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The History Of Social Workers In The United States
During the Industrial Revolution, social workers were needed because of all the societal issues. Also, at this time, the economy was booming. Lots of people had jobs in factories, assembly lines, coal mines, etc. However, at the time, America was a capitalist economy which meant that people had the freedom to do whatever they wanted to, in order to make money. There was little government interference in the economy. In the result of this, there was no minimum wage, no health care, no minimum or maximum work hours, and no benefits to those who worked for a large company such as a factory. On top of all of this, immigrants were entering the US at this time, so if somebody wanted to keep their job, they would have to be paid less. This Capitalist economy destroyed the lower class of society.
Behind the scenes of the Industrial Revolution, some people were struggling to make ends meet. Nobody could afford to take care of their families. Poverty was taken to the streets. The cities began to flood with people who were not able to support themselves. The impoverished people who took over the streets were seen as a direct threat to social order. In response to this, the government created and organized systems that would help them. This led to the beginning of social workers.
The government needed people who would assist the citizens directly. Government created groups started to form around the cities. These groups did not just help the poor, but they found ways to keep disease, prostitution, mental illnesses, and other afflictions under control (Social Work Degree Guide). At this time, the groups were not officially known as social workers, but instead, were just thought of as the social order control groups. The people in these groups saved many peoples lives. They cared about helping people who were not as privileged.
During the late 1800s, systems were being created to continue to help the social issues that were occurring in the urban areas of America. One of the first professional Social Workers, Jane Addams, created the U.S. Settlement House Movement. Settlement houses were built to act as community centers. At the settlement houses, services were provided to help the community. This new system was created to try and help the environmental causes of poverty. As said by Chris Ingrao, the social workers activities included conducting research, establishing a juvenile court system, creating widows pension programs, promoting legislation, prohibiting child labor, and introducing public health reforms and the concept of social insurance (Simmons University). The most famous settlement house was called the Hull House. This house was located in a culturally diverse part of Chicago. This house offered up education programs and social services such as a public kitchen, public baths, and a nursery. (Simmons University).
The government started to see a phenomenal change in society. The government realized that the social service groups needed to stick around because they were impacting the cities in such a positive way. By the nineteenth century, social work programs started to develop. Classes were offered at colleges, and people could pursue in a social work career. Social workers have impacted so many people’s lives, and over time, they have helped the poorest of the poor people get back on their feet.
During the Industrial Revolution, our society needed help. Social workers came to rescue the people. They had a passion for helping out the community, and because of them, people had a chance at survival during the Industrial Revolution.
Even two hundred and sixty years later, the idea of social workers is still around. Today, there are many types of social workers and they are available to help people in many different situations. During the Industrial Revolution, it was found that social workers needed to exist, and ever since then, the country has only improved the social worker’s ability.
From poverty to alcoholics to disease, American society has never been perfect. The government faces a constant battle while trying to keep American society sane. Their solution was a government-financed group that would help American society flourish. This group became known as social workers. The social workers helped decrease societal issues.
Imagine walking in a neighborhood and seeing homeless alcoholics roaming the streets. Imagine seeing kids begging for food and money on every street. Envision what America would look like if all these issues were not controlled. Thanks to social workers, America does not have to live in brutal conditions where the lower class does not have a chance at survival.
One of the main societal issues that was greatly impacted by social workers was the amount of homeless and impoverished people living out on the streets. Social workers were determined to get everyone into a safe environment. They did not know this at the time, but by getting the homeless people off the streets, a bunch of new social issues was also alleviated. Diseases were easily spread throughout the cities because everyone was in close proximity to each other, and the poor did not have the resources to be cured (International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences). Most of the homeless people did not even realize they carried a deadly disease. So, when social workers found homes for the poor, they also made sure they were checked out by a doctor. This reduced the amount of sick people in the cities.
