The Grand Challenges for Social Work were introduced by the American Academy for Social Work & Social Welfare in 2016, which are social problems that are interrelated and "exceedingly complex". We discuss the relevance of complexity theory, operationalized by complex adaptive systems (CAS), to the Grand Challenges. CAS moves beyond…

Given tremendous negative societal effects of mass incarceration, the social work profession's investment in the Grand Challenge to Promote Smart Decarceration, and the call for criminal justice transformation, educational content that prepares social work students to engage in smart decarceration efforts is essential. This article presents…

Substance abuse has been identified as a significant social problem. Social work is uniquely positioned to affect this problem. Kennesaw State University has established a substance abuse concentration as part of its master's of social work program. The purpose of this article is to describe the development of this curriculum. The curriculum is…

Social work education has traditionally focused more on practice methods than on solving social problems. It is contended that there is a need for an "integrated practitioner" who is, by design, prepared as a social problem specialist. Issues in developing a curriculum are discussed. (Author/MH)