This completely rewritten and updated new edition of a practical text continues to provide a firm introduction to law and legal processes and their relation to social work practice. Using Clinton's welfare reform act of 1996, Albert provides a conceptual framework to illustrate how socio-legal problems emerge in the welfare state, and presents the skills base necessary for effective social work response. A new section on socio-legal issues highlights many fields where social worker-lawyer partnerships can occur, such as civil rights and advocacy, the death penalty, liability for neglect in...