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The Politics of Alcoholism can be read on one level as a fascinating history of the evolving politics of what this country is doing about “the problem of alcoholism.” Not so long ago that problem was scarcely larger than a human hand against the horizon, but now it makes good, regular newspaper copy. This text follows through on the much-raised question of how a social problem becomes defined as a large scale problem, when the same phenomenon x Preface now labeled as “a problem” was not so named before. What is offered here is a direct attack on the rise into public visibility of something previously the concern of a relatively small number of people and groups, and which gets defined along the way as a problem for the whole nation. The second issue addressed is closer to the political scientist's traditional interest, namely the politics of handling public issues: research and theorizing here usually focus on interest groups, lobbying, public debate, legislative rights, constituencies, and so on.

Available in paperback for the first time, this milestone work offers an in-depth treatment of all aspects of the discipline and practice of social policy globally. Supported by a distinguished international advisory board, the editors have compiled almost 900,000 words across 734 entries written by 284 leading specialists to provide authoritative coverage of concepts, policy actors, welfare institutions and services along a series of national, regional and transnational dimensions. Also included are biographical entries on major policy makers and shapers. The editors have particularly striven to provide strong coverage of differing geographical and cultural traditions so that the variety of social policy, as both an academic discipline and a domain of governance, is reflected. Contributors draw in and make the necessary connections with social policy's associated disciplines to provide a rich picture of this vast and highly diverse field. Comprehensive and authoritative, the Encyclopedia has sought to open up rather than to foreclose the numerous areas in which there is on-going research, debate and, sometimes, serious disagreement and divergence in theory and practice. To this end, entries attempt to introduce a core or common ground of understanding before moving on to a wider discussion of debates regarding different conceptual and geographical approaches. The whole is integrated by cross-referencing and each entry includes a bibliography for further reading. There is a full index. The International Encyclopedia of Social Policy provides the most substantial mapping of the international study and practice of social policy to date and will stand as a vital storehouse of knowledge for many years to come.

A critical characteristic of human service organizations is their capacity to learn from experience and to adapt continuously to changing external conditions such as downward pressure on resources, constant reconfiguration of the welfare state and rapidly changing patterns of social need. This invaluable, groundbreaking volume discusses in detail the concept of the learning organization, in particular its relevance to social work and social services. Contributors join together from across Europe, North America and Australia to explore the development of the learning organization within social work contexts and its use as a strategic tool for meeting problems of continuous learning, supervision and change. The volume addresses a range of important topics, from strategies for embedding learning and critical reflection in the social work learning organization, to the implications of the learning organization for the new community-based health and social care agenda.