This text teaches the basics of social policy and program analysis, as well as teaching how to design new programs or improve existing ones.

Students are provided with a history of social problem perspectives as well as social program and policy provisions in Chapter 2. They then learn how to locate important court decisions that shape the way a social program or policy is implemented in Chapter 3. Students also learn evaluative criteria for judging the effectiveness of major policy and program elements in order to evaluate and improve both existing programs and their own work in creating new programs. In this edition, new social programs have been included and existing programs have been updated to include the latest changes. Chapter 11, which provides an example of the analysis of a social program (child welfare), has been completely rewritten and updated.