A definition of social work: A thesis in sociology

								

Correctional and protective agencies                    81        54
Societies serving special groups                        81        60

      Negroes                                   29  36

      Soldiers, sailors, or their dependents    25  10

      Clergymen                                  8

      Medical men                                7

      Indians                                    5

      Artists                                    4

      Firemen                                    3
Recreational facilities                                 63        88
Banking, loan and saving societies                      23        10

      Of which burial societies are             10   4
Milk stations, diet kitchens and lunch rooms            20        23
Conferences and federations which include

      social work agencies                                12        20
Legal aid societies                                     11         2
Societies for the protection of animals                  9        14
In cross section no obvious, no easily discernible bond appears among
these diverse agencies. An eleemosynary purpose, the first suggestion
of most laymen, is indignantly repudiated by the modern social worker
and can be, in many cases, categorically disproved. All are benevolent,
but so also are educational, religious, artistic and other undertakings
not commonly considered social work.
It is a standing rule of science that if you can see nothing crosswise
you must try squinting lengthwise. If a present form will not
answer your questions look back along its history and consider its
origin--study its evolution and genetics. Such a policy with respect to
social work brings us promptly to a strong clue.
The interests of social work have wandered far from those of
old-fashioned charity and “mere charity” has now a bad name, but we
of this generation knew social work before it came of age and when we
hear it repudiating charity we recognize the act of a thankless child
denying an unfashionable parent. The oldest of the schools was called
until 1919 the “New York School of Philanthropy” and the same word
appeared in the names of the Chicago school and others. The “Survey,”
the accepted general organ of the profession (if it is a profession),
was until 1905 published as “Charities” and for three years more as
“Charities and the Commons.” What is now the “National Conference
of Social Work” was organized as the “Conference of Charities and
Corrections” and kept that title right down to 1917.
We may therefore push our investigation back a step farther and for the
question “what is social work?” substitute the less difficult inquiries
“what was charity and by what modifications did social work develop
from it?” However far apart these two may at present seem it is a
patent fact that social work developed from charity and along the route