History of Social Work

The history of social work has its prime roots to most historic dates when the society struggled to deal with poverty and the resultant problems. Today if we talk about the social work and try to frame a generalized idea then it is basically linked with the idea of charity work, and so it must be understood in broader terms. However, the perception of charity actually goes back to ancient times and the practice of performing social work and helping the poor has major roots in the Elizabethan Poor Laws. The Elizabethan Poor Laws of the 1600s can actually be considered as the prime mark of controlled social work procedure. This legislation forced taxes on every individual of each town to compensate for their own poor. The key benefits of the law was it helped in the development of beginner agenda for poor children, and in turn resulted in development of workhouses for the needy people. The law actually helped in setting the standards for dealing with the underprivileged people.

Then the time period between the 1700s till the late 1800s, witnessed the end of the Civil War and the commencement of the industrial revolution. This was the time that marked the starting of contemporary social work in the United States. As production of goods got multiplied, and agrarian-based jobs dried out, many workers started flocking towards the big cities, which ultimately led to rise in some serious problems such as unemployment, overcrowding, and finally living a life in barbaric conditions. Though some families were able to find job but still lived life at the lowest standards of poverty. Adding to this, as Americans started migrating all around the country and relocating to cities where there were employments, major concerns in relation to race and culture emerged.

Now, as the industrial revolution remained to continue, cities turned more congested, wages continued low, general livelihood circumstances further declined and migration kept on increasing. Out of all these state of affairs, finally the awareness about community and individual requirements grew. Finally, in the year 1877, the first American Charity Organization Society (COS) of the United States was established in Buffalo, New York. The organization started charitable programs and prepared volunteer labor to help the poor, with the key aim of repairing as much self-sufficiency. Adding to this, the organization even introduced the initial proper training programs for social workers, who were generally called friendly visitors.

Meanwhile, around 1884 the settlement movement started in the London city. This movement started out of the Victorian knowledge. The key idea behind the movement was to motivate and enroll students travel into slum areas to work and live together amongst local inhabitants. Within few years, Stanton Coit founded America’s first settlement house- the Neighborhood Guild, which was finally, named as University Settlement on New York City’s Lower East Side. In addition to this, in 1889, Jane Addams established Hull House in Chicago, which is considered as the most renowned settlement house in the United States. Unfortunately, the concept of settlement house movement seemed to drop its impetus after World War I. In simple terms, volunteerism declined and proficiently trained and skilled social workers took over the procedure and administration of settlements.

Finally, it was during the World War I, when social workers’ skills were actually considered useful outside of poor communities. Thus, after WWI, saw the early development of a change in the populations social workers served. By the year 1927 the child guidance centers reached to almost 100 where interdisciplinary groups of psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers offered therapy to mainly middle-class clients on serious subjects like adjustment disorders, childhood trauma and many other. Through the difficult era of the 1970s, social work continued to be highlighted by budget deficits and the introduction of most social programs.

In the 1990s, the world once again witnessed the most important policy developments that resulted serious inference for the social work as a profession. Temporary assistance to needy families (TANF) emerged as the largest improvement policy ever of that decade. As per this policy, a family may well be on public support for five years. And By 2000, social workers and agencies working in this area grew in numbers and began to realize that they need to create and initiate new solutions for the needy people.

Today for almost over a century, the social work has emerged as one of the most rewarding professions. It has matured with the pace of time and in response to social and economic changes. Tough, if we try to look its key mission, it still remains to advocate for the requirements of the most helpless segments of society and finally improve their well-being.

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