Social Work and Social Policy

A comprehensive overview of domestic and global social welfare policy

Written by a team of renowned social policy experts sharing their unique perspectives on global and U.S. social welfare policy issues, Social Work and Social Policy helps social workers consider key issues that face policymakers, elected officials, and agency administrators in order to develop policies that are both fair and just.

Designed as a foundational social welfare policy text, this important book meets the Council on Social Work Education's (CSWE) Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS).

Encouraging readers' critical thinking on various issues, each chapter begins with an overarching question and 'what if' scenarios, and ends with a set of suggested key terms, online resources, and discussion questions.

Recognizing that policy work requires practitioners to be as fully versed as possible with the issue at hand, Social Work and Social Policy thoroughly explores:

• Social welfare policy as a form of social justice
• The evolution of the American welfare state
• Human security and the welfare of societies
• Social policy from a global perspective
• Challenges for social policies in Asia
• Welfare reform and the need for social empathy
• The U.S. Patriot Act and its implications for the social work profession
• Human rights and emerging social media

Compelling and broad in scope, Social Work and Social Policy is an indispensable text for students and a valuable resource for practitioners concerned with creating social policy and governmental action guided by justice for all.

IRA C. COLBY, DSW, is Dean of the Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston, in Houston, Texas. Dr. Colby has served on, chaired, or held elective positions in a number of national social work associations, including past president of the Council on Social Work Education, and serves on a number of journal editorial boards.

CATHERINE N. DULMUS, PhD, LCSW, is Professor, Associate Dean for Research, and Director of the Buffalo Center for Social Research in the School of Social Work at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, and Research Director at Hillside Family of Agencies in Rochester, New York.

KAREN M. SOWERS, PhD, is Dean and Beaman Professor in the College of Social Work at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her research interests include juvenile justice, sexuality, social work education, child welfare, evidence-based practice, and international social work practice.