A Social Policy degree will enable you to understand to nature of social issues in the UK and beyond. It will encourage you to think through both the causes and consequences of social issues and to think about solutions to some of the biggest problems facing society today.
It is important to keep up with academic and topical debate as well as current affairs. Below we have listed some useful resources that can get you started:
Podcasts
Social Science Bites
Thinking Allowed
The Sociological Review
Online resources
Discover Society is an online journal which cuts across politics, economics, sociology, criminology and social policy – a truly social science publication. It offers lots of topical debates and discussions which will be relevant to your studies.
The Conversation is a website which contains short articles on a range of subjects written by academics. These articles are written in a more journalistic fashion than ordinary academic articles and is a great resource to help keep up with current academic debates.
Books
Exploring Welfare Debates: Key Concepts and Questions, Lee Gregory
Why we Need Welfare, Pete Alcock
How Politics Makes Us Sick: Neoliberal Epidemics, Ted Schrecker and Clare Bambra
White Privilege: The myth of a post-racial society, Kalwant Bhopal
The Violence of Austerity, Vicki Cooper and David Whyte
Hunger Pains, Kayleigh Garthwaite
Poverty Propaganda, Tracy Shildrick
Stigma, Imogen Tyler