Oxford University Press and The National Association of Social Workers are proud to announce that 2009's completely updated, revised and critically-acclaimed 20th edition of this essential work is now available in paperback. The 400 articles in this four-volume set cover all aspects of social work. Topics include practice and interventions, social environments, social conditions and challenges, and social policy and history.

The entries cover topics and persons in major areas of popular culture: film; music; print culture; social life; sports; television and radio; and art and performance (which include theater, dance, stand-up comedy, and other live performance). The entries analyze each topic or person's significance in and relevance to American popular culture; in addition to basic factual information, readers will gain perspective on the cultural context in which the topic or person has importance.

No matter whether it is a discussion of nationhood, race family, adolescence, or popular culture, identity is a mainstay in everyday conversations about who we say we are as individuals and citizens within a local or national community.

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Child Development remains the most authoritative and accessible account of all aspects of child development. Written by an international team of experts, its comprehensive coverage includes everything from prenatal development to adolescence, pediatrics, theories and research methods, physical development, social and emotional development, perceptual and cognitive development, language development, psychopathology, and parenting.

Truly comprehensive in scope - and arranged in A-Z format for quick access - this eight-volume set is a one-source reference for anyone researching the historical and contemporary details of more than 170 major issues confronting American society. Entries cover the full range of hotly contested social issues - including economic, scientific, environmental, criminal, legal, security, health, and media topics.

The Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol, and Addictive Behavior, 3rd edition updates and expands upon the award-winning second edition of this set, addressing social, medical, legal, and political issues related to substance use and addictive behavior. New essays report on contemporary socio-political topics such as the role of drugs and alcohol in the media, the prevalence of drugs in the international sports and fashion industries, the relationship between drug trafficking and terrorism, and the impact of the Internet on drug and alcohol use.

From Publisher's Website: The Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol, and Addictive Behavior, 3rd edition updates and expands upon the award-winning second edition of this set, addressing social, medical, legal, and political issues related to substance use and addictive behavior. New essays report on contemporary socio-political topics such as the role of drugs and alcohol in the media, the prevalence of drugs in the international sports and fashion industries, the relationship between drug trafficking and terrorism, and the impact of the Internet on drug and alcohol use.

In light of Los Angeles' gang state of emergency, ethnic and minority gangs are arguably more high profile now than at any other time in our history. News media typically focus on the crime and violence associated with gangs, but not much else. This encyclopedia seeks to illuminate the world of gangs, including gang formations, routine gang activities, aberrations and current developments. One hundred essay entries related to gangs in the United States and worldwide provide a diffuse overview of the gang phenomenon.

Since publication of the groundbreaking Encyclopedia of Housing in 1998, many issues have assumed special prominence within this field and, indeed, within the global economy. For instance, the global economic meltdown was spurred in large part by the worst subprime mortgage crisis we've seen in our history. On a more positive note, the sustainability movement and "green" development has picked up considerable steam and, given the priorities and initiatives of the current U.S. administration, this will only grow in importance, and increased attention has been given in recent years to the topic of indoor air quality.

Provides a thorough introduction to the wide-ranging, fast-developing field of social networking. Offers comprehensive coverage of the theory and research within the social sciences that has sprung from the analysis of such groupings, with accompanying definitions, measures, and research.

This encyclopedia covers legal issues relating to information technology and the Internet. Over 140 A–Z entries including biographies of key people involved in the development of Internet legislation. An expansive glossary of technical and legal terms cross-referenced for easy access to information. A detailed chronology of major developments illustrating changes in legal issues relating to computers, information technology, and the Internet. A comprehensive index for quick reference to the numerous topics covered

The simple act of going to work every day is an integral part of all societies across the globe. It is an ingrained social contract: we all work to survive. But it goes beyond physical survival. Psychologists have equated losing a job with the trauma of divorce or a family death, and enormous issues arise, from financial panic to sinking self-esteem. Through work, we build our self-identity, our lifestyle, and our aspirations. How did it come about that work dominates so many parts of our lives and our psyche? This multi-disciplinary encyclopedia covers curricular subjects that seek to address that question, ranging from business and management to anthropology, sociology, social history, psychology, politics, economics, and health.

In our age of globalization and multiculturalism, it has never been more important for Americans to understand and appreciate foreign cultures and how people live, love, and learn in areas of the world unfamiliar to most U.S. students and the general public. The four volumes in our cultural sociology reference encyclopedia take a step forward in this endeavor by presenting concise information on those regions likely to be most "foreign" to U.S. students: the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.

The first major reference work to combine the scholarship of historians with work in ethnology, gender study, geography, literature, religion, anthropology, and sociology. The focus is not on the conventional political-military narratives that have dominated early writing. Rather, the 180 essays in these volumes highlight the processes and the people of the American social structure.

Latinos and Latinas in the United States have the dubious distinction of being both the largest group of new immigrants in the early twenty-first century and, together with Native Americans (with whom they are not always mutually exclusive), the oldest Americans. So goes a refrain common among Chicano activists: Latin Americans not only cross the border today through immigration, but the border crossed them in the past through annexation and conquest.

This guide provides a reference for anyone seeking information about the predominant and variable cultural forms, mores, and modes of expression in virtually every country. Entries cover many of the elements that together constitute the predominant culture, as well as lost cultures of the world.

