Human Services In Contemporary America

This book's multidisciplinary approach to the field of human services gives students an overview of the helping field, its available programs, and the practical skills workers can employ. It focuses on presenting the history and practice of human services through the lens of a social problems and policy perspective. Throughout the text, the authors integrate the theme of understanding how social, economic and political issues affect the human service worker and the people served in human services. Each chapter also includes real-life examples that highlight the material on social policy.

William R. Burger received his doctorate in social psychology, but his academic background also encompasses the fields of educational psychology and philosophy of education. While attending graduate school at Harvard University, he was awarded a research assistantship for his work in the area of community decision making. Bill is the former director of the Mental Health and Human Services Program and is currently chaiperson of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Human Services at Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York. Merrill Youkeles, professor emeritus at Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York, received his doctoral degree in studies on aging at Columbia University with the aid of a grant from the Administration on Aging. Merrill is a certified social worker who received his M.S.W. from the University of Pennsylvania and is the former director of the Mental Health and Human Services Program at Kingsborough College.