The Altruistic Imagination

Social work and social policy in the United States have always had a complex and troubled relationship. In this book, John H. Ehrenreich offers a critical interpretation of their intertwined histories.

John H. Ehrenreich is Professor of Psychology at SUNY College at Old Westbury. He is the author of The Humanitarian Companion and coauthor of Long March, Short Spring: The Student Uprising at Home and Abroad.

Ehrenreich's respect for the profession of social work is demonstrated by his careful analysis of the various schools of thought—the painstaking unraveling of the two tangled threads of social control and social reform. Ehrenreich patiently considers the complicated intellectual framework of social work, respecting the complexity of the issues involved while at the same time proposing a provocative and unified thesis.