Authors:
- Offers a critical analysis of benefit sanctions in the UK, situated within a broader context, and including a balanced look at the evidence for and against
- Argues that their effectiveness is unproven, they cause unnecessary hardship, they are inconsistent with justice and they violate the rule of law
- Uses benefit sanctions to throw light on issues like proportionality and the problems of punishment when it is imposed by administrators in bureaucratic settings rather than by the judiciary in the courts
Part of the book series: Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies (PSLS)
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Table of contents (12 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
Reviews
“The book is highly readable and engaging … . this is not only an informative book, but one written with (perhaps Quixotic) passion and fervour that are not common enough in academic literature. It seeks not only to educate and inform, but to contribute towards making the world (of benefit sanctions in the UK, at least) a fairer place, and for that it should be commended.” (Amir Paz-Fuchs, Journal of Social Policy, Vol. 48 (4), October, 2019)
“The book is rigorously empirical in its approach. … The distinctive contribution of Adler’s book is the assessment of the sanctions regime in the light of the literature on administrative justice, the rule of law and human rights.” (David Webster, Local Economy, Vol. 34 (3), 2019)
"The book itself is invaluable to academics researching in the fields of welfare legislation, administrative justice and on the issue of citizenship, and its findings and recommendations deserve to be taken on board thoroughlyby the Department for Work and Pensions." (Philip Larkin, Journal of Social Security Law, Issue 1, March, 2019)
“Adler’s very thorough, very readable study is extremely important because he finds, collates and interprets the evidence to produce compelling reasons to support his conclusion that benefits sanctions are cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. … Adler’s study will help those who want to make that argument about the deficiencies of benefit sanctions, as well as promoting the cause of evidence-based policy-making.” (Brian Thompson, UKAJI, ukaji.org, October, 2018)
“This well-evidenced, well-argued, and comprehensive book offers precisely the kind of evaluation of benefit sanctions that was required. Ministers, shadow ministers, members of parliament, civil servants, and anyone interested in the UK’s benefits system, should read it.” (Citizen’s Income newsletter, Issue (04), 2018)
Authors and Affiliations
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School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Michael Adler
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment?
Book Subtitle: Benefit Sanctions in the UK
Authors: Michael Adler
Series Title: Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90356-9
Publisher: Palgrave Pivot Cham
eBook Packages: Law and Criminology, Law and Criminology (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-90355-2Published: 10 July 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-90356-9Published: 22 June 2018
Series ISSN: 2947-9274
Series E-ISSN: 2947-9282
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XII, 171
Number of Illustrations: 4 b/w illustrations, 7 illustrations in colour
Topics: Human Rights and Crime , Social Justice, Equality and Human Rights, Politics of the Welfare State, Human Rights, Social Work