Originally published: Boston : Allyn and Bacon, c2003. 6th ed.

Soci-economic structure, human needs, and mutual responsibility -- Social value sand social welfare -- Social values and social welfare, England from the Middle Ages onward -- Social values and social welfare, the American experience I -- America, poverty, two paths, the American experience II -- Concepts for social welfare -- Examining a social welfare program, structural components, alternative program characteristics, and evaluation -- Welfare society and its clients -- Current social welfare programs, economic security -- Social welfare programs, sustaining the quality of life -- Nonprofit and private social welfare -- Social work, the emergence of a profession -- Social work, functions, context, and issue -- Social trends affecting social welfare -- Alternative programs to meet social welfare needs.

[This text] introduces students to the issues, historical influences, trends, methods of operation, and unresolved conflicts of American social welfare. [The] text provides students with the basic tools for understanding, analyzing, and evaluating social welfare policies and programs.-Back cover.