HISTORY OF SOCIAL WORK

UK-USA-INDIAPRINCE SOLOMON

MCCSWD

INTRODUCTION

• religious motive which were called ‘charity, ‘Poor Relief’, ‘Philanthropy’, and ‘Social reform’• the emphasis being primarily on the soul of the giver to attain

salvation rather than the good done to the recipient. “In some Mohammedan countries at present day reliance on providing for the relief of need by alms of the faithful still continues. • Christianity and Judaism there is a call to comfort the weak

hearted, to raise up them that fall, and to loosen those whom Satan has bound: a call which has contributed most powerfully to our modern desire to rehabilitate the offender and the disabled, to provide kindly care for the old and the ailing and to understand and to help rather than condemn the social misfit”

History of Social Welfare before Professional Social Work in United KingdomPhase I - Social Welfare during Prehistoric era (up to 1200 AD)

• From the Garden of Eden the concept of sharing is innate in human beings. The feelings of belonging, the readiness to mutual protection, were just as essential as the selfish desire to dominate other weaker human beings. • Though there was mutual aid in that society often the old,

the sick, the crippled and the handicapped were killed or abandoned by the tribe since they were a burden to the community.

Phase II – Church and Charity (From A.D. 1200to A.D. 1500)

Phase III – Charity from Church to Government (From A.D.1501 to A.D.1600)

Phase IV -The Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601

• (a) The able-bodied poor who were forced to work in the house of correction and to whom citizens were forbidden to give alms. • (b) The impotent poor who were unable to work; namely

are, the sick, old, blind, deaf-mute, lame, and mothers with young children. They were given out-door relief such as food, clothes, and fuel in their own homes.• (c) Dependent children, who were orphans abandoned by

their parents, or whose parents were poor, were placed in ‘free homes’ (any citizen who was willing to take them without charge).

Phase V – Poor Law Reform of 1834The need for Poor law reform was influenced by…..

• “(a) Economic Theory of laissez-faire presented by Adam Smith advocated that the state should not interfere with private economy and certain of his followers pleaded for the elimination of poor relief.• (b) Thomas R Malthus (1798) in his famous ‘Essay on Population’

pleaded that the poor relief tended to encourage paupers to have more children in order to get relief for them, and tended to raise the price of food, which again impoverished the working class. • (c) A parish minister in Scotland, Reverend Thomas Chalmers

(1780-1847), organized a programme of private charity on the principle of neighborly aid”

Poor law reform… cont…• Severe opposition to the Poor Law practice, the rising

number of paupers, and the heavy increase in the poor tax burden led to the appointment of the ‘Royal Commission for enquiring into the administration and practical operation of the Poor Laws’• The factory Act of 1833 prohibited the employment of

children less than nine years. • The Prison Act of 1877 made prison by provide better food,

ventilation, the cleaning of cells, bedding and blankets, and medical care during illness.

Poor Law Reform….Growth of Voluntary Institutions

• During the 19th century certain social reformers like Francis Place, Robert Owen, Richard Cobden and many others started certain movements to earn rights for the laborers and the formation of trade unions.• The mushrooming of institutions private charities was greatly

criticized as a waste of money and having overlapping activities. • In order to overcome the chaos and the lack of coordination

between the many charitable church and philanthropic societies Charity Organization Society (COS) (G.R.Madan, Indian Social Problems, 2010, p. 39) was formed in London in 1869.

Charity Organization Society (COS)

• The innovation caused the unmasking of many ‘professional beggars’ and people received aids from the public. • A group of citizens were working as volunteers in the city,

which was divided into districts. The example of the London COS was followed in other large cities in England and Scotland and later it reached the USA.• In 1884 the first settlement house in the world known as,

‘Toynbee Hall’ was established. Its objective was to promote education and culture, gather information regarding the conditions of the poor and the need for social reform, and the general awakening of popular interest in social and health problems and social legislations.

Charity Organization Society (COS)

• The growth of voluntary institutions created a need for trained workers to serve the people, giving birth to Social Work education. “Octavia Hill was conducting training in England as early as 1873. Series of lectures followed in London throughout the 1890s.” • Thus, the first recognized Social Work education was

started in the year 1903, the school of Sociology in London, with a two year course of theory and practice that grew from the efforts of the COS and “professionalizing effect” (M.Healy, International Social Work, 2001, p. 21).

