Social Welfare Policy in a Changing World

The authors of the book have done a wonderful job. As those who acknowledge white privilege, the work is a testimony to intellectual honesty and an attempt to present the importance of policy in the social work arena. It further seeks to remind a new generation about the place of injustice as the cause of suffering.

Any text attempting to cover the history and current state of social policy in the United States is faced with the Herculean task of balancing depth with breadth, and historical context with accessibility. This textbook provides a clear, comprehensible, organized approach to each of the major areas of social policy relevant to the field of social work. Students of both micro and macro inclinations will be able to trace the development of policy and how policy plays out at all systems levels. The historical context does not shy away from an honest accounting of the social work profession's role in creating and perpetuating various forms of oppression and structural racism. Additionally, the impact of oppression and structural racism is not "whitewashed", as it has been in other texts on the history of social welfare and social policy.

This text involves a critical history of the interdependency of social constructionism and social welfare policy from the pluralistic viewpoints of marginalized populations. It makes a definitive argument for viewing historically systemic oppression as a socially constructed racial division, and not just an economic strategy to create and preserve power for White people. It helps the reader to understand how and why isms target cultures of color, gender, and difference, especially because these groups are historically defenseless and congenial. Finally, it demonstrates how the everyday practice of social work can become a catalyst for change when social workers advocate for social justice.