Today, the profession of social work is confronted with a number of critical issues. Many of these relate to theory development: the evaluation of practice effectiveness; the appropriate role of social work in policy development at the state, national, and international levels; emerging concerns about social work education; and so on. This volume seeks to draw together the current thinking on these issues, analyze them, and project areas for further analysis.Written by leading scholars in social work, this volume will be of value to social work educators, practitioners, students, and others in the social policy arena.