History of Social Welfare before Professional Social Work in United States of AmericaDevelopment of Social Welfare before 1900

• From the beginning of the seventeenth century the colonist from England and other countries brought with them the customs, traditions, laws and institutions from the mother country. • The traditional resources of the mother country such as

church, charities, hospitals, and alms houses did not exist in the settlements. • According to the Elizabethan Poor Law, it is the responsibility

of the local church to take care of the destitute. Every town made provisions to the maintenance of the poor by supplying food, clothing, firewood and house hold essentials to persons with legal settlements.

Alms-house

• The introduction of alms-house care did not improve the conditions of the poor. In alms-houses, old, sick, tramps, vagabonds, blind, deaf-mutes, cripples, idiots and insane, orphans, foundlings, unmarried mothers with their children, prostitutes, and criminals were all put in these houses− often without separation of the sexes or age-groups.

Poor Relief

• “a) Private Charity Societies took initiatives to start orphanages and asylums, because they objected to the placement of children and helpless invalid and old people in mixed alms houses where they are forced to live with people with other deviant behaviors. Private relief societies were often affiliated with churches, fraternal orders or national benevolent associations, and they became the leading progressive element in American Social Welfare during the 19th century.• b) The states themselves assumed responsibility for certain classes of the

poor such as the insane, feeble-minded and convicted offenders for whom there were no adequate facilities. • c) Some local public relief authorities, under the influence of state boards

of charity, began to question the old concepts of poor relief….” (Friedlander, Introduction to Social Welfare, 1950, p. 87).

Private Charities

• After the reform in the poor relief act, private charities took the lead role in addressing the issues of the disadvantaged. However the activities of these private or religious agencies were often limited to aid for special local groups• In 1817 a constructive remedy for people in economic need was set

up, the New York Society for the Prevention of Pauperism, aiming to scientifically understand the causes of poverty and to develop a model for rehabilitation instead of mere palliative of financial issues. • The society assigned volunteers called ‘visitors of the indigent’ as its

agents. It established an employment bureau, a savings bank and encouraged the foundation of Mutual Aid-Mutual Life insurance groups to protect their members against economic hazards.

• Church and Charitable Organizations Association for improving the condition of the Poor was started in 1843 in New York. The Association assigned ‘friendly visitors’ in every sub district of the city in order to determine the need and the individual measures necessary in each individual case.

Birth of COS in United States of America

• In the economi depression of 1873 • Reverend S.Humphreys Gurteen, who had been previously in London

and was, acquainted with the Charity Organization Society, organized in 1877, the first society of this type in the United States in Buffalo, New York. • Although the founders of these societies believed that poverty was

caused by personal fault, the friendly visitors found there were other factors that caused destitution. They recognized that unhealthy neighbourhood and housing conditions prevented the maintenance of health and morals and low wages did not allow for the purchase of adequate food and clothing − even with careful housekeeping and thrifting

C.O.S

• The introduction of C.O.S. gained momentum in promoting and enforcing social legislation for improvement of housing, clearance of slum. The societies established employment bureaus, loan societies, workshops, laundries, ‘wayfarers’ lodges, shelters, training centers for the rehabilitation of the handicap, blind, deaf, and crippled. They also created domestic training of girls, hospitals, dispensaries, visiting nurses, recreation and summer camps, nurseries for young children, and related facilities.

Settlement House Movement

• The development of modern industry brought masses of workers and their families into the city. They lived in overcrowded quarters without comfort or space for their children, while relatives and friends were left in native rural villages and towns where they had come from. Large number of the immigrants coming as immigrants to the USA lived in overcrowded flats and unsanitary conditions.• There was not much mutual understanding among the different racial

and religious backgrounds, and they spoke different languages. In 1887 Neighbourhood Guild of New York City was founded based on the idea of Toynbee Hall in England. Soon Hull-House in Chicago, founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr in 1889, became popular

HULL HOUSE MODEL

• They met the needs of the neighbourhood through various programs: day nursery and kindergarten, discussion and study groups, School of music, dramatics, and arts, classes in rhythm and dancing, and workshops for children and adults. Later the Hull-house organized playgrounds and summer camps for children. School reforms activities which grew from the experiences of Hull-House (Friedlander, Introduction to Social Welfare, 1950, p. 112).

• Residents of settlement houses became the champions of Social reforms and they became the pioneers of social Action Many active workers and volunteers of the Charity Organization Societies felt the need for a deeper understanding of the behavior of individuals and of social and economic problems. This led to the organization of the first Social Work courses in New York in 1898

EMERGENCE OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION evolution of Social Work education in the world

• In 1998 the NASW declared it the 100th anniversary of the Social Work profession.• a) Social Work education evolving in the United States and Europe was

an indigenous response to the conditions of livelihood and the rapid development in the nineteenth century. • b) Social Work was introduced by the Americans and the Europeans to

other countries in Asia and Africa as experts to address the problem of “underdevelopment”. • c) The introduction and reintroduction of modern Social Work in the

countries of former Soviet Union and Eastern bloc, including Russia, the nations of Eastern Europe, China, and Vietnam under the foreign influence (M.Healy, International Social Work, 2001, p. 20).

• “two social movements in Social Welfare that began at the end of the nineteenth century shaped the development of the profession of Social Work: the Charity Organization Societies and the settlement house establishments,” (Van Wormer, 1997). Van Wormer, K. (1997). Social Welfare: A World View. P.162• The social movements gave birth to social organizations in the Charity

Organization Society in 1869 and the settlement house, Toynbee Hall in 1884 in London. Within less than a decade, the United States adopted the concept of COS in 1877. This is one of the earliest welfare model transfers shared in human services. The Hull House was founded in 1889 following the visit of Jane Addams to Toynbee Hall• http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1931/addams-

bio.html

“Social Work education emerged almost simultaneously in Britain, the United States, and the European continent at the turn of the century, quickly progressing in each location from lectures to full-time training” (De Jongh J. , August 8-11,1972, pp. 22-36). De Jongh, J. (August 8-11,1972). A retrospective view of Social Work education. . In I. I. Work(IASSW) (Ed.), New Themes in Social Work Education (Proceedings), XVIth International Congress of Schools of Social Work, pp. 22-36. The Hague, Netherlands, New York: IASSW.

In 1897, Mary Richmond (Mary Richmond, 1917) urged for more of an organized training during her speech at the National Conference on Social Work. The summer institute started by the Hull house in Chicago became a summer school in philanthropic work in the year 1898, founded by New York COS, in response to Mary Richmond.

Important Years and Events

• summer institute started by the Hull house in Chicago became a summer school in philanthropic work1898

• first ever School of Social Work began in Amsterdam− the Institute for Social Work Training.1899

• the school of Sociology in London, with a two year course of theory and practice 1903

International Conference

• In 1928 the first International Conference of Social Work was held from July 8th to 13th in Paris, and it drew 2,481 delegates from 42 countries (Organisation of the International Conference of Social Work, First Conference July 8-13, 1928).one section of the conference was devoted to Social Work education. The world meeting in Social Work and Social welfare became regular after the first conference. • The 1928 conference was also the birth place of three major

organizations, International Associations of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), and the International Council for Social Welfare (ICSW).

Origin of Social Work education in INDIAcan be traced under three main heads

• 1) Social Welfare in the ancient and medieval period • 2) Social Work during British period • 3) Social Work after Independence.

1. Social Welfare in the Ancient and Medieval Period

• “The responsibility for individuals in need of special assistance was shared by the rulers, the rich, and also by individual members of the general community” The rulers took charity as a sense of pride and religious duty by providing welfare measures for the people.• “Religion emphasized the values of charity, philanthropy, and mutual

help. The giving of alms, the feeding and care of destitute, were considered acts of religious merit. The temple gave shelter to the homeless.• The joint family provided for the care of the aged members and for the

physically handicapped, the chronically ailing, and the mentally deficient. Caste and community councils were often responsible individuals in need of help

• Kulavaka Jataka tells that Buddha was born in to a noble family. While he was young he gathered thirty men of the village and influenced them to do public good. They got up early and rallied forth with their clubs to roll out the stones that lay on highways and village roads, they cut down trees, made rough places smooth, dug water tanks, and built halls.• Kautilyas Arthasastra refers to the constructive work for public good as

the joint efforts of the villagers. One of the important forms of Social Work in ancient India was free food and education for poor lads by learned teachers was called Vidyadana − It is considered to be the best of all gifts. Even the poorest man gave something to eat to hungry students.• During the thirteenth century the Muslims instilled the same spirit of social

service through the field of religion and education. Payment of Zakat or “poor tax”, was the essential reward of Islam

