UNIT I
SOCIAL WORK HISTORY
Section I. READING MATERIAL
Text A. FIELDS OF SOCIAL WORK
Task: read the text and do the exercises that follow.
Social work became a profession with the founding of the first social service agencies in the late 1800's. Before that time, the needy relied upon charitable individuals and certain religious groups and fraternal societies for assistance.
Social service agencies developed in response to changes that took place in society during the Industrial Revolution, a period of great industrial development that had begun in the 1700's. During this period, the growth of populations and industries, together with the movement of people from rural areas to cities, brought such problems as overcrowding, unemployment, and poverty.
One of the first social service agencies was the Charity Organization Society, founded in London in 1869. Its counselors, called "friendly visitors," went as volunteers to the homes of needy people and performed services, some of which were similar to those of present-day social workers. Such services later became known as casework. Charity Organization Societies also were founded in the United States and Canada.
Another type of social service agency that began in the late 1800's was the settlement house. These centers worked to improve living conditions in city neighbourhoods and helped immigrants deal with the problems that come with living in a new country. Group work and community organization work developed out of the settlement house movement.
The New York School of Philanthropy was the first school to train people for jobs with social agencies. This school, now the Columbia University School of Social Work, was founded by the United States' Charity Organization Society in 1898 in New York City. By the early 1900's, many state and local governments in the United States had started to provide social services financed by tax funds. The U.S. government created the social security program in 1935, during the Great Depression. Under this program, the government became a major source of public aid.
Americans who have made important contributions to the development of social work include Jane Addams, Mary E. Richmond, Grace L. Coyle, Gordon Hamilton, and Bertha Reynolds. Addams was a leader of the settlement house movement. Richmond wrote the first scientific study of casework techniques in social work, Social Diagnosis (1917). Coyle helped develop group practice in social work. Hamilton built on Richmond's work and formulated one of the major approaches to casework. This approach stressed the importance of establishing specific goals for individuals receiving help. Reynolds, through her teaching and leadership, showed how social work could be used to influence public policy.
EXERCISES
Ex.1. Pronounce these international words.
| re`ligious (adj) | ′leader (n) | revo`lution |
| so`ciety (n) | tech′niques (n) | `service |
| in`dustrial (adj) | scien′tific (adj) | `social |
| organi`zation (n) | spe′cific (adj) | contri`bution |
| ′immigrant (n) | ′problem (n) | `program |
| ′public (adj) | pro′fession (n) | `center |
| ′local (adj) | individual | fi`nance |
Ex.2. Memorize the following pairs of derivatives. Translate them.
| Noun → Adjective | Verb → Noun | |
| charity - charitable | assist - assistance | |
| profession - professional | employ - employment | |
| industry - industrial | settle - settlement | |
| poverty - poor | move - movement | |
| majority - major | develop - development | |
| volunteer - voluntary | perform - performance | |
| popularity - popular | grow - growth | |
| religion - religious | serve - service | |
| importance - important | improve - improvement | |
| science - scientific | organize - organization |
Ex.3. Transform as in the models.
Model 1: to assist the needy – assistance of the needy
administer the movement, settle the movement, develop the training, educate the individuals, move the people, improve the living conditions.
Model 2: the program of social security – social security program
agencies of social service, the problem of poverty, the pioneers of social work, the development of education, the importance of the goal.
Ex. 4. Match English and Russian equivalents:
| 1. in response to | a. улучшать условия жизни |
| 2. overcrowding | b. первые органы социальной защиты |
| 3. became a major source of public aid | c. рост населения и промышленности |
| 4. the first social service agencies | d. в ответ на |
| 5. important contributions to the development of social work | e. перенаселенность |
| 6. the growth of population and industries | f. важные вклады в развитие социальной работы |
| 7. the social security program | g. стало главным источником государственной помощи |
| 8.to improve living conditions | h. программа социальной защиты |
| 9.the social settlement movement | i. движение за открытие приютов в населённых пунктах |
Ex. 5 Choose the write word or word-combination.
1.Before the Industrial revolution the needy relied upon charitable … for assistance.
a)organizations b) individuals c) governments
2.The industrial revolution brought a lot of … to the society. a) wealth b) expected events c) problems
3.One of the first social work … was Charity Organisation Society. a) agencies b) problems c) reforms
4.Settlement house centres worked to improve … of immigrants. a) working conditions b) living conditions c) recreational facilities
5.By the beginning of the 20th century, many local governments in the USA had … social services financed by tax funds. a) improved b) stopped c) provided
Ex.6. Complete the sentences.
1. In the early 1800's the needy relied upon charitable individuals and certain religious groups and fraternal societies for... 2. "Friendly visitors" went as volunteers to the homes of needy people and performed services, some of which were similar to those of present-day... 3. Group work and community organization work developed out of... 4. The Columbia University School of Social Work was founded in … in... 5. Grace L. Coyle helped develop...
Ex.7. Insert the right words:
(brought, were founded, created, became, was).
1. Social work...a profession in the late 1800's. 2. The growth of population and industries, together with the movement of people from rural areas to cities,... such problems as overcrowding, unemployment, and poverty. 3. Charity Organization Societies … also... in the United States and Canada. 4. The U.S. government... the social security program in 1935. 5. Addams... a leader of the settlement house movement.
Ex. 8. Mark the following statements as true or false.
1. Social service agencies developed in response to the growth of population and industries. 2. One of the first social service agencies was founded in London in 1869. 3. The New York School of Philanthropy was the first school to train people for jobs with social agencies. 4. In the 1700's Charity Organization Societies also were founded in France and Germany. 5. Settlement houses offered social services to the rural poor, especially immigrants. 6. Mary E. Richmond wrote the first scientific study of social work.
