Policy Press

Mental health and wellbeing

From the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of society as a whole, to more specific and personal instances, mental health and wellbeing need to be researched and studied from a range of disciplines in order to be fully understood. 

The books collected here reflect these different approaches, from sociological explanations of mental illness, to safeguarding to explorations of children's mental health in a digital age.

Bristol University Press and Policy Press are signed up to the UN SDG Publishers Compact. In this cross-cutting theme, we aim to address the following goal:

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You may also be interested in our Global Social Challenge on health and wellbeing.

Showing 25-36 of 84 items.

Psychology at the Heart of Social Change

Developing a Progressive Vision for Society

This book shows why we need, and can create, a progressive politics that is profoundly informed by insights from the psychotherapeutic and psychological domain, moving us from a politics of blame to a politics of understanding.

Policy Press

Global Agenda for Social Justice 2

Written by a highly respected team of authors brought together by the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP), this second volume of The Global Agenda for Social Justice provides accessible insights into some of the world’s most pressing social problems and proposes international public policy and social responses to those problems.

Policy Press

Challenges in Mental Health and Policing

Key Themes and Perspectives

Police officers deal with mental illness-related incidents on an almost daily basis. Ian Cummins explores the policy failures that have led to this situation, and considers how the individuals in police officers’ care should be supported by community mental health agencies.

Policy Press

Explaining Mental Illness

Sociological Perspectives

Can the social sciences explain the emergence of mental disorders in societies or in individuals? This book presents a critical look at sociological explanations of mental illnesses, making the case for their renewal.

Bristol Uni Press

Understanding Mental Distress

Knowledge, Practice and Neoliberal Reform in Community Mental Health Services

This timely analysis sets out the full impacts of policy reform, austerity and marketisation on our country’s mental health services. Rooted in the experiences of service users and providers, it provides valuable perspectives on our evolving practical and organisational responses to mental distress.

Policy Press

Political Ecologies of Landscape

Governing Urban Transformations in Penang

Connolly draws on the recent changes in the Malaysian state of Penang to open up new perspectives on urban development, governance and the politics of place. Reviewing the role of residents, activists, planners and other experts in socio-natural changes and urban regeneration, it builds an important new framework of landscape political ecology.

Bristol Uni Press

Participatory Practice

Community-based Action for Transformative Change

This unique, holistic and radical perspective on participatory practice has been updated to reflect on advances made in the past decade and the impact of austerity. The innovative text bridges the divide between community development ideas and practice and considers how to bring about transformative social change.

Policy Press

The Policing Mind

Developing Trauma Resilience for a New Era

How does it feel to be a police officer? Jessica Miller uses the most recent neuroscience and real-life examples to explore risks to individual resilience. A compulsory read for anyone with an interest in policing, the book offers practical resilience techniques and policy recommendations for police officers facing crime in a post-COVID world.

Policy Press

Deprivation of Liberty in the Shadows of the Institution

This book presents a socio-legal analysis of social care detention in the post-carceral era. Drawing from disability rights law and the meanings of ‘home’ and ‘institution’ it proposes solutions to the paradoxical implications of the 2014 UK Supreme Court ruling on the meaning of ‘deprivation of liberty’.

Bristol Uni Press

Long-Term Recovery from Substance Use

European Perspectives

This cross-Europe analysis explores crucial aspects of long term recovery from substance use. Leading experts set out the evolving needs of people who have sought to change their use of substances and the factors in their progress. The book concludes with clear recommendations for improving future research, policy and practice.

Policy Press

Involving Service Users in Social Work Education, Research and Policy

A Comparative European Analysis

Based on the results of a European Social Fund project, this book critically appraises the benefits and challenges of involving service users in social work research, practice and education.

Policy Press

Supporting New Digital Natives

Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing in a Hi-Tech Age

How can we support children’s and young people’s mental wellbeing in a digital age? This essential guide for improving wellbeing offers practical ideas for parents/carers and professionals working with children.

Policy Press