The Role Of Social Work In Early America

Social welfare began October 29, 1929. It was mainly started to help those affected by The Great Depression by giving those hope. They helped with jobs, food, shelter, and many more. Some of the things that helped were the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Housing (HUD or Section 8), unemployment or Department of Labor, and many more. Those are just a few places that helped out during The Great Depression and are still helping out today. Social welfare also helps with health insurance and have policies set to help out with those in need (Obamacare).

Social work started as people helping each other out. Whether it was helping a neighbor, friend or just helping someone in need. According to DiNitto, D. M., & McNeece, C. A. (2008), it states, “Since the dawn of civilization, altruism has been called a survival impulse because mutual aid helps people survive in hard times” (p. 4). Looking at by motivating cooperation rather than conflict, it promotes harmony within. (n.d.). Altruism is defined as (1) Loving others as oneself. (2) Behaviour that promotes the survival chances of others at a cost to ones own. (3) Self-sacrifice for the benefit of others (“By motivating cooperation rather than conflict, it promotes harmony within,” n.d.). Therefore, showing brotherly or sisterly love to one’s neighbor or a person in need is altruism and this has been going on for a long time way before the social work came into effect. This was a way to help people who may have lost their job and did not have anything left or people who are disabled and in one way, shape or form they were unable to work, people came together to help and this was the beginning.

welfare state: Engaging history to advance social work practice in contemporary Society (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Adriana Trevino* Im alittle confused on question one . I have two answers for question one.1) The two important movement that helped shaped social work profession is the Elizabethan Poor Law and the Industrial revolution . Before these two movements in early european history the church, families and neighbors . However , when the feudal system was developed families were unable to take care of them. The first movement was the Elizabthan Poor Law movement. this was were passed as a response to the increasing number of poor in Great Britain. But the feudal system began to crumble and the tenant farmers lost their land. The law had three categories of relief recipients; the able-bodied poor , the impotent poor , and dependent children. This law was to empahsize on self-help, and benefactions were almost invariably restricted to the 'deserving poor ' of the immediate neighborhood. The second movement was the Industrial Revolution. This was made by the two themes of Protestant ethic and the Laissez-faire economic view. Prior to the revolution there were a few communities that had a large communites in the thousand however there was not enough employment opprotunites . So this idea of the Protestant ethic was an important effect on socail welfare. The idea emphazied individualism; one is the master of his own fate. this idea of how a person was judge by material goods not based by their personalities. The laissez-faire asserted that the economy and society in general would best

Progressivism as a political movement involving social workers began to crossover to a cultural movement within the social work field. This crossover led to two major tensions within the field at the time. The first tension was ideological, among the early social workers. The second tension was between the ideas of progressivism intersecting with the needs of the social work field.

Social work with families and individuals began when volunteers from charities or churches provided help for those in need1. After the war, many families were poverty-stricken. Families had no homes & they had no food to survive. Social work with individuals and families began when volunteers from different organizations, like churches or charities, aided families who were living in poverty2. Later, this process was soon to be known as social case work. Social case work is when the volunteer who is helping the family, collects information about the family or individual and helps find a way to solve their issue3. Mary Richmond was the first person to have the idea to gather the information about families and individuals4. Mary believed that when you gathered the information & shared them with other social workers, you’d be able to communicate about that individuals circumstances & help find a solution to their needs5.

History of social welfare policy regarding veterans falls under the Veterans Bureau General Order year of 1926 which established a social worker program outlining its organization as well as functions during the first year only fourteen social workers were placed psychiatric hospitals later placing twenty-two in regional offices around the country. The program was small but efficient at that time they focused exclusively psychiatric and tuberculosis patients. The vision of Mrs. Irene Grant Dalymple who directed the social work program envision that the social work program should be incorporated in the VA than having social services contracted by outside organization this has been practice following World War

The development of the social welfare system in the united states was influences by England’s social workfare system. As society and economical situations changed so did the welfare systems. Most systems started included state and church.

The article I choose was Researching Social Work Practice Close Up: Using Ethnographic and Mobile Methods to Understand Encounters between Social Worker, Children and Families by Harry Ferguson from the British Journal of Social Work. Ferguson, discusses the challenges of research the face to face interactions with social workers, children and families. Ferguson felt there was a need to better understand the dynamic of social works, children and families, due to “reviews into cases were children have died have shown that social workers were present with the children when they were injured but did not effectively engage with them” (Ferguson pg 154). Ferguson shows that is possible to observe these face to face encounters while being ethical.