Ex. 9. Answer the questions on the text.
1. When did social work become a profession? 2. What changes took place in society during the Industrial Revolution? 3. What was one of the first social service agencies in the world? 4. What was the goal of the settlement house? 5. When did the U.S. government become a major source of public aid? 6. Who has made important contributions to the development of social work in the U.S.?
Ex. 10. Give a brief summary of the text.
TEXT B. ORIGINS OF SOCIAL WORK
Task: scan the text for getting the main idea of the origins of social work.
The profession of social work has three main origins:
Hospital almoners, Workers in Settlement houses, Friendly visitors stipended by church and charitable bodies to support the poor and disadvantaged.
Almoner is a chaplain or church officer who originally was in charge of distributing charity.
Historically, almoners were Christian religious functionaries whose duty was to distribute alms to the poor. Monasteries were required to spend one tenth of their income in charity to the poor.
The name almoner was also used for a hospital official who interviews prospective patients to qualify them as indigent, and was later applied to the officials who were responsible for patient welfare and after-care. This position is now usually filled by social workers.
The settlement movement started in London. Victorian England, increasingly concerned with urban poverty, gave rise to a movement whereby those connected to universities settled students in slum areas to live and work alongside local people. Through their efforts, settlement houses were established for education, savings, sports, and arts.
The movement gave rise to many social policy initiatives and innovative ways of working to improve the conditions of the most excluded members of society.
The movement also spread to late Tsarist Russia, as Stanislav Shatsky and Alexander Zelenko set up a network of educational and social institutions in northern Moscow in 1905. This network of institutions was closed down by the Tsarist authorities in 1908.
Today, settlements are still community-focused organisations, providing a range of services in generally underserved urban areas, though they are staffed by professional employees rather than students, and no longer require that employees live alongside those they serve.
Text C. How Was Social Work Profession Born?
Task: go through the text and get ready to speak according to the following items.
1. Social work, a distinct profession.
2. Social work settings.
3. Social work educational institutions.
4. Social work today.
Working with the needy became a distinct profession in the late 1800's. One agency, the Charity Organization Society, helped the needy in Great Britain, the United States, and Canada. Its counsellors, called "friendly visitors," went to people's homes and performed services, some of which were similar to those of present-day social workers.
However, at the beginning of the 20th century some experts in evaluating professional standards declared that social work was not a profession. Despite the opinion of the "experts", social workers continued to work with individuals and attempt to spark social reform. Casework became a term used for working with individuals and social work began to develop its specific profession. Gradually, the views of the public and professional have changed. Social work began to find various settings in which knowledge and expertise could be practiced. Social workers began to work in hospitals, with the Red Cross, and with schools. Social workers also began to work with groups and in private practice settings after World War I.
The establishment of social work in various settings as well as the development of schools of social work led the profession into an increased scientific and professional viewpoint and away from the volunteer, non-profession identification.
The New York School of Philanthropy was the first educational institution to train people for jobs with social agencies. This school, now the Columbia University School of Social Work, was founded by the Charity Organization Society in 1898 in New York City. However, the term social work did not come into widespread use until the early 1900's. By that time, the governments of many countries had started to provide social services. Governments financed these services by tax funds.
Today, most professional social workers deal directly with the people they serve. Others work as administrators, supervisors, planners, or teachers. Paraprofessional social workers do not require full professional training. They work as assistants to professional personnel in community centres and agencies and mental health centres. Many paraprofessional social workers have a part-time position, and others volunteer their services.
Social work has changed greatly since the early days of the nineteenth century philanthropists and ‘do-gooders’. It is now a large-scale enterprise. And it is growing. Recent legislation means that there are more social work tasks to be undertaken than ever before, and there are likely to be more still in the future.
TEXT D. HULL HOUSE
Task: skim the text for particular information about what the purpose of Hull House was.
One of the largest settlement houses was Hull House, American social settlement (or settlement house), founded in 1889 in Chicago by the social reformer Jane Addams and her associates. It was established primarily as a welfare agency for needy families and to combat juvenile delinquency by providing recreational facilities for children living in slums. It also sought to assist immigrants, then a large proportion of the Chicago population, to learn the English language and to become American citizens.
The settlement was originally housed in a single building (the Hull mansion); it later maintained 13 buildings and became one of the largest institutions of its kind in the United States. Its facilities included a day nursery, gymnasium, meeting, and recreation rooms for youngsters and adults, arts-and-crafts workshops, classrooms for adult education, a music school, a theatre for amateur dramatic performances, and a social service centre.
Funds for Hull House were provided entirely by voluntary contributions of private citizens and grants by other social welfare agencies. Hull House was one of many settlement houses that were established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
During the first two decades of operation, Hull House attracted many female residents who later became prominent and influential reformers at various levels. The settlement was also gradually drawn into advocating for legislative reforms at the municipal, state, and federal levels, addressing issues such as child labour, women's suffrage, and immigration policy. Some claim that the work of the Hull House marked the beginning of what we know today as "Social Welfare". At the neighbourhood level, Hull House established the city’s first public playground and bathhouse, pursued educational and political reform, and investigated housing, working and sanitation issues. At the municipal level, their pursuit of legal reforms led to the first juvenile court in the United States, and their work influenced urban planning and the transition to a branch library system. At the state level, Hull House influenced legislation on child labour laws, occupational safety and health provisions, compulsory education, immigrant rights, and pension laws. These experiences translated to success at the federal level, working with the settlement house network to champion national child labour laws, women’s suffrage, a Children’s Bureau, unemployment compensation, workers' compensation and other elements of the Progressive agenda during the first two decades of the 20th century.
UNIT II
SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION