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Surveillance and Crime (PDF)
by Roy Coleman Mike MccahillSurveillance has a long-standing relationship with crime and its identification, prevention, detection and punishment. With information on each citizen spanning up to 700 databases, and over 4 million CCTV cameras in the United Kingdom alone, this book explores how new technologies have given rise to new forms of monitoring and control. 9781847873521 9781446245309 9781849204446 9781280347016 9781446251379
Sociology For Social Work: An Introduction (PDF)
by Chris YuillThis excellent textbook introduces the social work student to the field of sociology, illustrating how sociology is connected to and fundamental to effective social work practice.
Social Policy: Theories, Concepts and Issues (PDF)
by Alan Pratt Michael LavaletteThe Third Edition of this widely adopted textbook has been thoroughly revised and offers an authoritative and up-to-date coverage of the key theories, concepts and issues in social policy. The lively and readable text has been designed to provide students with the essential tools to gain a clear understanding of the theoretical debates surrounding the discipline.
Social Media: A Critical Introduction (1st edition) (PDF)
by Christian FuchsNow more than ever, we need to understand social media - the good as well as the bad. We need critical knowledge that helps us to navigate the controversies and contradictions of this complex digital media landscape. Only then can we make informed judgements about what's happening in our media world, and why.
Investigating Sociological Theory (PDF)
by Charles Turner'This book is not an encyclopaedic survey of the most influential or important sociological theories of the 20th century; nor is it an institutional history of sociological theory; it is not a textbook, a distillation of the accumulated knowledge of a particular discipline; nor is it a crib, a set of ready-made and easily-remembered answers to imagined examination questions. It is more of a reader's guide, a series of hints and suggestions for those who, whether students or teachers, believe that sociology is a profession and a discipline but also something more. . . ' - Charles Turner in the introduction to 'Investigating Sociological Theory' This is an accessible, enlivening introductory book that provides a shot in the arm for all those who maintain the relevance of sociology for understanding the modern world. It will inspire discussion in classes, and provide teachers with an opportunity to discuss the big questions in theory, history, social order and social change. Turner provides a wealth of concrete examples which demonstrate what a sociological perspective can do to unpack and illuminate everyday life. The book allows students to understand sociological theory from the inside. It moves effortlessly beyond the mere parade of great names and core ideas to introduce concepts that can be used to understand the social world in which we live, where this world has come from and where it might be heading. Original, informed, and deftly written with the needs of students in mind this book is an antidote to arid theorising and the dull recitation of the grand sociological tradition.
Work, Consumption and Culture: Affluence and Social Change in the Twenty-First Century (PDF)
by Paul RansomeThe central question in Work, Consumption and Culture is whether consumption has now displaced production as the defining factor in the lives of those in the industrialized West. This book offers a comprehensive review of the key issues in the production/consumption debate, and where it might lead in the future. Key to Paul Ransome's argument is the hypothesis that affluence is the crucial factor in the shift away from work and towards consumption. Uniquely emphasizing the links between work, consumption and culture, rather than keeping each element separate, the author looks at: - the changing significance of work in society - the meaning, growth and significance of affluence - the growing importance of consumption as a source of identity and its implications the impact of the shift to consumption on work/life balance Work, Consumption and Culture engages the reader with its lively debating style. It is an essential introduction for sociology and cultural studies students on courses relating to consumption and the role of work in contemporary society. `This book offers a balanced account of the changing importance of work and consumption in contemporary industrial society. Clearly written, the author identifies the central role that affluence plays in the relationship between work and consumption, and in the development of social life and individual identity' - Professor Paul Blyton, Cardiff Business School
WJEC/Eduqas Sociology for AS & Year 1: Student Book (PDF)
by John Mcintosh Janis GriffithsThis brand new WJEC/Eduqas student book supports the new AS and A Level Year 1 Sociology spec being taught in Wales and England from September 2015. It guides you through every step of the new course and helps you thoroughly prepare for your exams.
