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HISTORY OF SOCIAL WORK IN U.S.
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Examines philosophical, religious & sociopolitical facets of four historical eras from 1600-1998.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Examines philosophical, religious & sociopolitical facets of four historical eras from 1600-1998.
Paper Introduction:
HISTORY OF SOCIAL WORK IN AMERICA
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the history of social work in the United States from the founding of the original colonies to the present day. The paper is divided into the following four sections:
I. Christian Outreach and Philantrophy: The Period From 1600 - 1800
II. Great Changes: The Period From 1800 - 1900
III. The Depression and Social Reform: The Period From 1900 - 1950
IV. Changing Views: The Period From 1950 - 1998.
In general, the historical perspective presented in the paper examines the development of social work as driven by two basic
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Major problems of the timeincluded growing numbers of poor people, poor working conditions, a rise indisease associated with certain occupations, a growing incidence of mentalillness, a high infant mortality rate coupled with the neglect and evenmurder of illegitimate infants and children (Trattner, 1974). Lubove, R. These include adoption andfoster-home services, juvenile-training schools, school social work,psychiatric clinics and mental health centers, drug-abuse programs, localcommunity organizations, and neighborhood service centers. Second, the proliferation of public programs related to ruraldifficulties created a new type of social work, rural social work. In the shadow of the poor house. NewYork: Bobbs-Merrill Co. Social diagnosis. In terms of social needs, thepredominant concerns of those that would become known as "the progressives"were: high rates of infant and maternal mortality and the growing numbersof orphans. However, the progressives becameinvolved in many issues beyond child saving including the suffrage andlabor movements, as well as engaging in a number of activities aimed atcombatting racism (Leiby, 1979). Great Changes: 18 - 19 Social work, as an organized and professional occupational activity,is commonly traced to the social changes associated with the IndustrialRevolution (Katz, 1986). These factors were said to lead to thedevelopment of the notion that broader and more flexible techniques wereneeded to fully serve the poor, and to the idea that volunteerism wasinsufficient and that, instead, effective visiting or social work requireda cadre of workers who were trained and paid professionals. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 5(1), 55-66. In the 186 s a new movement appeared that we now associate moredirectly with the evolution of early social work. Day, P.J. Shetermed the settlement an experimental effort to aid in the solution of thesocial and industrial problems engendered by the conditions of life in agreat city. More changes in programs and policies are expected. One of the most important responses to this call was thedevelopment of the Children's Bureau in 1912, headed by Julia Lathrop fromChicago's Hull House. New York:Putnam. Leiby, J. Further, the attitudes and policies being practiced by the friendlyvisitors were becoming more closely connected to the concepts and notionsthat typify casework in social work today. Social workers: Fad chasing jackasses orstill on the side of the angles? Auxinn, J. I. First, it pushed the profession into the arena of publicwelfare. The WPA was a work-relief program designed to replace the FERA. However, according to Leiby (1979), the state boards were sooneclipsed by similar movements in private charities, possibly because theboards were more interested in studying social problems and managementdifficulties than in developing new techniques and skills to better servethe needs of the poor. (1997). Shaw-Lowell, J. Farms were abandoned, banks werefailing, industrial output was a trickle, and most public and privaterelief programs were out of money. This proto form of social work was conceptually based on thebiblical mandate to feed, clothe and care for the poor and organizationallybased on the work in Europe of St. Volunteer visitors were replaced by"professional" social workers, some of whom now even referred to themselvesas "case workers." A final important historical event during this time period was thedevelopment of settlement houses. These programs were welded intothe 1935 Social Security Act, legislation that was largely the work ofsocial workers Harry Hopkins and Frances Perkins who worked closely withFDR throughout the process. HISTORY OF SOCIAL WORK IN AMERICA Introduction The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the history ofsocial work in the United States from the founding of the original coloniesto the present day. Leiby (1979) reports that the emergency relief programs and the latercreation of the Social Security system had a profound impact on the socialwork profession. Also, there are community organizers who act as area-widecoordinators of all the programs of different agencies to meet communityneeds for health and welfare services. The Sanitation Commission was a Civil War volunteer organizationthat developed services that are associated today with Public Health andthe Red Cross. According toDay (1997), a good deal of the growth and expansion that took place duringthe last two to three decades has been due to the renewed focus and callfor reform associated with the civil rights movement, a movement in whichsocial workers were strong participants. Furthermore, charity workers wereconvinced that the profligacy of the new programs would lead to the moraldemise of the poor by spreading dependency and pauperism. Moreover, the notions that character is at least somewhat involved incertain social ills such as substance abuse and crime; and that the bestway to help someone is not with money but with job training are finding anew resiliency despite the social work profession's claim that suchconcepts are little more than social darwinism. Third,the 193 s was a period when the social work profession re-committed itselfto social reform. Katz, M. The strategy of these leaders was to use the same blend of scienceand business efficiencies that had previously been applied by the stateboards. This concept wasfueled by the conversion of many charity workers to the popular new socialphilosophy of social Darwinism, a perspective developed by Herbert Spencerwho preached that relief was destructive to society and the poor because itcreated dependency and sapped their motivation (Shaw-Lowell, 1884). Senate onthe gravity of the crisis. The 'Casework notebook': Ananalysis of its content. First developed in England with thefounding (1884) of London's Toynbee Hall, settlement houses soon appearedon the continent of Europe and in the United States, notably at Hull House(1889) in Chicago, but also in New York (1886), Boston (1891), and othercities. According toone of the major leaders of this movement, Josephine Shaw-Lowell (1994),these characteristics included: the avoidance of dispensing direct relief;organizational efforts aimed at reducing redundancy in services (usuallyvia the establishment of record keeping systems); and the introduction of atreatment component or planned interventions to assist people in breakingfree of poverty. Great Changes: The Period From 18 - 19 III. The centralfeature of social work during the progressive era was the continued growthof the settlement movement. Further, Medicare and Medicaid and SocialSecurity pension programs, often viewed as the ultimate progressivecreations, are now in absolute bankruptcy. 1) Worried whether, this change in the public image, could have adverseconsequences for social work's constituencies and for the professionitself, Davenport (1997) conducted research sampling references to "socialwork" or "social workers," in a variety of media being published over a sixmonth period. In modern America, social workers aid persons in obtaining food,shelter, employment, health care, and other essential resources andservices; they counsel and provide psychotherapy for individuals, families,and groups; they plan, organize, manage, and coordinate social services fororganizations and communities; and they participate in governmental andcommunal decision making to improve social conditions. No longer regarded as atechnique only suitable for private charities serving the poor, caseworkwas identified as a broad skill applicable in a wide variety of arenasincluding mental hygiene, schools, hospitals, and juvenile courts. Auxinn and Levin (1982) report that up until the 186 s, the mostadvanced form of social work (really proto social work) was practiced byvolunteers working with the Sanitation Commission and the Freedman'sBureau. Nonetheless, the pioneers in the state boardmovement were the first charity leaders who tried to develop a moresystematic and rational approach to their work and to push it away from itstraditional association with religion. For example, progressive and liberal concepts are increasingly beingseen by the American public as flawed and connected with the production ofa variety of social ills such as entire families receiving welfare forthree and four generations. Local organizations surveyed communities togather data on the depth and breadth of the Great Depression's effects. Over the next two decades the movement spreadrapidly. (1979). Seeking to followscientific principles as they were then understood, the visitors wouldfirst study and investigate relief applications, separate the recipientsinto deserving or undeserving classes, and then treat them by makingreferrals and providing them with friendship (Leiby, 1979). Unemployment in some cities was over 