Collaboration Café - History of the Social Work Profession

Sample Answer

The history of the social work profession is traditionally rooted in the 19th-century efforts of charitable organizations and settlement houses in England and the United States. While these movements laid the foundation for modern social work, they often present a narrow, "whitewashed" narrative that excludes the crucial contributions of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) scholars and change agents.

Traditional History of Social Work

The professionalization of social work in the United States is typically traced to two key movements: the Charity Organization Societies (COS) and the Settlement House Movement.

Charity Organization Societies (COS): Founded in the late 19th century, the COS focused on a "scientific" approach to poverty. They believed that individual casework—investigating and documenting the lives of the poor—could help identify the "deserving" and "undeserving" poor and coordinate relief. Mary Richmond, a prominent figure in this movement, is often considered a founder of social casework.

Settlement House Movement: Pioneered by Jane Addams, the Settlement House Movement took a different approach. Instead of just studying poverty from a distance, reformers lived in impoverished urban neighborhoods to provide a range of services, including education, healthcare, and community activities. This movement emphasized social and environmental reform, believing that a person's problems were often a result of their surroundings, not personal failings.

While these movements were pivotal, their historical portrayal often overlooks the parallel and often more radical work being done by BIPOC communities and leaders.

The Exclusion of BIPOC Change Agents

The traditional history of social work often presents a narrative of "white saviors" helping a "needy" BIPOC population, effectively erasing the significant contributions of BIPOC individuals. This exclusion perpetuates the myth that BIPOC communities were passive recipients of aid, rather than active agents of change. This omission is a form of institutional racism within social work education.

Many BIPOC leaders were not only involved in social welfare work but also challenged the dominant, often racist, ideologies of the time. They were active in their own communities, creating organizations and providing services with a focus on self-help, empowerment, and social justice, long before these concepts were mainstreamed in the profession.

Some notable examples of excluded pioneers include:

W.E.B. Du Bois: A sociologist and civil rights activist, Du Bois used empirical research to challenge racist ideas about Black communities. His groundbreaking work, The Philadelphia Negro (1899), was a seminal study that laid the foundation for social work's "person-in-environment" perspective. Du Bois was one of the first to argue that social problems like poverty and crime were caused by systemic racism and discrimination, not inherent deficiencies within Black people.

Mary Church Terrell: As an activist and one of the first Black women to earn a college degree, Terrell co-founded the National Association of Colored Women (NACW). The NACW provided vital social services, education, and advocacy for Black families, focusing on issues that were ignored by mainstream social welfare organizations.

Ida B. Wells: A journalist and anti-lynching crusader, Wells's work exemplifies early social justice activism. Her use of investigative journalism to expose the injustices of lynching was a form of social work that sought to change a brutal and oppressive social system.