Preface.

SOCIAL WORK HAS BEEN IN THE ARAB world for nearly 70 years. As several of the articles in this special edition point out, social work thinking is undergoing a probable evolution towards still greater rigor. The present special edition intends to capture several of the more interesting and major areas of concern that are relevant to social work in the Arab world and that capture the sense of sophistication that is representing social work theory and knowledge.

Social policy is fundamental to all areas of social work: the bedrock upon which practices and services are carried out. This issue begins with a very comprehensive outline of social policy developments in Iraq prior to the 2003 invasion. As Shereen Ismael points out, social objectives have been superceded by more immediate political concerns, particularly since the 1990-91 Gulf War. Sherifa Zuhur continues the discussion, with reference to women in the Arab world. Political and economic concerns are likewise seminal in the possibilities of empowering women. Women in the Arab world, as she points out, "are by no means globally empowered. It seems that everywhere, economic and political power appear to be equally necessary components of empowerment. Women's disproportionate lack of political power is accompanied by their status as the majority of the poor." Professor A. Okasha writes about mental health services. Political will, economic circumstances, and historic trends are among those factors that influence "per capita mental health services, the availability of a mental health act, the space allocated for mental health in medical curricula and the nature of the mental health challenges as identified by mental health professionals in the different Arab countries." While such policy concerns are seminal to social work, so too do strategies for delivering services figure prominently. Khawla Abu Baker's nuanced analysis of marital problems uses a case narrative to help explain the intricate links between individual and group functioning, the relationship between gender construction and problem conceptualization and resolution, as well as the need to have the voices of women and other groups heard, in the formation of any social work practice. Professors Al-Krenawi and Graham conclude the special issue with some considerations of social work theory and methods as could be applied to Muslim Arab peoples in broad, trans-national terms. Here they argue that while social work is growing in sophistication, there is a need to integrate local or indigenous practices and the more global, and postcolonial forces of social work theory and methods.

We hope that the present volume will provide a solid benchmark for thinking about social work in the Arab world. The present issue is, in this sense, a pioneering effort. The approach therefore has been broad in scope, as well as being consciously of interest to scholars from a variety of disciplines. Future issues could usefully consider any one of the themes covered in each of the papers, in much greater depth, as well as many other themes that simply could not be covered in this present overview edition: among them, the nature of social work training in the Arab world, the development of curricula, the possibility of community development, strategies for group work, issues of acculturation, reaccultoration, and the mobility of peoples, rural versus urban practice, how social work responds to changing social needs, and the influence of geopolitics and globalization upon social work and social policy in the Arab world.

We would like to thank each author for their most insightful contributions, and the editors and editorial board for encouraging this special issue.