4 percent and bankruptcy was acommon occurrence. Social Welfare. The Public Works Administration (PWA) started public works such asschools, courthouses and bridges, employing thousands of constructionworkers. According to Davenport (1997), the national mood has shifted, andsocial work in general and social workers in particular are viewednegatively. According to Auxinn and Levin (1982), social workers were among thefirst to react to the crisis, turning away from the individual approachesand re-embracing reform on a national scale. During this period, many social reforms were strongly advocated bycharity organizations and the progressive party including the developmentof the concept of school lunches (Lubove, 1965). A history of social welfare and social work in theUnited States. Spearheads for reform. Over the first two hundred years of colonizing andforming the United States, this basic social outreach to the poor and needydid not change much in philosophy; however, it did become more organizedwith volunteers being given training and forming loose collectives andorganizations of helpers and "visitors." (Richmond, 1895). In 1865, a convention to establish a nationalassociation was called. Alexander, L.B. References Addams, J. Social planners conduct research and helpdevelop social welfare policies, frequently acting as supporters of sociallegislation. Auxinn and Levin (1982) note that this period also saw great growthin the area of social casework, moving it out of the confines of thecharity organizations into a variety of fields including medical socialwork, psychiatric social work, and school social work. (2nd ed.) Boston:Allyn & Bacon. Farmers from all over theheartland were losing their land. Thousands of unemployed males, called hobos or simply "Bo's", roamedthe country in a fruitless search for work. However, it was soon seen that these institutions not only did notsolve the problems that created them, but presented new problems ininstitutional management. The professional altruist: The emergence of socialwork as a career 188 - 193 . The survey was sponsored by the Pittsburgh charityorganization and was an important study of working class people. The Pittsburgh Surveyexemplified the growing affinity between the two different approaches tosocial work. The National Recovery Administration (NRA) dubbed the Blue Eagle,created a network of policies and programs to help small businesses, andthe Agriculture Adjustment ACT (AAA) promoted policies to help farmers. Itreflected the prevailing perspective that work programs were a muchsuperior solution to the problems associated with poverty than welfare.The WPA eventually employed more than eight million Americans. Despite their flaws, Leiby (1979) reports that friendly visitors mademany important contributions to the development of professional socialwork as it is practiced in America today. Conceptually, the argument was increasingly being made andincreasingly being accepted that private charities alone were insufficientto meet the needs of the poor. By the 189 s, empirical concepts were becoming more entrenched insocial work, with many charity leaders beginning to publish studies of theeffects of the economic depression as well as developing more complexsocial theories and notions to explain poverty. (191 ). Their basicapproach quickly expanded beyond management and organization to includesome characteristics that became trademarks of the movement. Thefriendly visitors of this era were described by Leiby (1979) as women (allvisitors were women) who had an interesting blend of beliefs and valuesrepresenting conservative economics, an upper-class lifestyle, socialDarwinism, Christian love, and good intentions. Much of the rapid expansion and development of charity organizationsduring the late 18 s is attributed to the economic depression of the187 s. Beginning in Massachusetts in 1863, states beganappointing boards to oversee and manage the operations of theirinstitutional structures. Some wereProtestant ministers. The paper is divided into the following four sections: I. New York: Longman. New York: TheMacmillan Company. Economic catastrophe was followed by a decade long drought.President Herbert Hoover along with most American leaders, assumed that thedepression would be of short duration. Davis. We may quite safely throw overboard, once and for all, the idea that the dependent poor are our moral inferiors, that there is any necessary connection between wealth and virtue, or between poverty and guilt (Shaw-Lowell, 1884). The Depression and Social Reform: 19 - 195 The first two decades of the twentieth century saw the development ofthe Progressive Party, a coalition of urban reformers and radically mindedfarmers who believed that the government could be an instrument forimprovement of American social conditions (Lubove, 1965). For example, a greater andgreater emphasis was being placed on objectivity, systematic collection