THE NATURE OF SOCIAL WORK

THE NATURE OF SOCIAL WORK

The term social work which has come to be the accepted designation for a large group of specialized activities in the field of social betterment was not in general use at the opening of the present century. Two or three decades ago such terms as philanthropy, charity, correction, outdoor relief, care of dependents, defectives, and delinquents, were commonly employed by those at work in these fields. This is at once evident in the names of leading organizations established during those early years—the Charity Organization Society, Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, National Conference of Charities and Correction. When Miss Mary E. Richmond, in 1897, made her plea for professional training she urged the establishment of a "Training School in Applied Philanthropy." The training class which was organized in New York the following year developed later into the New York School of Philanthropy, and this name persisted until very recently when it was changed to the New York School of Social Work.

This early terminology is significant, for it indicates clearly the nature of the field from which modern social work has developed. The social workers of a generation ago were frankly engaged in the work of charity or philanthropy. Their efforts were concentrated upon the disadvantaged and handicapped and represented a growing attempt to understand their problems and solve them through the application of scientific methods. Just because their work was permeated with the scientific spirit it was inevitable that their attention should be increasingly directed to the forces that were dragging men down and making the work of relief such a difficult task.

Thus there developed very naturally a keen interest in what is frequently called the preventive side of social work. Those whose work was commonly thought of as being in the field of relief began to interest themselves in social legislation and in the improvement of social and industrial conditions. From the ranks of philanthropic workers there arose those who took up the fight against the adverse conditions of life instead of in behalf of the unfortunate who were disabled by those conditions. Investigations of the standards of living and housing conditions, social surveys of various kinds, promotion of recreational activities, organization of communities for the purposes of social betterment, arousing public sentiment against the evils of child labor, and organized efforts to give the general public a social point of view—all these and many other activities of a similar nature became a recognized part of the field of social work.

This change of emphasis in social work from remedial measures to those that strike at the root of social problems caused the whole field under consideration to lose its early definiteness of boundary lines. As long as social work was regarded as the adjustment of the dependent and handicapped to their environment, its activities could be grouped together in a field that was peculiar to itself. Just as soon, however, as it attempted to accomplish its purpose by bringing about modifications of the environment, it allied itself with forward looking movements in many lines of work. In this sense, social work may be regarded as almost identical with the promotion of common welfare and the social worker is the individual of any occupation or profession whose life is actuated by a definite social purpose. Devine's Spirit of Social Work is dedicated to social workers, that is to say, to every man and woman, who, in any relation of life, professional, industrial, political, educational or domestic; whether on salary or as a volunteer; whether on his own individual account or as part of an organized movement, is working consciously, according to his light intelligently, and according to his strength persistently, for the promotion of the common welfare—the common welfare as distinct from that of a party or a class or a sect or a business interest or a particular institution or a family or an individual.

It is at once evident that while such a broad conception of social work may be logical, it leads us far beyond its distinctively technical aspects. An analogy may be found in education which has both its popular and its professional sides. In one sense a large part of our activities may be looked upon as educational, but nevertheless it is well understood that there is a very clearly defined field for those who have to do with formal education. Social work, because it touches life in so many intimate ways and includes activities that are commonplace and informal in nature, must have its popular side that can be participated in by people of every vocation. This is in fact the purpose of that part of social work which lays emphasis upon the spread of sociahzed intelligence. The more intelligent people become about social duties and problems, the more active will they be in the promotion of the common welfare. One of the most hopeful signs of the times is the active interest of such agencies and institutions as the school, the church, chambers of commerce, farmers' organizations, etc., in social programs designed to bring about a solution of social problems.

But, however legitimate it may be to speak of social work in this broad sense as merging into many different fields, there is without doubt a point beyond which popular effort cannot go and maintain a high efficiency. It is evident, for instance, that social investigation involves processes for which is required a technique of its own. It is even more clear that technical equipment is needed to deal with the situations that arise in connection with the care of the dependent and handicapped. No one can doubt that the adjustment of the social forces of communities requires the sure touch of a hand trained for its task. These and other similar activities in the general field of social welfare stand out in a well-defined group, not primarily because of what they attempt to do, but because they can be carried on successfully only by those who possess the proper technical training and experience. The social worker may be working hand in hand with many people interested in the same general problems but he is distinguished from them because he is qualified through special training to accomplish well certain tasks that only incidentally come to the attention of those in other fields. Social work defined in this way loses something of the indefiniteness that comes from its close relation to efforts to improve the common welfare. While its results are accomplished through the aid of many allies, it has its distinctively technical aspects which, taken together, form a group of highly specialized activities that may very well be regarded as the beginning of a new profession.

But the confusion in regard to the proper limits of the field of social work has not resulted entirely from its far-reaching tendencies. Complications also arise from the domination of certain types of social work which more or less consciously regard themselves as occupying a fundamental position in the field of social welfare. This is especially true of the Charity Organization Society movement which must be recognized as the beginning of scientific social work in this country and which has maintained its place of leadership ever since its establishment more than a generation ago. Within this movement has been developed the technique of family case-work which was one of the first examples of the application of scientific methods to social work. The family welfare group has long been prominent in state and national conferences of social workers, and has made very significant contributions to the literature dealing with social problems. It is not surprising, therefore, that family case-work should sometimes be used as synonymous with social work, and that there should be a tendency in some quarters to judge the standing of social workers by training and skill in this particular field.

The natural confusion that results from this point of view can be easily seen. Social work is frequently identified with social pathology in spite of the efforts, led in many instances by family caseworkers themselves, in the wider fields of social investigation and community work. There is no clear recognition that social work has progressed to the point where remedial work represents only a part of its field. Instead of placing family case-work in its legitimate position as one of the most important of the special activities of social work, there is a tendency to continue to regard it as the center from which all phases of social work naturally develop.

A scientific interpretation of social work, upon which can be based an adequate plan for professional education, must place in the right perspective the activities that make up its technical field. Unquestionably its remedial and ameliorative activities come first in importance. The problem of dealing with the subnormal and handicapped presses upon us from all sides. Many generations of social neglect, of toleration of indecent conditions of Hfe, of willful choice of the things that degrade, have produced their evil results. The proper care of dependent families, of orphaned and neglected children, of anti-social and subnormal individuals, requires skill, and no social worker, whatever his specialized form of work, dare be ignorant of the technique needed in this field.

On the other hand due importance must be given to methods of social investigation, analysis of community life, construction of community programs, the technique of organized recreation, and problems of social work administration. These are aspects of social work that are now demanding many skilled leaders, and unfortunately there is no general agreement as to the technique involved or as to the way workers in these fields should be prepared. No system of education for social work can be regarded as adequate until the methods of training in social investigation and social organization are as carefully worked out as is the technique of instruction for the remedial side of social work.

Source: JESSE FREDERICK (education for social work)

Recording in Social work