About Social Work

Brief Definition of Social Work
     Organized effort to help individuals and families to adjust themselves to the community, as well as to adapt the community to the needs of such persons and families.

Brief Early History of Modern Social Work
     Social work emerged as a profession out of the early efforts of churches and philanthropic groups to relieve the effects of poverty, to bring the comforts of religion to the poor, to promote temperance and encourage thrift, to care for children, the sick, and the aged, and to correct the delinquent. Orphanages and homes for the elderly were typical results of these activities. The word charity best describes the early activities, which were aimed at the piecemeal alleviation of particular maladjustments. In such charitable work the principal criterion in determining aid to families was worthiness, while the emphasis in later social work was on restoring individuals to normal life both for their own sake and for the sake of the community.

     The first attempts to solve the problem of poverty in a modern scientific way was made by P. G. F. Le Play, who in the 1850s made a detailed study of the budgets of hundreds of French workers' families. Forty years later Charles Booth investigated wages and prices, working conditions, housing and health, standards of living, and leisure activities among the poor of London and revealed the extreme poverty of a third of the population. Booth's social survey became a method for determining the extent of social maladjustment, and through surveys in other cities in Europe and the United States a vast number of facts were accumulated, and methods were developed that provided the basis for modern social work.

     In 1874 the National Conference of Charities and Correction (now called the National Conference on Social Welfare) was organized in the United States. Public relief and private philanthropic effort remained largely matters of local and state concern until after 1930, when the federal government entered the field of social work on a large scale to cope with the effects of the Great Depression. Resources were made available, the number of social workers was greatly increased, and it became necessary to coordinate public and private activities. Social work has been steadily professionalized, and special graduate schools as well as departments in universities have been established to train social workers. By 1999 there were 377 accredited undergraduate schools of social work in the United States.

Source:  The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2004.  XreferPlus Database

Further Information on Social Work
     Social work generally means the activities of those who carry out a country’s social service or welfare programs. In the late nineteenth century, the need for social services began to be seriously considered, especially in Great Britain, Germany, and the United States. In such cities as London, New York City, and Boston, charity organization societies were founded to develop a system of social services. This activity led to the founding of schools of social work. As more and more nations during the twentieth century recognized their responsibility to provide aid, social work became an organized profession whose goals are to improve society through administrating programs to citizens who are ill, disadvantaged, elderly, too young to care for themselves, or in financial or other need.

     In both the United States and Great Britain, the so-called settlement movement drew voluntary workers interested in easing the suffering of society’s poor and disadvantaged. The leader in settlement work was Samuel A. Barnett, who, in 1884, founded Toynbee Hall, named after social reformer Arnold Toynbee. Barnett and his wife invited Oxford and Cambridge students to spend holidays in this neighborhood house in a depressed area of London so that they might learn about social conditions. From this, Toynbee Hall became a center for improving conditions and welfare in the neighborhood. During a European trip, American Jane Addams visited Toynbee Hall. Upon her return, she and partner Ellen Gates Starr founded Hull House in Chicago, one of the first social settlements in North America. Among its services were a day nursery, boarding rooms for working girls, a gymnasium, educational courses, and classes in arts and crafts. In addition, Hull House became a training school for social workers.

     Today, the duties of social workers include community assistance at many levels, social care assistants, helpers in the home, day-care supervisors, those who deliver in-home meals, and a variety of therapists and psychologists. Probation officers are social workers with a special link to the court system. Social workers go to homes and schools, work in hospitals and local service centers, provide counseling, and may have exclusive authority for placing children in foster care or adopting families.

     Social casework, an important part of the job for social workers, stems from the medical almoners as far back as the thirteenth century. Almoners were designated officers responsible for giving alms to the poor. They were generally connected with a religious institution. The office of grand almoner was established in France in 1486 and abolished in 1870. The office still exists in Great Britain where the high almoner distributes royal alms on Maundy, or Holy, Thursday, the Thursday before Easter. Modern casework requires the social worker to give counseling services to the individual or family in need or distress, to ascertain the type of service needed by the person or persons, and to see that the service is adequately provided.

     There is great diversity in the training and careers of social workers. Therapists and psychologists involved in social work acquire the same general education as those outside the field. In such countries as the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Japan, the would-be social worker may earn bachelor, master, and doctorate degrees in the field at schools within the higher education system. In other nations, France and Sweden, for instance, the aspiring social worker attends an institution outside the regular college/university system. And just as there is much diversity in their training, so there is great diversity and complexity in the roles that social workers play in the community. As modern society accepts more responsibility for the welfare of its needy, ill, or otherwise disadvantaged citizens, so the role of the social worker has broadened in scope and responsibility. In large cities such as New York City, with a broad and varied population, one social worker within the system may have almost total responsibility for the guidance and welfare of a child as he or she progresses through infant, youth, and adult programs.

     In the United States, as well as some European and Asian nations, formal voluntary and private social agencies receive direct or indirect grants from the government. Most of these agencies are registered as charities (voluntary) and companies (private). They have paid career staff who must work within the statutes of the city, state, etc. Even with government backing, these agencies could not cope with the overwhelming demand for services were it not for the informal care that is given by neighborhood and community organizations. Professional staff often train these informal-care workers.

Source:  World of Sociology, 2002.  XreferPlus Database

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