Social workers perform extensive duties ranging from providing support to those faced with difficult situations, emotional stress, or significant change in their lives to diagnose emotional, behavioral, or mental health disorders in individuals. Many different social, economic, or school issues will need the services of a social worker. As such, social work is the major profession worldwide that helps individual people, families, groups, organizations, and communities to prevent or resolve problems in social and psychological functioning, meet basic human needs, achieve life-enhancing goals, and create a just society. Jane Addams helped build social work during her time as a founder of the U.S. Settlement House Movement to establish settlement houses in poor urban areas for volunteer middle-class social workers to alleviate the poverty of their low-income neighbors. Addams ideas continue to influence social, political, and economic reform in the United States as well as internationally. Through the study of social work, one is able to help people that may struggle with providing basic necessities for one’s family, help people that may struggle with drug or alcohol problems, and help people experiencing problems with family and relationship conflicts. Through the various services they provide, social workers are able to help greatly impact and reduce current societal ills, such as poverty, drug overdoses, and crime rates.

The official development of the profession of social work is recognized by scholars to be connected to the Charity Organization Society (COS) and the Settlement House Movements. Both started in the late 1800s. Jane Addams founded the first settlement-house in 1889, and the Charity Organization Society started in Britain in the 1850s. These two separate and different movements are credited with developing the organization and delivery of social work (Karger & Stoesz, 2001).

Social working is an industry so vast and extensive, but be so invisible if you have never been exposed to it. Going into the social work field you have to have the value of selflessness and great charity. The fields can range from someone off a GED to someone going for their second doctorate. Wide range competitiveness, social workers’ first step is getting on a licensing standpoint, but in reality you need to make yourself an acceptable offering for the field of competition. Several amount of references who could can give an honest record of your aptitude. That is just the first step, entering the field. Social work is competitive, but also very populous, with a broad spectrum of practices from militaries to schools, and is prominent throughout the globe. These practices can then be broken down into even smaller categories. The medical field, there is more than enough social work in this area that can be forgotten. The emotional trauma patients suffer from all types of diseases, the casualties of war and workforce, or just burnt out workers, such as the nurses and doctors who have to care for the endless amount of patients. Each of these minor fields may take a different type of social worker. The fields are all growing, in fact the job outlook for social workers is faster than average at 12%. Use of evidence-based-practices is increasingly prominent in social work in the substance abuse disorders yet demonstrated effectiveness in the treatment continues to be low. Social

The history of social work demonstrates how statutory and voluntary agencies adapted to the changing social conditions and increasing societal problems as a result of influence of industrialization and urbanization (Red). Social and economic changes such as the Black Death that severed the British populations, the closure of common land for self-profit in the 1530s, and unrest and riots during the 1700s left many people in need alone and without care from their families (lecture). Industrialization and urbanization created a widespread movement toward cities, separation over wealth and classes, and caused challenges which established systems of care could not longer cope with (lecture). During the late 16th century, the population in the United Kingdom increased by 25% and widespread famine contributed to the increasing poverty rate, which called for a new system of help for the poor (black). Over almost a 400-year period, poor laws were established in the United Kingdom to provide systematic help for those facing poverty.

Merriam-Webster defines social work as: “work carried out by trained personnel with the aim of alleviating the conditions of those in need of help or welfare.” There have been many times in my life where I have been socially and economically disadvantaged. I remember my parents working from the rise of the sun to sundown, slaving in the hot sun, working very hard for a pittance in return. I do not want that life, my parents certainly did not want that life for me either, and I do not want our future to go through that. Because of this, I am fiercely dedicated to be able to help in whatever way I can. Having to care for five children is a great burden, so it was always a great help to have Medicaid and food stamps to aid us. Without those programs, which were given to us by working with a social worker, I don’t believe I would be where I am today. Because of food stamps, we thankfully never had to go hungry, and because of Medicaid, I am still alive today. As a child, I used to get very sick, all of the time. I would always get awful colds, and I had a lot of trouble with my bronchitis. Without Medicaid, my parents would never have been able to afford all of the doctor’s visits we had to take.

As humans, we are forced to constantly overcome struggles and barriers that restrain us from moving forward. Every individual has his or her own way of dealing with stressful and life changing events. At times the stress may be so overwhelming that an individual might fall into an undesirable path in life. This is where the importance of the social work profession comes into play. Social workers utilize a biopsychosocial assessment to look at the individual’s past and current life experiences, which help explain the individual in detail. A biopsychosocial can be broken down into three parts, which include the physical/biological, psychological/emotional and social/cultural experiences of the individual. The physical/biological portion of the biopsychosocial conveys the individual’s demographics such as age, gender, ethnicity and marital/relationship status. The psychological/emotional portion of a biopsychosocial references to the person’s mental state as well as personality within the person. Lastly, the social/cultural portion of the biopsychosocial focuses on the environmental and cultural factors that contributes to their experiences of overall health and or illness (Cardoso, 2013). This essay will display the biopsychosocial of Ms. Tenisha Gilchrist as well as discuss the concepts of meaning, context, power, possibility and history. (Cardoso, 2013)