Skills in Neighbourhood Work (PDF)
by Paul HendersonSkills in Neighbourhood Work is a practice textbook. It explains the skills, knowledge and techniques needed by community workers and other practitioners to work effectively in and with communities. While the principles and methods it describes have stood the test of time, the political, economic and social changes which have taken place since the book was first published have made new editions essential. Rewritten and updated, and including new practice examples, the fourth edition retains all the practical information needed by the student or practitioner but sets it in the contemporary context. Including a European perspective and views from America and Australia, it covers: starting, supporting and ending work with community groups evaluation data collection goals and priorities making contacts group work helping groups work with other organisations. This invaluable textbook is essential reading for students and practitioners of community work.nbsp;
Effective Communication: A Guide for the People Professions (PDF)
by Neil ThompsonCommunication is at the heart of all work with people and their problems. Whatever the setting, poor communication can prove very damaging in its consequences. However, at its most effective, it has the power to ensure the promotion of equality and well-being. This new edition of an essential text offers a clear and informative introduction to the subtleties and practical complexities of communication. Drawing on a wide-ranging theory base from across the social sciences, it demonstrates how key ideas from a number of disciplines provide a sound foundation for informed and sensitive practice. This edition includes: A consistent focus on the importance of communication within interprofessional and multidisciplinary contexts; New chapters on communication within specific settings, such as working with children and with groups; New discussion of potential difficulties in communication - for example, as a result of disability issues or the challenges of intercultural communication; A broad range of learning resources, such as activities, 'points to ponder' and 'voice of experience' comments, reflecting practitioners' real-world experience. With its clear practice focus and emphasis on reflection throughoutnbsp;Effective Communication is a key text for everyone across the people professions. It is an ideal introduction for students and practitioners of social work, nursing,health and social care, counselling and pastoral care, teaching and educational support, probation work, youth and community work, and advice studies, as well as managers, leaders, supervisors and human resource professionals.
Understanding Qualitative Research And Ethnomethodology (PDF)
by Paul Ten HaveThis book provides a discussion of qualitative research methods from an ethnomethodological perspective.
Understanding Representation (PDF)
by Jen Webb'This is an extraordinarily lucid book. I am not sure that there is anyone who can do this sort of thing better than Jen Webb. It is a gift to students; extremely accessible yet complex and sophisticated in its treatment of theories and concepts of representation' - Jim McGuigan, Loughborough University.
Understanding Judith Butler (PDF)
by Anita BradyAcknowledged as one of the most influential thinkers of modern times, an understanding of Judith Butler's work is ever more essential to an understanding of not just the landscape of cultural and critical theory, but of the world around us.
Understanding Material Culture (PDF)
by Ian Woodward'In his interdisciplinary review of material culture, Ian Woodward goes beyond synthesis to offer a theoretically innovative reconstruction of the field. Understanding Material Culture is filled with gems of conceptual insight and empirical discovery. A wonderful book' - Jeffrey C. Alexander, Yale University. nbsp;
Contested Natures (PDF)
by Phil MacnaghtenDemonstrating that all notions of nature are inextricably entangled in different forms of social life, the text elaborates the many ways in which the apparently natural world has been produced from within particular social practices. These are analyzed in terms of different senses, different times and the production of distinct spaces, including the local, the national and the global. The authors emphasize the importance of cultural understandings of the physical world, highlighting the ways in which these have been routinely misunderstood by academic and policy discourses. They show that popular conceptions of, and attitudes to, nature are often contradictory and that there are no simple ways of prevailing upon people to `save the environment'.
