Social Welfare: A World View (The Nelson-Hall Series in Social Work) [Paperback]

Katherine van Wormer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1997 | Series: The Nelson-Hall Series in Social Work

Dedicated to the world's marginalized people, this exhaustively documented text studies that United States' social welfare system in comparison to international approaches with extensive coverage of the systems in Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Mexico, and Norway. This timely offering coincides with social work's growing international commitment, and explores how this concern affects the profession on both individual and policy-making levels. Initially van Wormer describes social work's historical beginnings and then establishes the groundwork for contemporary practice. The text meets CSWE's requirement that the social work curriculum provide content on discrimination, economic deprivation, and oppression and their effects on people of color, women, and gay and lesbian persons. Knowledge of these dynamics will prompt social work students to accept their role as citizens of not just their own countries, but also of the world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

While van Wormer's book is not traditional criminal justice fare, many criminal justice practicitioners will find it thought provoking. Facets of social work, sociology, criminology, criminal justice, and psychology are skillfully woven together. Because the book is so extensive and intertwines so many viewpoints, most readers should find it an excellent resource. Also, the book is filled with up-to-the-minute facts and statistics. The focus on comparative research is refreshing. It is fascinating to read about the social policies of other industrialized countries and to recognize the fact that the United States is deficient in may areas. At the very least, van Wormer's book has the potential to stimulate many heated discussions. And perhaps the ultimate result will be the major revision of a number of social policies that van Wormer implicates as criminogenic. -- Patricia King, Federal Probation, 1997

About the Author

Dr. van Wormer has taught in departments of criminal justice and social work at the University of Northern Iowa and has over twenty years experience in teaching and public service. She has practiced substance abuse counseling for four and a half years, including two in Norway. Dr. van Wormer has been publishing texts, book chapters, and articles for over twenty years. In addition to this book, she has published five other books, including two on female offenders and victims, as well as two Brooks/Cole titles, SOCIAL WELFARE: A WORLD VIEW and ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT: A SOCIAL WORK PERSPECTIVE. She has received many honors through the years including the McKay Faculty Research Award, University of Northern Iowa.

Product Details

• Paperback: 685 pages
• Publisher: Brooks Cole; 1 edition (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830414355
• ISBN-13: 978-0830414352
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,366,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Katherine van Wormer, MSSW, Ph.D., grew up in New Orleans, taught English in Northern Ireland and is Professor of Social Work at the University of Northern Iowa. She worked extensively in the field of substance abuse counseling in Washington State and Norway. Dr. van Wormer has authored or co-authored 16 books. Her most recent contributions are two volumes of Human Behavior and the Social Environment, Micro and Macro Levels (Oxford University Press), Addiction Treatment: A Strengths Perspective (Cengage), Women and the Criminal Justice System (Prentice Hall), and Death by Domestic Violence: Preventing the Murders and the Murder-Suicides (Praeger), and Working with Female Offenders: A Gender Sensitive Approach.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An impressive work summarizing well global welfare issues., July 10, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Springfield, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Social Welfare: A World View (The Nelson-Hall Series in Social Work) (Paperback)

This very impressive work summarizes well the historical foundations of social welfare policy in the United States, yet within a global context, so rarely, if ever, seen in welfare policy texts. With scholarship and eloquence it also summarizes major social welfare policies in numerous countries, including, but not limited to, Canada, the United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, Australia and Norway. It also is sensitive to the situations of marginalized groups, such as Indigenous people worldwide, African Americans, Hispanics, and gay and lesbians. It is must reading for anyone desiring a thorough knowledge of social welfare policies within a global context in order to engage in social action toward a socially just world committed to human rights principles.

5.0 out of 5 stars Social Work: A World View, September 6, 2003

By 

Jamie Paige L.M.S.W. (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Social Welfare: A World View (The Nelson-Hall Series in Social Work) (Paperback)

I wanted to share that I recently took a copy of Dr. Van Wormer's book Social Welfare: A World View off my personal book shelf. I am currently practicing Medical Social Work in a Rural Hospital Community and use it often as a reference.

I am fascinated by her ability to bring complicated issues down to an easy and understandable level. I work with a wide variety of racial and ethnic groups, and sometimes, keeping up on an international perspective helps me out tremendously by broading my view in critical areas. Dr. Van Wormer's book helps me to keep focus on my clients and what their needs may be, in a culturally broad perspective. It helps keep me grounded and is a wonderful resource.

It also helps me to see, how far we all have to go, to get Social Welfare Services and our commitment to it, to the people needing those services... where it really truly needs to be. By being able to see how other countries utilize their social welfare programs, we see the need to utilize our own educational or professional advocacy skills to cry out for better and stronger social welfare programs to help people of every nation (this includes the United States) stand tall, secure, and proud. Thanks for a wonderful resource book. I highly recommend this book.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Troublesome, September 1, 2003

By 

"sparky_44" (Phila, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Social Welfare: A World View (The Nelson-Hall Series in Social Work) (Paperback)

I've only just begun this book. I like the concept of comparing the U.S. social welfare scene with that in other countries. I'm having a lot of trouble getting through what's written, though. For example, in Chatper 1, I read one small paragraph four or five times, and I can't come up with a reasonable interpretation for what the author is trying to say. I asked someone else to try, and she failed too.

If I understood the introductory material correctly, the first chapter of this book is unique among all chapters in that it presents theoretical and definitional background material. I'm hoping that the remaining chapters, with their proposed topical focus, will have a corresponding focus in their prose and presentation.