Highlights the value of controversy by using a debate format to present both sides of numerous controversial issues in social policy. Consists of 21 debates, written especially for this volume by experts in the field. The debate topics were selected to cover a wide range of professional interests in the field of social policy and are divided into three clusters: general issues, specific issues in the delivery of human services, and key issues related to poverty, deprivation, and social policy. Designed as a supplemental text for graduate and undergraduate courses in social work policy, or for social work practicum/seminars.

This book examines the conceptual, historical and practical implications that various social policies in the United States have had on ethnic minorities.

Critical Social Welfare Issues is a collection of lectures by noted social welfare experts that addresses paramount issues facing society and suggests recommendations for positive change. It is a useful handbook for social workers, psychologists, educators, health professionals, and human service administrators and a valuable text for students studying social welfare policy and social work in health care. The result of the Distinguished Lecturers Series instituted at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Critical Social Welfare Issues brings nationally recognized and outstanding social work and allied health care scholars and practitioners together for their views on topics such as: welfare reform and homelessness in the U.S. crisis in child welfare and women as victims the changing structure of African-American families the growing Hispanic population and the unique challenges they face mandatory vs. voluntary HIV testing for newborns the infrastructure of the social work profession the for-profit market system for social work and health care the future for health care professionals de-professionalization in health care professionals and the political process As the Editors explain, Critical Social Welfare Issues addresses “the rapidly changing context in the various fields of practice of professional social work and other health care areas. The crises that are identified are newly emerging and part of a long historical process which has been exacerbated by current political and economic changes and events. . . . The threat currently seems to be coming not only from governmental political forces focused to tax reductions and right wing ideologies but for the first time from the non-government sector, the for-profit market system which is projecting huge profits from health care, education, and corrections among other social welfare arenas.”

American social welfare policy has produced a health system with skyrocketing costs, a disability insurance program that consigns many otherwise productive people to lives of inactivity, and a welfare program that attracts wide criticism. Making Social Welfare Policy in America explains how this happened by examining the historical development of three key programs—Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare, and Temporary Aid to Needy Families. Edward D. Berkowitz traces the developments that led to each program’s creation. Policy makers often find it difficult to dislodge a program’s administrative structure, even as political, economic, and cultural circumstances change. Faced with this situation, they therefore solve contemporary problems with outdated programs and must improvise politically acceptable solutions. The results vary according to the political popularity of the program and the changes in the conventional wisdom. Some programs, such as Social Security Disability Insurance, remain in place over time. Policy makers have added new parts to Medicare to reflect modern developments. Congress has abolished Aid to Families of Dependent Children and replaced with a new program intended to encourage work among adult welfare recipients raising young children. Written in an accessible style and using a minimum of academic jargon, this book illuminates how three of our most important social welfare programs have come into existence and how they have fared over time.

This volume is the first of its kind to discuss social welfare issues using case studies from a broad range of Southern European countries, both large and small, a decade after the financial crisis. It identifies similarities and differences in the ways in which Southern European countries engage with specific welfare issues and examines whether Southern European welfare is distinct from that of the rest of the continent. The book also engages with the impact of COVID-19 on the social welfare issues under investigation. The volume is divided into four sections, each examining in detail issues including employment, education, health, sexuality, globalization, social movements and migration. With its contributions from experts in the field, the volume is recommended for academics, researchers and students of sociology, social policy, economics, education, politics and social movements.

Experts agree--the U.S. has achieved the most technologically advanced medical care system in the world and it provides the highest quality, most comprehensive medical education available. Can we conclude that our health care system is one of America's success stories? It appears--we cannot. However, amid growing concern over our health care system, there is far less agreement on what to do about it. Jennie Kronenfeld addresses major health care controversies confronting American society, health care professionals, and policymakers. This intriguing book focuses on the overlapping area between policy sciences and health care studies, particularly the cost, access, and quality of health care. Kronenfeld discusses whether our system can solve its problems, or whether we have a health care "system" at all. Do we have a national health care "policy," or a web of state, county, and city policies? And, what of fundamental changes being adopted in the midst of the controversies surrounding reproductive health and abortion, mental health and behavioral health, disease patterns/physical health/AIDS, aging and long-term care, as well as the professions and facilities who provide care? A provocative examination of these important issues, Controversial Issues in Health Care Policy is essential reading for students of policy studies, health services, and sociology, as well as for policymakers, and health care professionals.

Issues for Debate in Social Policy is a timely supplement for courses in Social Policy. Each article gives substantial background and analysis of a particular issue as well as useful pedagogical features to inspire critical thinking and to help students grasp and review key material. Topics include: * Women′s Rights * Middle Class Squeeze * Vanishing Jobs * Race and Politics * Domestic Poverty * Welfare Reform * Hunger in America * Social Security Reform * Child Welfare Reform * Wounded Veterans * Universal Coverage * Ending Homelessness * Mortgage Crisis * Caring for the Elderly * Aging Baby Boomers * Gender Pay Gap * The Obama Presidency.

This text offers a clear explanation of policy analysis. SOCIAL WELFARE: POLICY AND ANALYSIS, Third Edition, shows students how to apply the methods and processes of policy analysis to current American welfare programs. The description of welfare programs provides a basic introduction to the field and the explanations of how the programs have developed make them more understandable to social welfare students.

The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries. In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings. U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage.

Social Welfare Policy Analysis and Choices gives you a thorough introduction to social welfare policy analysis. The knowledge you’ll gain from its pages will enable you to understand and evaluate individual policy issues and choices by exploring the possible choices, the effects and implications of each alternative choice, and the factors that influence each choice. Social Welfare Policy Analysis and Choices provides frameworks for making basic social policy choices and applying them to specific instances. You’ll find its depth of insight into the larger framework in which social policy decisions are made--beliefs, values, and interests--and its historical perspective on current “new” issues unique and invaluable. The book’s approach is to develop a framework for looking at the underlying issues, ideologies, social and economic forces, culture, and institutionalized inequalities that are constant within this changing mass. Specifically, Social Welfare Policy Analysis and Choices provides frameworks for looking at beliefs about: human nature the nature of society ways of thinking values and the moral and ethical implications of those values roots of those values in religion, culture, historical traditions, myths, and rationalized self-interests The insight offered in Social Welfare Policy Analysis and Choices will allow you to determine your own positioning; understand for strategic purposes what direction opponents, potential allies, and others are coming from; and develop a priorities perspective to guide compromises when the optimum policy is not attainable.