Consumer Society: Critical Issues and Environmental Consequences (PDF)
by Barry SmartWhat factors are contributing to the continuing growth in consumption of goods and services? At what point do the costs associated with consumerism begin to call our way of life into question? How are the problems of resource depletion, waste and pollution, and environmental impact being addressed? What is to be done about the consequences of our all-consuming way of life? Ever-increasing consumption and a relentless pursuit of growth in output are the twin pillars on which the modern economy and contemporary social life rest. But the consumer way of life is globally unsustainable. We can't all live the consumer dream. This comprehensive, lively and informative book will quickly be recognized as a benchmark in the field. It brings together a huge set of resources for thinking about the development of consumer culture, its defining features, and global consequences. Adept in handling a complex range of classical and contemporary theoretical sources, the book draws on an impressive range of comparative material and provides a variety of contemporary examples to inform and enhance understanding of our consuming way of life. Smart writes with verve and feeling and has produced a stimulating book that enlarges our understanding of consumer culture and provides a timely critical analysis of its consequences. Clear, engaging, and original this book will be essential reading for all those interested in and concerned about our global culture of consumption including researchers and students in sociology, politics, cultural studies, economics, and social geography.
Madness and Civilization (Routledge Classics) (2nd edition) (PDF)
by Michel FoucaultIn this classic account of madness, Michel Foucault shows once and for all why he is one of the most distinguished European philosophers since the end of World War II. Madness and Civilization, Foucault's first book and his finest accomplishment, will change the way in which you think about society. Evoking shock, pity and fascination, it might also make you question the way you think about yourself.
Class Strategies and the Education Market: The Middle Classes and Social Advantage (1st edition) (PDF)
by Stephen J. BallExamines the ways in which the middle classes maintain and improve their social advantages in and through education. Drawing on an extensive series of interviews with parents and children, this book identifies key moments of decision making in the construction of the educational trajectories of middle class children. Stephen J. Ball organises his analysis around the key concepts of social closure, social capital, values and principles and risk, while bringing a broad range of up-to-date sociological theory to bear upon his subject. From this thorough analysis, valuable and thought-provoking insights emerge into the assiduous care and considerable effort and expenditure which goes into ensuring the educational success of the middle class child. The middle classes are a sociological enigma, presenting the social researcher with considerable analytic and theoretical difficulties. Class Strategies and the Education Market provides a set of working tools for class analysis and the examination of class practices. Above all, it offers new ways of thinking about class theory and the relationships between classes in late modern society.
Stratification: Social Division and Inequality (PDF)
by Wendy BotteroOffering a fresh and exciting new perspective on differentiation and inequality, this absorbing book investigates how our most personal choices (of sexual partners, friends, consumption items and lifestyle) are influenced by hierarchy and social difference. Exploring the topics of assortative mating; social capital; friendship networks and cultural identity; the book examines how hierarchy affects our tastes and leisure time activities, and who we choose (and hang on to) as our friends and partners. This book: * introduces debates on stratification by exploring its effect on everyday social relations * relates class inequalities to broader processes of social division and cultural differentiation, exploring the associational and cultural aspects of hierarchy * explores how groups draw on social, economic and cultural resources, using cultural 'cues', to admit some and exclude others from their social circle * explores new theoretical approaches to stratification: drawing on cultural theories of class, social interaction approaches, and research on differential association The book has a novel and fresh new way of looking at a well-established area in sociology - social stratification. Offering a fresh and exciting new perspective on differentiation and inequality, this absorbing book investigates how our most personal choices (of sexual partners, friends, consumption items and lifestyle) are influenced by hierarchy and social difference. Exploring the topics of assortative mating; social capital; friendship networks and cultural identity; the book examines how hierarchy affects our tastes and leisure time activities, and who we choose (and hang on to) as our friends and partners. This book: * introduces debates on stratification by exploring its effect on everyday social relations * relates class inequalities to broader processes of social division and cultural differentiation, exploring the associational and cultural aspects of hierarchy * explores how groups draw on social, economic and cultural resources, using cultural 'cues', to admit some and exclude others from their social circle * explores new theoretical approaches to stratification: drawing on cultural theories of class, social interaction approaches, and research on differential association The book has a novel and fresh new way of looking at a well-established area in sociology - social stratification.
