Social Welfare Policy in a Changing World
- Shannon R. Lane - Yeshiva University, New York, USA
- Elizabeth S. Palley - Adelphi University
- Corey S. Shdaimah - University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA
Social Policy (General)
Social Welfare Policy in a Changing World, Second Edition offers an engaging, student-friendly approach that links policy and practice, while employing a critical analytic lens to U.S. social welfare policy. With particular attention to disparities based on class, race/ethnicity, ability, sexual orientation and gender, Shannon R. Lane, Elizabeth S. Palley, and Corey S. Shdaimah assess the impact of policies at the micro, meso, and macro levels. The authors provide a brief foundation in history, the policy process, and theory, while primarily helping students understand how policy shapes their lives, communities, and clients. Connecting description, theoretical analysis, and advocacy, this text challenges readers to critically assess policy development, its consequences, and future implications. Students will come away with a newfound understanding of how to use the political process to address social justice issues and advocate for meaningful policy change.
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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.