Raised in a strictly conservative family, Frances Perkins never saw the extraordinary poverty or drastic unemployment in Boston in the 20’s and 30’s. She had always been taught that those who were poor were lazy or uneducated. Her family’s most important value was education. Perkins’ intelligence lead her to college, which was rare for a woman. There, she found a love for politics. She realized that being poor wasn’t a result of laziness, it was a result of life. Throughout her years, she accomplished much more than anyone thought a woman could. Frances Perkins revolutionized the state of Americans by being a key-contributor to the New Deal with her bravery and intelligence, which allowed the US to be successful during the war.
Frances was
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Perkins then became very interested in all school subjects, especially literature. It was uncommon for women to go to college at this time, but Perkins did. While her father wanted her to stay home to cook and clean, he respected her love for education and thought she would be an excellent teacher. She enrolled in Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts in 1898. She was very popular in college, taking the most rigorous courses, and becoming class president. She majored in physics with minors in chemistry and biology. However, she took a course in American economic history her last semester in college, and that’s the class that influenced her the most. She realized that her calling was helping people. “From the time I was in college I was horrified at the work that many women and children had to do in factories. There were absolutely no effective laws that regulated the number of hours they were permitted to work. There were no provisions which guarded their health nor adequately looked after their compensation in case of injury. Those things seemed very wrong. I was young and was inspired with the idea of reforming, or at least doing what I could, to help change those abuses.” When she got home, her parents told her that she should be a teacher or work at a church. She expected them to be more open minded and accepting of her career choice: a social worker. She ended up getting a job
Jane Addams is recognized as a social and political pioneer for women in America. In her biography, which later revealed her experiences in Hull House, she demonstrates her altruistic personality, which nurtured the poor and pushed for social reforms. Although many of Addams ideas were considered radical for her time, she provided women with a socially acceptable way to participate in both political and social change. She defied the prototypical middle class women by integrating the line that separated private and political life. Within these walls of the settlement house, Addams redefined the idea of ?separate spheres,? and with relentless determination, she
Frances now had to work very hard and maintain a job, not only for her and Paul, but for Suzanna. Frances helped her friend Al Smith win the governorship of New York. Karenna Schiff says “the name Frances Perkins is inextricably linked to that of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but Al Smith, not F.D.R., is the man most responsible for launching her career”. When F.D.R. was president, Perkins recalled him saying “practically all the things we’ve done in the Federal Government are like things Al Smith did as Governor of New York.” Al Smith was the one who encouraged Frances to become a Democrat. All of Frances’ family was Republican when she was younger, and Al got her to ally with Democrats even though she was considered independent.
college. Even though she might have grown up with a hard life, she fought for different ways to
I learned how Ida B. Wells-Barnett started her life. Born as a slave, orphaned at 16, she became a teacher to support her surviving brothers and sisters. With the difficult circumstances brought upon her, it took an amazing amount of determination for her to fight for black civil rights and women’s rights in the 19th century. In a more civilized age, it’s harder to witness the courage she represented for the disadvantaged.
The job of a child welfare worker appears to be a demanding profession that promotes the child’s safety, but also strengthens the family organization around them in order to successfully raise the children. This child welfare workers work in the system known as the Child Protective Services whose initiative is to protect the overall welfare of the child. The short novel From the Eye of the Storm: the Experiences of a Child Welfare Worker by Cynthia Crosson-Tower demonstrates the skills necessary to deal with the practice of social work along with both its challenges and its happy moments. The novel consists of some of the cases involving Tower’s actual career in social work. In reading the book, I was able to experience some of the actual
Social Work is a career defined as “work carried out by trained personal with the aim of alleviating the conditions of those in need of help or welfare”. Social work varies in several fields, social workers work as part of multi-disciplinary teams with child welfare organizations, adoption and foster care agencies, hospitals, schools, prisons, mental health institutions, and more. Social work may leave the impression that it’s an easy field because it is assumed that all social workers do is serve others and manage paperwork but that is only a small chunk of the job. Social workers must deal with the ethical and emotional aspect of helping others. As a social worker, it is critical to comply with the National Association of Social Workers
Frances Perkins came from a wealthy family in Maine. From her mother, she inherited the propensity to be stingy with money, earnest, and brutally honest. In 1902, she attended Mount Holyoke College, where she used her glibness to barely get by. Instead of focusing on improving her strengths, Frances’ professors sought to improve her weaknesses; Especially her moral ones. This was done with the idea in mind that if she were to overcome her shortcomings, she would be able to conquer anything life threw at her. After graduation, Frances struggled to find something meaningful to do with her life; That is the tragedy of The
and Susie E. Perkins were blessed with a baby girl, who they named Fannie Coralie Perkins or as her parents spelled it, Fanny. Several years after Fannie was born, Mr. and Mrs. Perkins moved their family to Worcester Massachusetts, where their next child Ethel Perkins was born (Martin, 1976 p. 41). Fanny named after her mother’s older sister (Martin, 1976 p. 42) was always a curious and questioning child with big dreams and ideas. Growing up in the post-Civil War era into the peak of the Second Industrial Revolution, Perkins became exposed to the many social ills of her time. Due to this, the road to the Secretary of Labor for Frances became a long one.