Multimodality: Exploring Contemporary Methods of Communication (PDF)
by Gunther R. KressThe 21st century is awash with ever more mixed and remixed images, writing, layout, sound, gesture, speech, and 3D objects.nbsp;Multimodality looks beyond language and examines these multiple modes of communication and meaning making. Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication represents a long-awaited and much anticipated addition to the study of multimodality from the scholar who pioneered and continues to play a decisive role in shaping the field. Written in an accessible manner and illustrated with a wealth of photos and illustrations to clearly demonstrate the points made, Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication deliberately sets out to locate communication in the everyday, covering topics and issues not usually discussed in books of this kind, from traffic signs to mobile phones. In this book, Gunther Kress presents a contemporary, distinctive and widely applicable approach to communication. He provides the framework necessary for understanding the attempt to bring all modes of meaning-making together under one unified theoretical roof. This exploration of an increasingly vital area of language and communication studies will be of interest to advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students in the fields of English language and applied linguistics, media and communication studies and education. The 21st century is awash with ever more mixed and remixed images, writing, layout, sound, gesture, speech, and 3D objects. Multimodality looks beyond language and examines these multiple modes of communication and meaning making. Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication represents a long-awaited and much anticipated addition to the study of multimodality from the scholar who pioneered and continues to play a decisive role in shaping the field. Written in an accessible manner and illustrated with a wealth of photos and illustrations to clearly demonstrate the points made, Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication deliberately sets out to locate communication in the everyday, covering topics and issues not usually discussed in books of this kind, from traffic signs to mobile phones. In this book, Gunther Kress presents a contemporary, distinctive and widely applicable approach to communication. He provides the framework necessary for understanding the attempt to bring all modes of meaning-making together under one unified theoretical roof. This exploration of an increasingly vital area of language and communication studies will be of interest to advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students in the fields of English language and applied linguistics, media and communication studies and education.
Unequal Childhoods: Children's Lives in Developing Countries (PDF)
by Helen PennAn expert in her field, Helen Penndiscusses the inequalities between and within countries of childhood poverty and how this poverty is recognized and defined through the following case-studies: Kazakhstan - once part of the Soviet Union Swaziland - a country in Southern Africa devastated by HIV and AIDS Himalayan India Brazil - one of the world's most unequal countries. These four case studies illustrate the diversity and complexity of the responses to the attempts to globalise childhood and highlight the need to address the inequalities of childhood experience.
Key Ideas: Citizenship (PDF)
by Keith FaulksThis book presents a clear and comprehensive overview of citizenship, which has become one of the most important political ideas of our time. The author, an experienced textbook writer and teacher, uses a postmodern theory of citizenship to ask topical questions as: * Can citizenship exist without the nation-state? * What should the balance be between our rights and responsibilities? * Should we enjoy group as well as individual rights? * Is citizenship relevant to our private as well as our public lives? * Have processes of globalisation rendered citizenship redundant?
Handbook of Youth and Young Adulthood: New Perspectives and Agendas (PDF)
by Andy FurlongThe parameters within which young people live their lives have changed radically. Changes in education and the labour market have led to an increased complexity of the youth phase and to an overall protraction in dependency and transitions. Written by leading academics from several countries, this Handbook introduces up to date perspectives on a wide range of issues that affect and shape youth and young adulthood. It provides an authoritative and multi-disciplinary overview of a field of study that offers unique insight on social change in advanced societies and is aimed at academics, students, researchers and policy-makers. The Handbook introduces some of the key theoretical perspectives used within youth studies and sets out future research agendas. Each of the ten sections covers an important area of research - from education and the labour market to youth cultures, health and crime whilst discussing change and continuity in the lives of young people. This work introduces readers to some of the most important work in the field while highlighting the underlying perspectives that have been used to understand the complexity of modern youth and young adulthood.
