Of special interest for social work students, teachers, and practitioners, the collection of 94 articles presents a broad survey of the field of mental retardation particularly as it relates to social work. The articles indicate both past work and the current status of social work practice with the mentally retarded. Material includes background information on retardation from the social and behavioral sciences, and information on the retardate himself, his family, his social network, basic relevant concepts from social work and current social service practices, and some vital issues. Twelve major units of articles deal specifically with such topics as perspectives on our current state of knowledge, philosophy and values regarding the mentally retarded, social welfare policy, models of service delivery, the parent self-help group, provision of various specific social services to retardates and their families, utilization of paraprofessionals and professionals in delivery of services, social work education, and social research. (KW)