Introduction to Social Work (Gladden et al.)

This book was written by MSW students as their final project for their Capstone class. Students were each assigned a chapter of the book to write to show that they had achieved competency as a Master’s level social worker. Chapters were assigned based on student interest and experience in certain areas of the field. The 2017 MSW class was excited to be able to contribute to the learning of their peers by writing this book! The book was written to the specifications of the SCWK 110 instructors at Ferris State University in the summer of 2017.

The History of Social Work in the United States The inception of the social work profession in the United States can be traced back to the late 1800’s beginning with charity work performed by local churches and communities seeing to meet the needs of the poor. Some of the earliest social work interventions were designed to meet basic human needs of populations and placed great value in providing support, assistance, and resources to families and communities in an attempt to alleviate suffering (Nsonwu, Casey, Cook & Armendariz, 2013). The profession now known as social work ultimately began as a result of a practice originally known as “helping” others to improve the well being of individuals, families, and communities. Throughout the years the social work profession played vital roles in the facilitation of social changes aimed at diminishing inequalities among various populations. Through the practice of “helping,” social workers were able to address many social problems that plagued vulnerable populations through facilitating, advocating, and influencing individuals, communities, politicians, and law makers (Langer & Leitz, 2014).

Throughout the progressive movement era, many social workers emerged and were identified as key players known to have advanced the profession. These individuals came to be known as pioneers of the social work profession as their careers were devoted to improving the well being of individuals, families, and communities. In an effort to help conceptualize the social work profession, we will look closer at the origin of the social practice, as well as discuss a few pioneers and their contributions to the social work profession (Hansan, 2013).

In the early 20th century, Robert Hunter’s book Poverty was published. Hunter’s book placed a spotlight on America’s poor and challenged society’s long held belief that poverty signified moral failure (Hansan, 2013). Hunter’s book demonstrated a critical need to implement specific social measures in order to prevent the destruction of the working class population on the verge of poverty. Hunter additionally identified conditions known to breed poverty calling into question the need but also the tolerance for these unjust conditions particularly by a professed Christian population (Hunter, 1904).

Another known pioneer of the social work profession is Mary Richmond. Throughout her career, Richmond searched for answers surrounding the reasons and causes of poverty while also examining the interactions between individuals and their environments. Richmond believed that interventions and treatment approaches needed to be focused on the person within their environment. As a result of this belief, Richmond developed the circle diagram as a way to help her clients identify sources of power available to them within their own environment. One of Richmond’s biggest contributions to the social work profession was her book Social Diagnosis which was published in 1917. Richmond’s book focused on the practice of casework with individuals and was the first book to identify a systematic and methodological way to document and diagnose clients (Social Welfare History Project, 2011).