Trattner provides in-depth examination of developments in child welfare, public health, and the evolution of social work as a profession, showing how all these changes affected the treatment of the poor and needy in America. He explores the impact of public policies on social workers and other helping professions — all against the backdrop of social and intellectual trends in American history. From Poor Law to Welfare State directly addresses racism and sexism and pays special attention to the worsening problems of child abuse, neglect, and homelessness. Topics new to this sixth edition include:

• A review of President Clinton's health-care reform and its failure, and his efforts to "end welfare as we know it"

• Recent developments in child welfare including an expanded section on the voluntary use of children's institutions by parents in the nineteenth century, and the continued discrimination against black youth in the juvenile justice system

• An in-depth discussion of Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein's controversial book, The Bell Curve, which provided social conservatives new weapons in their war on the black poor and social welfare in general

• The latest information on AIDS and the reappearance of tuberculosis — and their impact on public health policy

• A new Preface and Conclusion, and substantially updated Bibliographies

Written for students in social work and other human service professions, From Poor Law to Welfare State: A History of Social Welfare in America is also an essential resource for historians, political scientists, sociologists, and policymakers.

Trattner writes clearly and simply. It is a pleasure to read a book that one not only understands but that stimulates hope in the future from insights drawn from the past.

Preface to the Sixth Edition

Preface to the Fifth Edition

Preface to the Fourth Edition

Preface to the Third Edition

Preface to the Second Edition

Preface to the First Edition

Chapter 1 The Background

Chapter 2 Colonial America

Chapter 3 The Era of the American Revolution

Chapter 4 The Trend Toward Indoor Relief

Chapter 5 The Civil War and After — Scientific Charity

Chapter 6 Child Welfare

Chapter 7 The Public Health Movement

Chapter 8 The Settlement House Movement

Chapter 9 The Mental Health Movement

Chapter 10 Renaissance of Public Welfare

Chapter 11 The Quest for Professionalization

Chapter 12 Social Work and Welfare in the 1920s

Chapter 13 Depression and a New Deal

Chapter 14 From World War to Great Society

Chapter 15 A Transitional Era

Chapter 16 War on the Welfare State

Chapter 17 Looking Forward — Or Backward?

Index