andstudy of data, and the need for the education and training of socialworkers (Richmond, 1917). In his discussion of this period historianJames Leiby (1979) characterized scientific charity as, ..secular, rational and empirical as opposed to sectarian, sentimental, and dogmatic. Ms. Rankin was the first congresswoman inthe U.S. At the turn of the century, virtually every major urban area inAmerica hosted some form of charity organization society. People lived in overcrowded, unsanitary, and poor housing conditionsin cities that provided few municipal services. Activities in both ofthese agencies were heavily laced with the evangelical missionary spirit;thus, there was a continuation of the essential notion of Christianoutreach with a more pentecostal flair, this being a heavier emphasis beingplaced on the role of conversion, and biblical notions of the causes ofpoverty. A. Changing Views: 195 to 1998 As noted earlier, from the beginning of the century to around 195 ,the social work movement made great gains both as a profession and as amovement for social reform in America, with several social work leadersbecoming quite famous. According to Alexander and Lichtenberg (1978),the social reform perspective was being seen by many as radical andleftist; given the anticommunism spirit that was so pervasive in thecountry at this time, such a connection was detrimental to the field. In an effort to correct these ills, a greater and greater emphasis isbeing placed on downsizing social services and allowing privateinstitutions to take over many social services on the grounds that workershave become little more than bureaucrats whose basic answer to any problemis more money and more government, the result of which has been todebilitate the self-esteem of the poor and keep them dependent upon thestate for generations (Day, 1997). A strong feeling at this time was that the poor were in need of upperclass role models as it was believed that the higher socioeconomic statusof these individuals was an overt manifestation of high morals.Interestingly, the paternalistic views of the friendly visitors representsa model that the social work profession has repeatedly, and not entirelysuccessfully, tried to purge from its image for over a hundred years. Nonetheless, the profession of social work grew and developed.Today's social caseworkers deal directly with the needy at both theindividual and family levels. More than three hundred delegates attended (Davis,1967). From poor law to welfare state: A history ofsocial welfare in America. By the beginning of the 195 s, New Deal programs and other events hadput the country on a sound economic footing. (1967). The prevailingsociopolitical idea is that only way to give the private, voluntaryorganizations vitality is to get the centralized bureaucracy's experts offtheir backs. Boston: Harvard University Press. Many farmers plunged intodebt. (p. Further, the fieldencompasses social planners. Inother words, the profession is in the midst of change, but it is clearlyand undeniably a needed, respected and valued profession in Americansociety, one that has grown from a simple and unorganized outreach of kindhearts to those in need into a large, organized field of endeavor which,despite its flaws, has a strong and positive impact on society. However, by the end of the second world war, thingswere beginning to change. Many charity leaders were disturbed by what theysaw as an inefficient and chaotic array of urban philanthropy. Some settlement leaders of the time such as Jane Addams became quitefamous as a result of speeches about the findings of conducted researchgiven to various clubs and organizations. Moreover, social work hadbecome well established both as a profession and as a major sociopoliticalforce for social reform. Some of the major hard-fought reforms of this period included thewidow's pension and child labor laws. Settlement-house residents and workers were idealists, many of whomwere women who had completed college and were looking for useful work, andwho believed social reform was both necessary and possible. (1884). Cityofficials, shocked and frightened by the poverty, destitution and generalunrest, expanded local relief efforts hoping to moderate the depression'sseverity and to re-establish social order (Shaw-Lowell, 1884). By 1933, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president, literallymillions of people were unemployed. NY: Columbia University Press. Agents of the bureau delivered a wide range of social services toease the assimilation of newly emancipated slaves. Further, the Sheppard-Towner bill was introduced in 1918 byCongresswoman Jeanette Rankin. However, these attemptswere too little and too late. The first American charity organization society was established inBuffalo, New York in 1877. Jeannette Rankin: First lady in congress. Commerce ground to a haltand the strikes precipitated armed intervention in many states. The