The plethora of inquiry reports published in the fields of health and welfare in the 1990s covered the full range of user groups, individuals and institutions. What similarities or differences were there between these inquiries? How effective were they in bringing about change? Whose interest did they best serve?

These are some of the questions The Age of the Inquiry explores in detail, bringing together distinguished contributors with personal experience of chairing or providing evidence to inquiries to consider:

the participant's view of inquiries
the purpose of inquiries
the impact of inquiries on health and social policy
inquiries into: child abuse and death; homicides by mental health service users; the abuse of adults with
learning disabilities; the abuse of older people.

Wide-ranging in scope, The Age of the Inquiry focuses on service and policy development. It provides an invaluable text for students, teachers and professionals from a wide range of disciplines and professional groups.

'The Age of the Inquiry provides an excellent source of material for many readers. It is a useful text for social work students at undergraduate and post graduate level and for researchers. The Sheer volume of detail could be daunting for the reader looking for broad themes. For other readers this may be a strength, especially for researchers and those for whom conducting reviews of practice is a frequent duty.' - Applied Social Sciences, Faculty of Education, University of Auckland.

'The Age of the Inquiry provides an excellent source of material for many readers. It is a useful text for social work students at undergraduate and post graduate level and for researchers. The Sheer volume of detail could be daunting for the reader looking for broad themes. For other readers this may be a strength, especially for researchers and those for whom conducting reviews of practice is a frequent duty.' -Applied Social Sciences, Faculty of Education, University of Auckland