The Social Work Experience: An Introduction to the Profession and Its Relationship to Social Welfare Policy

This comprehensive introduction to the profession of the social work examines nine major fields of social work practice. The text illustrates what social workers do in a variety of practice settings and notes trends in social work employment. The Social Work Experience explores the relationship between social welfare policy and practice, enabling students to appreciate the impact of policy on day to day practice. Themes of generalist practice, social research, ethics and values, human diversity, and populations at risk, are integrated into each chapter and provide a consistent framework for the discussion of critical issues in social work practice. Case studies, drawn from real world experiences, present social work practice in dramatic, human terms, and connect the theoretical content of the text to the real people who make up the social welfare system.