Social Workers saw themselves as investigators. They wanted to figure out what needed to be fixed in the cities, to depress the issues of society. Along with controlling poverty and disease concerns, social workers went above and beyond to reform previously made laws that put the poor at a disadvantage in society. In 1907, a group of social workers in New York City realized that if they wanted to help the people, they needed to gather statistics on how most lower-class people were living (American Decades). The Pittsburgh survey was created to collect all the statistics. In order to get all the information, Workers fanned out in ethnic communities and looked at housing conditions, counted members of the household, and asked questions about employment and income, housekeeping standards, diet, clothing, education, and recreational activities (American Decades). The evidence was gathered from hundreds of photographs that were taken of workers and their families. The group of social workers got a first-hand look at how families had to live in order to survive. In most lower-class families, every person in the family had to work so that they could have a roof over their head and food on their table. The data that was compiled was very descriptive, and it was used to advocate reforms. The social workers went to the state legislators to create laws that would limit the number of working hours for a worker and to give the worker minimum wage rights. They also used the lower class housing conditions as evidence to create laws that would put regulations on the size and type of buildings that could be built (American Decades). These laws did not just change the lives of people working in New York City. These laws spread throughout the country and changed peoples lives forever. Social Workers fought for the rights of the lower class individuals, and they succeeded.
Over time, social workers have branched out into different fields of work. In the beginning, their main goal was to help the poor. They successfully achieved their goal and so they decided to help out society in different ways. Most modern social workers are advocates for children and families. They protect children who have been abused and they help families cope with the stressors in their lives (Why Our World Needs Social Work). Social workers do not get enough credit for all the things they do to help Americans.
The role of social workers in America is to help the well-being of people. They show people how to be successful in life. They lift people up by empowering them to make a positive change in their life. Social workers have changed America from a depressed state to a hopeful state. Social workers provide resources to all the people. They change the lives of people every day. They helped form some of the most important laws that are still used today; such as the working hours and minimum wage laws. They spoke out for the people who did not have a voice in society.
The responsibility of social workers got larger as the years progressed because there were always more societal problems that needed to be taken under control. One of the issues that never went away was all the kids that were abandoned or abused by their parents and other family members. Nobody could figure out how to help the children until Charles Loring created the Foster Care system. The Foster Care system was created with the help of social workers, and they played an important role in the creation of the system.
Charles Loring was an American Philithranpoist who made it his life’s goal to change society. He had witnessed all the homeless children who lived on the streets of New York City. The kids had nowhere to go, so their only sense of comfort was knowing that they were not alone in being homeless. The kids started to form violent gangs in order to survive. As said in the Social Welfare Library, These children became notorious as street Arabs or the dangerous classes due to the street violence and gangs with which they inevitably became members. Sometimes, kids as young as five years old would go to prison where the adults would go. The police were fed up with the kids rambunctious behavior, and they called them street rats (Social Welfare Library).
The only resources that were available at the time for poor and homeless kids were orphan asylums and almshouses. Loring was determined to find a better solution for the kids because they deserved a second chance. Loring believed that the best thing for the kids was to get them out of New York City and relocate them to the rural areas where there was more farmland. In the 1850s, Loring created a solution that was known as placing out . His purpose of this idea was to get the kids connected with a random family, so they could learn from them, and they could have the experience of living in a loving atmosphere. In 1854, Loring sent his first group of 46 boys to a town in Michigan. An agent went with the boys, and when they got to the town, the agent explained to all the townsmen that the boys were in desperate need of a home. It only took a week for all the kids to be claimed by a farmer. Over the next seventy-five years, the placing out program found homes for over 100,00 urban children who were living in poverty (Social Welfare Library).
In modern terms, the placing out system is known as the foster care system. Although the names changed, the goals have stayed the same. Kids are put in foster care every single day because they dont have family who is capable of taking care of them. For the child, it can be hard to find comfort in a random family. However, social workers work hard to ensure that the kid is put into a loving home. In the newspaper article Foster Care written by Manila Bulletin, a former foster childs parents spoke out and said, That was the ‘medicine’ that erased her fears and taught her how to trust a new family. Foster families help children get back on their feet, and they act as an authority figure to teach them life lessons. In some cases, such as the newspaper article Foster Care , the foster family ends up adopting the child because they fall in love with each other.
In US history, there have been bumps in the road. Nothing has been easy, but social workers have impacted the US in such a positive way. They helped some of the worst societal issues and they found a solution to them. Without the creation of the foster care system, kids would not have any way of turning their life around.
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