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 processAs 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.