Experts from around the world fill a major gap about social work education with their survey of the state of the field in over 23 countries and regions within the Americas (United States, Canada, Mexico and Central America, South America, Argentina), Europe (United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Germany, Central/Eastern Europe, Russia and the Republics), Africa (Africa, Zimbabwe, South Africa), the Middle East (the Middle East and Egypt, Israel), and Asia and the Pacific (Asia/Pacific, Australia, India, Bangladesh, Japan, China). This reference guide also considers social work education from a comparative and global perspective in terms of current problems and programs and future prospects. Social workers, educators, academics, and professionals will gain from the country studies, international overview, and lengthy bibliographies.

Social work originates from humanitarian, religious, and democratic ideals and philosophies, and has universal applications to meet human needs arising from personal-societal interactions. Professional social workers are dedicated to service for the welfare and self-fulfillment of human beings; to the disciplined use of scientific knowledge regarding human and societal behavior; to the development of resources to meet individual, group, national, and international needs and aspirations; and to the achievement of social justice. This handbook raises issues such as, Are there globally recognized values of social work? Is there a model of international practice that is applicable across the range of interventions--micro to mezzo to macro? Do social workers have a professional identity which unites them the world over? This handbook covers the five continents of the globe by presenting the state of the art theory and practice of social work within selected countries which have a legacy of social work, either imported from the west or indigenously developed within the country. In the context of conditions prevalent in these countries the handbook highlights the constant challenges facing social workers and social work organizations to meet the needs of the individuals and societies they service.

The ease of transportation, the opening of international immigration policies, the growing refugee movements, and the increasing size of unauthorized immigrant populations suggest that immigration worldwide is a phenomenon of utmost importance to professionals who develop policies and programs for, or provide services to, immigrants. Immigration occurs in both the wealthy nations of the global North and the poorer countries of the global South; it involves individuals who arrive with substantial human capital and those with little. It has far-reaching implications for a nation's economy, public policies, social and health services, and culture.
The purpose of this volume, therefore, is to explore current patterns and policies of immigration in key countries and regions across the globe and analyze the implications for these countries and their immigrant populations. Each of its chapters, written by an international and interdisciplinary group of experts, explores how country conditions, policies, values, politics, and attitudes influence the process of immigration and subsequently affect immigrants, migration, and the nation itself.
No other volume explores the landscape of worldwide immigration as broadly as this does, with sweeping coverage of countries and empirical research, together with an analytic framework that sets the context of human migration against a wide backdrop of experiential factors that take shape long before an immigrant enters a host country. At once a sourcebook and an applied model of immigration studies, Immigration Worldwide is a valuable reference for scholars and students seeking a wide-ranging yet nuanced survey of the key issues salient to debates about the programs and policies that best serve immigrant populations and their host countries.