This best-selling text continues to offer a comprehensive introduction to the field of social work with a unique focus on the diverse groups to whom social workers provide services, including children, older adults, disabled persons, and members of minority racial and ethnic groups.

Now in its Eleventh Edition,Social Work: A Profession of Many Faces has educated approximately 150,000 students since 1977. It has stayed current with changes in the human services and social work profession, introducing proactive, cutting-edge material rather than maintaining a reactive position, as reflected in most other texts of its kind. Especially timely issues that this edition addresses include the following: the events of 9/11 and their dramatic influence on human services in the United States; United States involvement in Middle East warfare and the aftermath of physical and emotional damage to individuals involved and their families; and the 2000 Census and how substantial changes in the U.S. population suggest a need for realignment of social services.   

Fundamentally, this text includes historical material on the emergence of social work as a profession, the areas and groups where human services are provided, and career opportunities for social workers today. The book reflects up-to-date empirical data about where social workers are employed, what positions they hold, what personal characteristics they bring to their practice, and the competencies required to perform their work.