Troublemakers: The Construction of 'Troubled Families' as a Social Problem

by Stephen Crossley

Overview

The launch of the Troubled Families Programme in the wake of the 2011 riots conflated poor and disadvantaged families with anti-social and criminal families. The programme aimed to ‘turn around’ the lives of the country’s most ‘troubled families’, at a time of austerity and wide-ranging welfare reforms which hit the poorest families hardest.

This detailed, authoritative and critical account reveals the inconsistencies and contradictions within the programme, and issues of deceit and malpractice in its operation. It shows how this core government policy has stigmatised the families it claimed to support.

Paving the way for a government to fulfil its responsibility to families, rather than condemning them, this book will empower local authority workers, policy-makers and researchers, and anyone interested in social justice, to challenge damaging, aggressive neoliberal statecraft.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781447334743
Publisher:	Bristol University Press
Publication date:	05/01/2018
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.02(d)

About the Author

Dr Stephen Crossley is a Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at Northumbria University. He completed his ESRC-funded PhD on ‘troubled families’ at the University of Durham. He is the author of 'In Their Place: The Imagined Geographies of Poverty' (Pluto Press, 2017). Prior to entering academia, he worked for local authorities and voluntary sector organisations in the North East of England in youth, community development and neighbourhood management roles. He can be followed on Twitter at @akindoftrouble

Table of Contents

Introduction;

The ‘ong and undistinguished pedigree;

The opening of a policy window;

The 'evolution’ of the programme;

The responsibility deficit;

This thing called family intervention;

Street-level perspectives;

Research: help or hindrance?;

‘Nothing to hide'

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Public sociology at its best. With great skill, Crossley skewers the assumptions behind the Troubled Families Initiative and exposes the flaws in its development. The result is a compelling and disturbing analysis of the production of ‘troubled families’ as a category and as a project for social policy." Steph Lawler, University of York

"This book presents an eviscerating case study of a deeply flawed policy intervention. It is insightful, original and deserves to be widely read." Val Gillies, University of Westminster

“A much-needed rigorous interrogation of the troubled moral dimensions of recent social policy and state intervention in family life. A must-read at a time when so much of our public discourse about policy and practice has been reduced to mere metrics and money.” Kathy Evans, Chief Executive, Children England

Editorial Reviews

‘’Crossley has written an important book. . . Troublemakers is a compelling exposé of a dangerous idea, with significant implications for local government, particularly for those in policy, performance and social work.’’

Local Government Studies

"The most comprehensive study of this particular intervention to date, a detailed, passionate, and persuasive critique. It is highly recommended, and should be widely read."

Journal of Social Policy

Troublemakers’ undoubtedly deserves to be widely read and is to be highly recommended to anyone with an interest in community development, sociology, social policy or other cognate disciplines.” Community Development

From the Publisher