The density-wave theory of Ramakrishnan and Yussouff is extended to provide a scheme for describing dislocations and other topological defects in crystals. Quantitative calculations are presented for the order-parameter profiles, the atomic configuration, and the free energy of a screw dislocation with Burgers vector b=(a/2, a/2, a/2) in a bcc solid. These calculations are done using a simple parametrization of the direct correlation function and a gradient expansion. It is conventional to express the free energy of the dislocation in a crystal of size R as (\ensuremath{\lambda}${b}^{2}$/4\ensuremath{\pi})ln(\ensuremath{\alpha}R/\ensuremath{\Vert}b\ensuremath{\Vert}), where \ensuremath{\lambda} is the shear elastic constant, and \ensuremath{\alpha} is a measure of the core energy. Our results yield for Na the value \ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{\simeq}1.94a/(\ensuremath{\Vert}${c}_{1}^{\mathcal{'}\mathcal{'}}$\ensuremath{\Vert}${)}^{1/2}$ (\ensuremath{\simeq}1.85) at the freezing temperature (371 K) and \ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{\simeq}2.48a/(\ensuremath{\Vert}${c}_{1}^{\mathcal{'}\mathcal{'}}$\ensuremath{\Vert}${)}^{1/2}$ at 271 K, where ${c}_{1}^{\mathcal{'}\mathcal{'}}$ is the curvature of the first peak of the direct correlation function c(q). Detailed results for the density distribution in the dislocation, particularly the core region, are also presented. These show that the dislocation core has a columnar character. To our knowledge, this study represents the first calculation of dislocation structure, including the core, within the framework of an order-parameter theory and incorporating thermal effects.