MARGARET A. TYNAN, Ph. D.Department of Social WorkCalifornia State University,

Stanislaus

Definitions

Emergence of Social Work in Context

Key Historical Events—U.S. & Selected Countries

Political Environment

Social Workers Influencing Social Policy

Small Group Discussion

DEFINITIONS

Sociology

The study of human social behavior, especially the study of the origins, organization, institutions, and development of human society.

Analysis of a social institution or societal segment as a self-contained entity or in relation to society as a whole. (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth

Edition, 2004)

DEFINITIONS CONTINUED

Social Work

The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work. (International Federation of Social Workers, July 2000)

DISTINCTION BETWEEN SOCIOLOGY & SOCIAL WORK(Riedmann, 2008)

Back to classical theorists, Karl Marx and Max Weber.

Marx argued that praxis should be integral to social science:  The role of the social scientist ought to include application of social knowledge toward the improvement of the human condition/ elimination of exploitation of the working class, or proletariat--actually, for Marx, revolution. 

Max Weber

Karl Marx

Later Weber argued that social science--being science--should, in a standard albeit translated quote, "study what is, not what should be."  His argument:  What good is rushing out to change things if you don't know the root causes of what's going on?

We need both roles in society: Sociologists who, following Weber, dedicate their professional lives to uncovering & thoroughly understanding causes for social injustices. And we need social workers who, using praxis, apply that understanding.

Purpose of Social Work

To enhance human well-being & alleviate poverty, oppression, and other forms of social injustice.

To Enhance the social functioning &

interactions of individuals, families, groups,

organizations, & communities by involving

them in accomplishing goals, developing

resources, & preventing & alleviating distress.

Purpose of Social Work CONTINUED

To formulate & implement social policies, services, & programs that meet basic human needs & support the development of human capacities.

• To pursue policies, services, and resources through advocacy & social or political actions that promote social and economic justice.

• To develop & use research, knowledge, & skills that advance social work practice.

• To develop & apply practice in the context of diverse cultures Source: 2001, Council on Social Work Education, Inc. 2001, Released April 2002, Revised June 2003 and October 2004

EMERGENCE OF SOCIAL WORK

Selected Dates in Social Welfare History--US:

ELIZABETHAN POOR LAW (1601)

American Colonies enact various laws related to welfare needs including Poor Laws (1624-1697)

Industrial Revolution (late 18th and early 19th Centuries)

U.S. Public Health Service established post epidemics related to increased shipping & immigration (1798)

Poor Law Reform Act (1834)

1st restrictive child labor law enacted in Massachusetts (1836)

EMERGENCE OF SOCIAL WORK

Selected Dates in Social Welfare History continued:

Dorothea Dix investigates care of people with mental illnesses (1841) Ultimately establishes 41 state & 1 federal hospital

U.S. Civil War (1861-1865)

U.S. Sanitary Commission, forerunner of American Red Cross established (1861)

Freedmen’s Bureau (1865—1872)

Ratification of 13th Amendment (1865) 14th Amendment (1868)

Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children formed NY, (1877)

Toynbee Hall, 1st Settlement House established in London by Vicar Samuel A. Barnett (1884)

Dorothea Dix

EMERGENCE OF SOCIAL WORK

Selected Dates in Social Welfare History continued:

1st American Charity Organization Society established NY (1877)

Hull House opened in Chicago by Jane Addams & Ellen Gates Starr (1889)

1st Social Work Training School NY (1898)Jane Addams

Mary E. Richmond publishes Friendly Visiting Among the Poor (1899)

Medical Social Work initiated Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston (1905)

EMERGENCE OF SOCIAL WORK

Selected Dates in Social Welfare History continued:

1st White House Conference on Children sponsored by Pres. Theodore Roosevelt (1909)

1st Social Work Training Program for Black Workers, Fisk University in Nashville, TN (1910)

WWI (1914-1918)

Child Labor Act Passed (1916)

19th Amendment to U.S. Constitution grants women’s right to vote (1920)

EMERGENCE OF SOCIAL WORK

Selected Dates in Social Welfare History continued:

Stock Market Crash (October 29, 1929)

The Great Depression, (1929-1940)

New Deal (1933-1936)

TVA, CCC, WPA, FDIC, SEC & NRA.

Health Education & Welfare Act (Social Security Act ) (1935)

WWII (1939—1945)

Social Work Development

Selected Countries & Territories:

Historical Context

Elizabethan Poor Law, England (1601)

Rev. Thomas Chalmers organizes to help poor, Glasgow, Scotland (1819)

St Vincent de Paul Society established, Paris (1833)

Poor Law Reform Act, England (1834)

1st “day care” facility for infants of working mothers, Paris (1844)

British Factory Act limits women’s/children’s workday (1847)

Social Work Development

Selected Countries & Territories:

Historical Context

1st Charity Organization Society, London (1869)

Germany inaugurates accident, sickness & old age insurance (1884)

Toynbee Hall, 1st settlement house, London (1884)

Indigent Person Relief Regulation, 1st social welfare law, Japan (1894)

1st School of Social Welfare, Alice Garrigue Masarykova, Prague (1918)

Social Work Development

Selected Countries & Territories:

Historical Context

1st International Council of Social Welfare, Alice Salomon, of Germany, led group on social work education, Paris (1928)

1st licensing law for social workers, Puerto Rico (1934)

1st School of Social Work, University of Havana, Cuba (1943)

Cuban Ministry of Public Health established technical institutes to prepare social work technicians (1973)

National Association of Social Workers, Poland (1987)

Civil Rights Movement

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional (1954)

NAACP member Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat at the front of the "colored section" of a bus to a white passenger, defying a southern custom of the time (1955)

The U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1957 (P.L. 85-315) is passed (1957)

Martin Luther King delivers his famous "I Have a Dream" speech (1963)

The 24th Amendment abolishes the poll tax (1964)

President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964

President Johnson issues Executive Order 11246, which enforces affirmative action for the first time (1965)