The History of Social Work

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews the history of social work as a profession, from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. This paper takes a look at how social work has developed into two models of service, social activism and casework, and the impact these models have had on social work as a profession.

From the Paper:

"In this ideal, a Protestant women who represented conservative economics of thrift and Social Darwinism softened by a missionary creed Christian love, and good intentions, would go into urban environments and aid the poor with clothing, better housing, and food, but often only if the poor were willing to reform their intemperate or immoral ways. As Darwin grew increasingly popular in the common intellectual currency of the land, however, these women were encouraged not just to be Christian but to seek to follow "scientific principles as they were then understood," to "study and investigate relief applications, separate the recipients into deserving or undeserving classes and then treat them by making referrals and providing them with friendship." (Huff, Social Work, 2000, Ch.1, p.4)
The idea of the deserving and undeserving poor, however, showed that despite the zeal of some organizers such as Day, who critiqued city laws and housing policy, there was a strong element of individualistic moral judgment in these early 'cases' studied by 'friendly visitors.' The personal, moral psychology of the poor was seen partially to blame in the impoverished individual's plight, although the idea of deserving poor people suggested, if not explicitly acknowledged, that the poor could suffer from want for reasons beyond their personal control. "

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