Although, working in the human service field is not a glamour’s life. The reward of knowing that I am helping someone and their family makes the hard work worth the positive impact I am bring to someone’s life. Advocating has been a passion of mine’s since I was child. I have always wanted to work with inmates and the mental ill due to my father’s experience. And that has remained the same. I want to work as a social worker. I believe that every person deserves valid and sincere advice, as well as a ligament defense team advocating for their
She had a very successful life and was motivated by her hard-working parents and hoped to find success as a businesswoman. After teaching at two schools she went to Montreal to study at Field Beauty Culture School, one of the only establishments that accepted black students.
For years, Jane Addams has been known as a social activist who created the first settlement home in the United States. However, many people often disregard the fact that she has accomplished a significant amount of other things throughout her life that will always make her a significant icon in history. Were it not for Jane Addams leadership and contribution towards the creation of the first U.S. Hull House, social changes such as child-labor, women’s suffrage, and peace may not have occurred in the United States.
Murray grew up in relative privilege, and her politics, being the result of debate and study, are reflective of such. She did not shy away from pointing out the hypocrisy of the free American ideology, as being a concept that excluded an entire gender. Murray believed that establishing the equality of women’s rights was a necessity to consider America a free country, and even more so to consider the American society to be one composed of educated, well reasoned people. Her advocacy for the advancement of women expanded to the widest levels, politically, as well as to the most compressed, mundane social activities of everyday life. The domestic activities of the everyday women were in no way intellectually stimulating, leaving the majority of
Social Work is a career that you can make a significant impact on people’s lives. Social work is a spectacular career choice. However, working in this profession as a social work it can and will be challenges that will occur. A social worker enhances the welfare of communities, individuals and societies. Furthermore, social work aims to aid social change, development, cohesion, and empowerment. I had the pleasure of interviewing Latosha McIntyre about her work duties as a social worker with Day Spring Behavior Health Service. Day Spring Behavior Health Service is a non-profit- organization that offers a variety of behavioral health services to individuals and families. This paper will enclose Latosha McIntyre job activities, professional
Our life experiences play a large role in shaping who we are as people. My childhood experiences influenced the woman that I am today. My father was abusive. He abused my mother, my siblings, and myself. Whether it was a domestic assault against my mother, slapping of my siblings, or a daily cursing session, our house has always been in turmoil. There were adults that knew about the abuse going on in my home, including teachers. However, none of them intervened for my brothers and I. I cannot help but wonder how my life would have been different if someone had. Experiencing child abuse, as well as my mother’s domestic abuse, is my greatest catalyst in pursing a graduate degree in social work. Pablo Picasso once said, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” Child abuse could have broken my spirit but it made me stronger. It sparked my interest in mental health, and showed me the importance of compassion. I plan to use my gift to help others improve their quality of mental health, and encourage the development of self-determination.
I was in grade 10 when I thought of becoming a social worker. As social worker practitioner the fields that interest me to work in is domestic violence and child abuse because I want to make change to the society. Also Mahatma Gandhi was my major inspiration through this quote “Be the change that you wish to see in the world”. Than an idea came to me, why not involve my contribution to the wide variety of communities. My communication with school counsellors and social workers has impacted my choice of desiring to study social work. I realised that if I have had a chance of seeing a social worker when I was young, things would have been much easier and less stressful. I want to provide opportunities that I did not encounter to other people. This essay will reflect my past experience, motivation and why I want to be a social worker, values, beliefs and theory of practice.