scientific charity approach melded some of the new ideas aboutscience with the principles of efficiency, which were being so impressivelyapplied to business activities. New York: Oxford UniversityPress. It can be noted that during this period, the predominate conceptsmotivating social work were religious and philantrophic encompassing theideas that it was: a) morally right to help the poor; and b) those who hadmuch were morally obliged to share at least some of it with those who hadless (Richmond, 1895). When Western Europe recovered from thewar in the mid-twenties, farm prices plummeted. (1982). (1917). Thus, Hoover refused to do anythinguntil unemployment rates were inordinately high. Changing Views: The Period From 195 - 1998.In general, the historical perspective presented in the paper examines thedevelopment of social work as driven by two basic engines consisting of: a)philosophical, religious, and sociopolitical notions; and b) societalchanges and their effects on the poor. Send the programs back to the states and the people. (1986). In this regard, Leiby states thatthe state boards took the first steps in developing charity work into adistinct non-religious or secular activity. and Levin, H. In the United States, the federal government administers socialwelfare programs and provides funds that permit state, city, neighborhood,and private agencies to operate many programs. Indeed, training programs under the leadership of new professionalssuch as Mary Richmond sprang up around the country. In 1931,the government passed several small programs that recognized thedifficulties most Americans were now experiencing. Davenport, J.A. By the early 193 s the nation was in very serious straits (Leiby,1979). Urbanization and industrialization producedcomplex social needs and social problems in both Europe and North America. What was needed was a broader governmentalapproach. These contributions included: a)the promotion of secularism; b) the establishment of key cornerstones ofthe profession such as the prohibition of proselytization or discriminationdue to politics, religion or nationality; and c) the intermixing of upperclasses with other classes, often forcing those of higher social positionsto confront situations where such broad factors as exploitive workingconditions and industrial injury were more often to blame for poverty thancharacter flaws or lack of morals. Farm prices were so low that farmers wereselling their produce for less than it cost them to transport the goods tomarket. A number of social work leaders petitioned president Hoover to begina federal unemployment program. The idea quickly captured the imagination ofearly charity workers. Using theEnglish model of a charity organization, promoting scientific charity, thissocial outreach grew more and more organized and more and more systematic. The first charity organization societies were created to reorganizethe public and private charities that had proliferated during thedepression of the 197 s. The cornerstone of the second New Deal was an ambitious set of socialinsurances and permanent relief programs. The mostprominent of the new programs was the Works Progress Administration (WPA),headed by the social worker Harry Hopkins. Josephson, H. Tagged with a variety ofnames: State Board of Charities, Board of Public Charities, Board ofCharities and Corrections; the state board movement sought, essentially, tobring some order to the management of state institutions (Davis, 1967).Many states, mostly Eastern, experienced an institutional building boom,erecting reformatories, prisons, mental asylums, poor-houses andorphanages. (1997). & Lichtenberg, P. Congress and a social worker. As state and private charities expanded, most of those involved inthe leadership of these organizations looked to England for models to usein dealing with the problems confronting the United States. Many charity workers were appalled by what they perceived as aserious step backwards in the progressive evolution of their new field.They felt that many of the new relief efforts were inefficient and poorlyorganized (Shaw-Lowell, 1884). (1978). However, findings were generally positive, leading Davenportto conclude that despite current criticisms and changes in public programsand sentiments, social work has arrived as a full-fledged, respectedprofession - one that is vital and indispensable to a modern society. Lasting most of the decade, the 7 s depression threw millions of menout of work and sparked riots and strikes (Leiby, 1979). The last decade of the century has, as a result of these changingperspectives, seen many cuts in social programs and the development of manynew, conservatively-based programs (e.g., federal funding of abstinence-only programs for teen pregnancy, a cut-off period for receiving welfare,etc.). Manysocial work leaders were literally forced out of the profession forexpressing what sounded like communistic views. The result was that theleaders of many state boards turned to popular notions of the philosophy ofscience to create a new type of charity management: "scientific charity". However, the expansion in socialwork as an outgrowth of the civil rights movement has come to a relativelyabrupt stop in the last decade; most of which is due to the fact thatduring the last ten years, social work has been confronted with a good dealof criticism. NY: Free Press.