Social Policy and Social Work Practice
- Social Policy Analysis
- Future Directions in Canadian Social Policy and Social Welfare
Author bios
John Graham, Ph.D. RSW, is Professor of Social Work and Director of the School. Prior to coming to UBC, he was Director of the School of Social Work at Florida Atlantic University, and before that at the University of Calgary where he had served as Murray Fraser Professor of Community Economic Development, and PhD Program Coordinator. Graham has held over $4 million in research funding, has published over 100 journal articles, 51 book chapters, and is completing his tenth book. He has published on international development (with a particular focus on Bedouin-Arab communities in the Middle East), social policy, diversity and social work, spirituality and social work, multicultural social work, and homelessness. His current interests concentrate on employee well being, and subjective well being (happiness) in and out of the workplace. His writing was recently recognized among the top 50 most frequently cited for his discipline in the English speaking world, 2000-2009. A longstanding mentor to junior faculty and to graduate students, Graham has sat on over 100 graduate student committees at the masters and doctoral levels, and in 2014 received a teaching award for graduate student mentoring.
Micheal L. Shier is Assistant Professor, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto. His research focuses on non-profit organizations and citizen engagement, social innovation and social entrepreneurship in the human services, and understanding client experiences with programming and service related outcomes. He has written extensively on these topics, along with occupational health outcomes of human service workers and the lived experiences of vulnerable social groups. His research, and previous practice experience in community mental health, contributes to his teaching in the areas of social policy and social welfare, groups work practice, and human services management and leadership.
Roger Delaney is a Professor in the School of Social Work at Lakehead University. His research interests include social policy; northern and rural social work; poverty and oppression; family, community, and national violence; community development; and social work ethics. He received his PhD from the University of Toronto, specializing in policy, administration, and research. Prior to that he worked in social assistance, child welfare and community organization in Fredericton and as a social planner and policy analyst for the Province of Prince Edward Island.