Charity Organization Societies

The social work profession emerged from the complex social needs that developed in Europe and North America as a result of urbanization and industrialization. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, aid to the poverty-stricken was administered either through "indoor" or "outdoor" relief. Indoor relief was based on the institutional model--workhouses and almhouses where the able-bodied poor could seek refuge from the miseries of life. Outdoor relief did not require the institutionalization of the recipient. Although outdoor relief was popular in Europe and North America during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, its popularity waned by the nineteenth century as the poor grew increasingly dependent on this type of assistance. Rank (1994) cites de Tocqueville's assessment of this dependency, " . . . giving relief to people in their own homes encouraged dependence, b

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iety. Many of the settlement house staff were educated women responding to the need to feel useful to society. They believed that by focusing on neighborhood change, settlements could change communities and the world. The settlements offered a Christian movement toward democracy (a significant number of the male residents and workers were Protestant ministers) that emphasized social reform, racial progress, and humanitarianism. Once the settlement house reformers recognized the need for political action to supplement their social efforts, they organized to lobby for legislative changes beneficial to the poor. Prior to the 20th century, charitable endeavors were the purview of private groups. Even businesses got involved in social work by providing for the diverse needs of their employees. The federal government did not play a large role in the administration of social welfare programs until Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal era. Casework theory in social work has evolved significantly over the past century. In its infancy, social work adopted a paternalistic perspective in its service to clients, with emphasis on character reform as the solution for personal and social problems. The focus of social work shifted during the
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Approximate Word count = 1834
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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