Understanding Social Problems, Policies, and Programs (Social Problems and Social Issues)

Understanding Social Problems, Policies, and Programs offers a comprehensive analysis of the policies used in the United States to address social problems and to develop the nation's social welfare programs. Leon Ginsberg provides a framework for understanding some of the country's most controversial issues, including welfare assistance and welfare reform. He suggests practical ways in which individuals and groups might implement more-beneficial programs for the disadvantaged.
To update the volume's first edition, Ginsberg has expanded on the six-component model - history, social problems, public policy, description of programs, policy analysis, and policy practice - that defines social welfare policy and services. He has incorporated information about policy changes in the "Contract with America" that have been enacted by the 1995 Republican-led Congress. Ginsberg also has included supplementary models for policy analysis and new references and materials from the nineteenth edition of the Encyclopedia of Social Work.

Leon Ginsberg is Carolina Distinguished Professor and chair of the social welfare policy and services area at the University of South Carolina College of Social Work.