Public Policy and Mental Health: Avenues for Prevention - Paperback

by Pirog (Editor), Emily M. Good (Editor)

This eighth book in the Prevention Practice Kit provides a broad overview of the types of policies governments establish to prevent mental disorders as well as the various ways in which these policies are created. The authors describe the process of analyzing public programs, laws, policies, and managerial innovations in mental disorder prevention, and help readers examine both the rationale for these programs and policies and whether or not they really work.

The text includes valuable case studies on the development of prevention interventions, the impact of individuals and organizations on policies, what happens when attempts to change policies are ineffective, and the considerable amount of effort that is often needed to create needed policy changes in the mental health arena. Questions are provided throughout the text to encourage the reader to engage the topics in a critical manner.

This book is part of the Prevention Practice Kit: Action Guides for Mental Health, a collection of eight books each authored by scholars in the specific field of prevention and edited by Dr. Robert K. Conyne and Dr. Arthur M. Horne. The books in the collection conform to the editors′ outline to promote a consistent reading experience. Designed to provide human services practitioners, counselors, psychologists, social workers, instructors, and students with concrete direction for spreading and improving the practice of prevention, the series provides thorough coverage of prevention application including a general overview of prevention, best practices, diversity and cultural relevance, psychoeducational groups, consultation, program development and evaluation, evidence base, and public policy.

This book is endorsed by the Prevention Section of the Society of Counseling Psychology of the American Psychological Association. Fifty percent of all royalties are donated to Division 17 of the APA.

Author Biography

Dr. Maureen Pirog received a B.A. and M.A. in Economics from Boston College in 1975 and a Ph.D. in Public Policy Analysis from the University of Pennsylvania in 1981. She currently serves as the Indiana University Rudy Professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs; an Affiliate Professor in the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington; a Senior Research Advisor at the University of Johannesburg and holds an Honorary Professorship at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Russia. She is the founder and director of the IU Institute of Family and Social Responsibility which has conducted research on millions of dollars of grants and contracts on social programs from all levels of government and foundations. Professor Pirog has consulted with dozens of foundation and government agencies, nationally and internationally. She has published widely on social programs and trends in policy evaluation research.

In addition to her commitment to timely and policy-relevant research, Dr. Pirog maintains a serious commitment to providing service to her profession and Indiana University. She is currently serving her second term as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, the top ranked journal in the field of public administration. She is the series editor of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management Classics as well as a member of the editorial board of three other journals.