Social policy may be defined as any formal government enactment that affects the well-being of people, including laws, regulations, executive orders, and court decisions. In the United States, with its federal tradition of shared government, social policies are made by governments at many levels—local, state, and national.
Social Policy. In Encyclopedia of Social Work. : Oxford University Press.
Public policy has a number of key attributes:
Policy analysis emerged to both better understand the policymaking process and to supply policy decision makers with reliable policy-relevant knowledge about pressing economic and social problems. Handbook of Public Policy Analysis : Theory, Politics, and Methods
Course Readings:
Engaging Social Welfare: An Introduction to Policy Analysis, 1st Edition.
American Social Welfare Policy: A Pluralist Approach by Karger and Stoesz
Dimensions of Social Welfare Policy by Gilbert and Terrell, 8th ed.
Encyclopedia of Social Work from the National Association of Social Workers and Oxford University Press -- a great starting place, policy on many social work topics.
Comprehensive Handbook of Social Work and Social Welfare Contains many sections on Social Policy and Policy Practice.
Oxford Bibliographies: Social Work Great overview of key topics in Social Welfare written by experts in the field.
The Green Book is a key resource for federal programs. It provides updated statistics and information on programs such as Medicare, Social Security, Unemployment Compensation, Foster Care and welfare. Additionally, it includes a discussion of related issues, such as the well-being of the elderly and of children and families.
Congressional Publications contains congressional documents (hearings, committee prints, documents, and legislative histories) which are searchable through this fulltext database. CRS Research Reports are particularly helpful for overviews of federal policies on an array of topics.
Nexis Uni (Formerly LexisNexis AcademicSearch) Fulltext searchable database of law reviews, cases and statutes.
The Think Tank Search from Harvard is another useful search engine.
UC Library Search is the University of California's unified discovery and borrowing system.
Access it directly or from the Library homepage to find most UC books, articles, media, archival collections, and more.
See the UC Library Search User Guide and ask for research help 24/7 for more information.