Social Workers Count

Social work students are often required to take courses in the domain of quantitative literacy, but struggle with the relative inattention to policy and social issues of special significance to professional social workers. These courses, as well as the books written for them, may also present mathematical demands many social workers are unprepared to meet. However, issues such as poverty measurement, adjustment of the purchasing power of social welfare benefits,demographic strains on the Social Security program, and probability theory as a means of estimating the likelihood of child abuse or neglect represent only a few of the many quantitative problems relatedto the concerns of professional social workers. Written in an accessible style, Social Workers Count provides social workers and those in neighboring disciplines with the background necessary to engage the quantitative aspects of policy and social issues relevant to social work.