Disability Rights and Wrongs Revisited (2nd edition) (PDF)
by Tom ShakespeareOver the last forty years, the field of disability studies has emerged from the political activism of disabled people. In this challenging review of the field, leading disability academic and activist Tom Shakespeare argues that disability research needs a firmer conceptual and empirical footing. This new edition is updated throughout, reflecting Shakespeare's most recent thinking, drawing on current research, and responding to controversies surrounding the first edition and the World Report on Disability, as well as incorporating new chapters on cultural disability studies, personal assistance, sexuality, and violence. Using a critical realist approach, Disability Rights and Wrongs Revisited promotes a pluralist, engaged and nuanced approach to disability. Key topics discussed include: dichotomies - going beyond dangerous polarizations such as medical model versus social model to achieve a complex, multi-factorial account of disability identity - the drawbacks of the disability movement's emphasis on identity politics bioethics - choices at the beginning and end of life and in the field of genetic and stem cell therapies relationships - feminist and virtue ethics approaches to questions of intimacy, assistance and friendship. This stimulating and accessible book challenges disability studies orthodoxy, promoting a new conceptualization of disability and fresh research agenda. It is an invaluable resource for researchers and students in disability studies and sociology, as well as professionals, policy makers and activists.
Social Capital and Economics: Social Values, Power and Social Identity
by Asimina Christoforou John DavisThis volume provides a collection of critical new perspectives on social capital theory by examining how social values, power relationships, and social identity interact with social capital. This book seeks to extend this theory into what have been largely under-investigated domains, and, at the same time, address long-standing, classic questions in the literature concerning the forms, determinants, and consequences of social capital. Social capital can be understood in terms of social norms and networks. It manifests itself in patterns of trust, reciprocity, and cooperation. The authors argue that the degree to which and the different ways in which people exhibit these distinctively social behaviours depend on how norms and networks elicit their values, reflect power relationships, and draw on their social identities. This volume accordingly adopts a variety of different concepts and measures that incorporate the variety of contextually-specific factors that operate on social capital formation. In addition, it adopts an interdisciplinary outlook that combines a wide range of social science disciplines and methods of social research. Our objective is to challenge standard rationality theory explanations of norms and networks which overlook the role of values, power, and identity. This volume appeals to researchers and students in multiple social sciences, including economics, sociology, political science, social psychology, history, public policy, and international relations, that employ social capital concepts and methods in their research. It can be seen as a set of new extensions of social capital theory in connection with its themes of social values, power, and identity that would advance the scholarly literature on social norms and networks and their impact on social change and public welfare. This volume provides a collection of critical new perspectives on social capital theory by examining how social values, power relationships, and social identity interact with social capital. This book seeks to extend this theory into what have been largely under-investigated domains, and, at the same time, address long-standing, classic questions in the literature concerning the forms, determinants, and consequences of social capital. Social capital can be understood in terms of social norms and networks. It manifests itself in patterns of trust, reciprocity, and cooperation. The authors argue that the degree to which and the different ways in which people exhibit these distinctively social behaviours depend on how norms and networks elicit their values, reflect power relationships, and draw on their social identities. This volume accordingly adopts a variety of different concepts and measures that incorporate the variety of contextually-specific factors that operate on social capital formation. In addition, it adopts an interdisciplinary outlook that combines a wide range of social science disciplines and methods of social research. Our objective is to challenge standard rationality theory explanations of norms and networks which overlook the role of values, power, and identity. This volume appeals to researchers and students in multiple social sciences, including economics, sociology, political science, social psychology, history, public policy, and international relations, that employ social capital concepts and methods in their research. It can be seen as a set of new extensions of social capital theory in connection with its themes of social values, power, and identity that would advance the scholarly literature on social norms and networks and their impact on social change and public welfare.
Social Research Methods (PDF)
by Alan BrymanStudying a social science degree? Need to know how to develop your research methods and write up your results more effectively? In the fourth edition of this lively and engaging textbook, Alan Bryman presents students with an updated and all-encompassing guide to the principle techniques and methodology in the field of Social Research.