What are the origins of agriculture? In what ways have technological advances related to food affected human development? How have food and foodways been used to create identity, communicate meaning, and organize society? In this highly readable, illustrated volume, archaeologists and other scholars from across the globe explore these questions and more.

This reference book offers informtion on all aspects of food in human culture.

The antitobacco litigation of the 1990s, culminating in the $206 billion Master Settlement Agreement, led to a lull during which this encyclopedia could be produced without fear of its being immediately overtaken by events. The editor has used the opportunity to good advantage. Tobacco in History and Culture contains 136 articles addressing every important aspect of the tobacco phenomenon and the controversies spawned by the revelations of the past several decades, most notably those relating to health risks and to the tobacco companies' awareness of those risks, long before the public was made aware of them.

"Steele, director of the Fashion Institute of Technology Museum, has crafted, with the help of 325 contributors, an authoritative introduction to fashion, the industry, and the issues that hve defined the field. Some 640 articles describe the colorful facets of couture and textiles, from fabrics of chintz, corduroy, and feathers to such garb as aprons, bikinis, and prison dress.

Covers the whole world of sport, from major professional sports and sporting events to community and youth sport, as well as the business of sports and key social issues

The second edition of the International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family revises and expands MacMillan's 1995 Encyclopedia of Marriage and the Family, adopting an international, cross-cultural approach to such diverse topics as adolescent parenthood, family planning, cohabitation, widowhood, domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, codependency and commuter marriages. It includes articles specific to countries and to religious traditions, examining the history of family life within these cultures and discussing how families have been affected by political and social change.

Covering all aspects of death and dying, the two-volume set also provides a deep historical and cross-cultural perspective through the ages. Article coverage includes: AIDS; children; cremation; communication with the dead; grief and mourning across cultures; life expectancy; widows; and much more. The Encyclopedia also includes 150 illustrations; an appendix providing general overviews and contact information for nearly 80 organizations; and a comprehensive index.

In approximately 330 entries, the Encyclopedia of Death and the Human Experience presents “a range of insightful interdisciplinary topics” related to the human response to death and dying and the attendant rituals and practices. The alphabetically arranged entries discuss matters from Abortion to Zombies, revenants, vampires, and reanimated corpses. The entries for Brain death and Defining and conceptualizing death offer definitions of death. The details provided in the descriptions of Cremation and Embalming may well make one consider Green burials as an alternative. The psychological aspects of death are explored in entries such as Death anxiety, Memorials, and Survivor guilt. Because religions have often informed our views on death, the beliefs and traditions of many religions, such as Christianity and Hinduism, and those of Mesoamerican/pre-Columbian cultures, among others, are presented. Social questions such as Palliative care and Quality of life are discussed.

This text is a truly comprehensive cheese book, containing 855 A-Z scholarly, yet accessible entries on the history, culture, and science of cheese making and cheese enjoyment, worldwide

This wine book provides comprehensive coverage on all aspects of wine making, and puts wine, wine-making and wine drinking into historical perspective

The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets is the most ambitious and eclectic reference work of its kind, a sweeping collection of nearly 600 entries on all things sweet, written by 265 expert contributors. In addition to learning the history of candy, the evolution of the dessert course, and the production of chocolate, readers will discover entries on "sugar of lead" (lead acetate), prescribed for stomach troubles in the nineteenth century, and "castoreum" (beaver extract), beloved by the modern food industry for the sweet taste it imparts. The sheer variety of entries in this compendium is astounding; peruse its wondrous variety like a kid in a candy shop.

The Oxford Companion to Wine presents almost 4,000 entries on every wine-related topic imaginable, from regions and grape varieties to the owners, connoisseurs, growers, and tasters in wine through the ages; from viticulture and oenology to the history of wine, from its origins to the present day.

The American Beauty Industry Encyclopedia is the first compilation to focus exclusively on this pervasive business, covering both its diverse origins and global reach. More than 100 entries were chosen specifically to illuminate the most iconic aspects of the industry's past and present, exploring the meaning of beauty practices and products, often while making analytical use of categories such as gender, race, sexuality, and stages of the lifecycle.

In the third edition the editor has taken the opportunity to update the text and alert readers to new perspectives in food studies. There is new coverage of approaches to food such as those offered by anthropology and sociology as well as the culture surrounding food exemplified by etiquette, gastronomy, and photography, and our shifting concerns surrounding food, including convenience food, obesity, and local food. In its new edition the Companion maintains its place as the foremost food reference resource for study and home use

This is the most wide-ranging coverage ever of foods and food products and how to use them. It includes entries on national and regional cuisines, preparation and preservation, food science and diet as well as food in culture and religion

This book explores the topic of food across multiple disciplines within the social sciences and related areas including business, consumerism, marketing, and environmentalism. In contrast to the existing reference works on the topic of food that tend to fall into the categories of cultural perspectives, this carefully balanced academic encyclopedia focuses on social and policy aspects of food production, safety, regulation, labeling, marketing, distribution, and consumption.

With over 1,200 entries, this A-Z reference guide contains practical, concise definitions of both common and obscure food drink and cooking terms. It covers both the linguistic and the gastronomic