ABSTRACT

Social policy is one of the social sciences, together with, for example, politics and sociology. It is sometimes studied on its own, sometimes jointly with another subject, and also is frequently delivered as part of another subject. It is often taken as part of professional training, such as in nursing or social work. This chapter seeks to provide a consideration of the subject of social policy, how it relates to other cognate subjects, and what it means to be studying it. The chapter, therefore:

■ explores the nature of the subject, including the way in which it has developed as an academic discipline over time;

■ outlines the structure of the remainder of the book.