Cont……

2. Social Work during the British Period

• During the death of Aurangazeb in 1707, India was the scene of conflict. The British who came as traders, took advantage of this conflict and succeeded in establishing their defacto rule over India. The British rule and power in India was transferred from East India Company to the crown in 1858. The Social Work profession during the British period passed through various phases • (i) Social reforms: 1780-1880 • (ii) Social service Organisations: 1880-1900; • (iii) Welfare of the Harijans, Tribals and Industrial workers:1900-1920;• (iv) Preventive and Protective legislations: 1920-1936; • (v) Dawn of Professional Social Work in India 1936.

Social Reforms 1780 to 1880

• Social reform in India was the endeavor of the powerful influence of early Christian missionaries. The work of Christian missionaries aroused various leaders of modern thought. The missionaries attacked the various evil social customs prevailing at the time. The impact of Western education also affected the Indian mind. Indian reformers learned about the liberal ideas and equality of rights among sexes in European countries − they were affected by their social system.

• The Indian society is caste-ridden, convention-ridden and priest-ridden. Those who suffered the worst from these evils were women.

• Kulinism was the practice by which it was socially possible for even a hundred women to be given in marriage to one Brahmin by reason of his KUL (high status). Widows were subjected to a life of austerity and subjection if they refused to immolate themselves (Natarajan S. , 1959, pp. 23-24).

• Raja ram Mohun Roy (1722-1833) was the first Indian who raised a defensive reaction against the social evils. As a religious reformer educationist and Social Worker, he is the symbol of the efforts of the Indian mind to face the challenges of transition. He published the first tract against SATI in 1818. He was also the founder of Brahmo Samaj (1828), a sect against idolatry which included social reform as an integral part of the mission. • Justice Ranade (1842-1901) was a great social reformer. In 1887 an

organization for social reform came to being known as Indian Social Conference. M.G. Ranade would give an address and summarize the social picture. The subject covered a wide range: infant marriage, abolition of dowries, the position of widows, education of girls, temperance, social purity, intermarriage between castes, and charities, and Hindu-Muslim unity (Manshardt 1967 p.33).

Social Service organizations (1880-1900)

• The social reform movement spread throughout the country, and there was emphasis on the expansion of education. The British educators had introduced a new pattern of thinking based on rational thinking, democracy, and liberalism. The work of missionaries and their rationalistic way of thinking, linked with modern science, had a great appeal to the Indian intellectual. There were significant changes taking place in the economic life of the country.• The villagers started to migrate in increasing numbers to the new

industrial towns. Pandita Ramabai, an Indian Christian missionary, established the Arya Mahila Samaj in poona under prarthana samaj. Jotibal Phule – a non Brahmin worker and a campaigner for caste reforms-organized a number of Social Work institutions, orphanages, and school for girls. In 1887

Social Welfare agencies from 1900 – 1920

• In 1904 the Indian Social conference was attended by Muslims, Sikhs, Arya Samajists and Brahmos, Theosophists, Buddhists and Rationalists from all over India. • In 1905 the Servants of Indian Society was founded, in 1908 the

Bombay Association established a Seva Sadan, in 1911 the Social Service league was founded, and in 1922 after the India Industrial Welfare conference Social Work from

1920-1936

From Ameliorativ

e to Prevention

Social Legislation

Gandhiji and Social

WorkSocial

Welfare Agencies

Women Welfare Prohibition

Goverment and Welfare Programme

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Professional Social Work

BIRTH AND EARLY GROWTH OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION IN INDIA

• A settlement house-like agency, the Nagpada Neighbourhood House, was founded in 1926 in the slums of Bombay, India by Dr. Clifford Manshardt-an American missionary.• From the experience he gained in the settlement, Manshardt was very

convinced “that the standard of Social Work in India could not be raised appreciably until a permanent School of Social Work was set up to engage in a continuous study of Indian social problems and to offer training for Social Work on a graduate basis” • Clifford Manshardt sought the help of an Indian industrialist for finance

and opened the first professional Social Work school in the name of Sir Dorabji Tata Graduate School of Social Work in Bombay in 1936. •