From Poor Law to Welfare State, 6th Edition: A History of Social Welfare in America

I don’t normally rate text books since I’m required to read them but this book is seriously great. I think everyone should be required to read it to understand the US and how it came about as well as racist undertones and things we can do to help fix this and the poverty issues we still see today.

Overall, this was a great read to understanding the history of our nation and the many attempts, successful and unsuccessful, to rectify the ongoing issue of poverty that (still) affects many Americans today.

I am doing research on our local poor farm and this has given me more information than I have ever imagined. It definitely starts at the beginning of care for and of the poor and follows through to the end. Trattner has done an excellent job covering the poor laws to modern day social welfare in a comprehensive and straight-forward manner. I have found the book intriguing and thought provoking. Well written to the point that researcher and layman alike can read this book and find it to be a valuable resource.Professors would be well advised to include this in their classroom. Definitely a book to keep on my shelf for years to come.

It was a good read, just some of the wording or phrasing is a little outdated for present-day social work.

easy to read and straight to the point

Bought this for my MSW policy class and I found it was an easy and interesting read. It gave me a historical understanding of social welfare in the United States, which I believe all social workers need.

This is the second review I have written. The first one is missing in action. I was a social worker/child welfare worker for years in various U.S. cities. This book tells you about poor laws but not how they worked in society. It is superficial. We have poor laws in this country now and no one understands that the social and legal structures created similar to poor laws are designed to control the poor and to destroy their families. If you want to know how poor laws work...find another book. This one is worthless.

Published in 1999 and somewhat dated, but a good historical overview of social welfare in the United States, particulary in the early portion of the nation's history. A good beginner guide to the subject matter--not recommended for those who are already subject matter experts in the area.