----------------------- 2 The president's response was "The NewDeal, which consisted of several federal programs. Christian Outreach and Philantrophy: 16 - 18 According to Leiby (1979), in the first two centuries of the nation,social work in the United States consisted predominately of peopleendeavoring to lessen the burdens of the poor through direct relief andprayer. New York: BasicBooks. Another program,the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), put thousands of young men to workin national forests and parks. In 1898 theseactivities culminated with the establishment of the New York Summer SchoolFor Applied Philanthropy. (1974). A new history of social welfare. As Davenport puts it: ...sometimes we were portrayed as "child snatchers" who wrecked families by seizing children because of rumors or flimsy evidence; other times we were so wedded to "fads" such as family preservation that we left children to suffer or die in horrible environments. In the summer of 1873, strikes spread throughout the urban East andshut down most of the nation's railroad traffic. There was also a strongercommitment to research with the findings of studies being publicized viatalks given at clubs and various organizations. By 19 , settlement leaders identified strongly with the larger morebroadly based charity movement (Lubove, 1965). According to Jane Addams (191 ), settlement houses had thesemissions: to interpret democracy in social terms, to aid in racialprogress, and to offer a Christian movement toward humanitarianism. The proposed legislation providedfunds to local health departments for maternal and infant health services;after considerable opposition from many legislators with ties toindustrialists the bill was finally signed by the president in 1921(Josephson, 1974). There are also social group workers who are usually concerned withplanning or leading activities of large groups, often in recreationcenters, hospitals, and other therapeutic settings. As the depression raged on, the foregoing programs were followed byFDR's "second new deal" consisting of more permanent programs. Francis De Sales (1576 - 1662) whodeveloped a voluntary association of "friendly visitors" to go to the homesof the poor and see to their needs. For example, Shaw-Lowell(1884), citing a study of poverty in New York as the outgrowth ofunemployment, sickness and industrial accidents (as opposed to lowcharacter, indolence and intemperance) stated that: It seems often as if the charities are the insults which the rich add to the injuries they heap upon the poor. One of these programs, The Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA) wasdesigned to pump new money into state welfare programs. Following World War I, artificially high prices for farm productsencouraged many farmers to expand. (1974). Richmond, M. Interestingly, one of the "new" practices of this time included thereintroduction or "reinvention" of the concept of the friendly visitor. The Depression and Social Reform: The Period From 19 - 195 IV. After the war, the Freedman's Bureau worked with newly emancipatedslaves. Just as religious and biblical notions had driven and shaped thecharacter of social work in the centuries that preceded it, "scientific"notions were now catching fire with the populace. Vincent De Paul (1576 -1669) who organized the Sisterhood of the Dames de Charite in Paris, acharity organization aimed at meeting the poor's basic physical needs inorder to help them help themselves. Trattner, W. (1965). Social work organizationsalmost immediately began lobbying the national government for action. Twenty years at hull house. Christian Outreach and Philantrophy: The Period From 16 - 18 II. Philadelphia: Russell SageFoundation. They work in family-service agencies, medicaland psychiatric hospitals and clinics, public agencies, substance-abuseclinics, and industrial settings. TheAmerican Association of Social Workers testified before the U.S. The charity organization societies planned to apply the principlesof scientific charity while carefully avoiding the common pitfalls ofdependency and pauperism (Shaw-Lowell, 1884). Theactivities by social workers and their allies did have an impact. Also, influential in shaping the"social work" of the period was the work of St. Public relief and private charity. Thus, by the timeAmerica became involved in the First World War, casework had developed as amajor force in the new field of social work. 4(1), 1-3.
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