History of social work

1. “If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed
one.”

2. Overview
 About the Profession
 Origin and History
 Social Work in the UK
 Social Work: The Indian Heritage
 Conclusion

3. About the Profession
 Social workers have played an important role in the
advancement of human civilization since long ago.
 They uphold social justice by reducing inequality and
promoting human rights. Social workers try to improve the
quality of life of unfortunate people in the society and help
them realize their true potential.
 This is done through counseling, mediating between the
needy and charitable organizations or the government, and
other activities.
 Social work helps to solve a lot of problems in the
society, and it contributes significantly towards the cultural
and moral advancement of humankind.

4. Need to Understand the History

5.  The diversity of social work represents a great
challenge for social work research, education and
practice in the rapidly internationalizing and globalizing
world.
 This challenge can be met successfully only with a deep
philosophical and historical understanding of the
characteristics of a particular country - and welfare
regime – including the specific traditions of welfare
systems and the position and role of social work within
them.
 Research into the philosophy and history of social work
strengthens this understanding through analyzing the
conceptual and genealogical fundamentals of the
traditions of social work.
 This kind of research contributes to the theoretical self-
conception of social work which is necessary for the
development of social work as a modern professional

6. Origins and Modern History
of Social Work

7.  All major religions encourage people to help the poor, and
some of these religions were formed thousands of years ago.
Therefore, it can be said that social work originated in the
ancient times, when human beings started to perform charity
work
 In the western world, the first documented instance of
organized social work occurred during the 3rd century, right
after the Christian Church was legalized by Roman Emperor
Constantine I.
 The church set up hospitals, poorhouses, orphanages, and
homes for the elderly, and these establishments received
grants from the Roman Empire.
 By the 6th century, the church had developed an elaborate
system for distributing food and other consumables to the
poor
 Later on, it would encourage the European public to offer

8.  During the 19th century, the industrial
revolution led to a lot of social problems in
England and the United States, including
poverty, diseases, mental
disorders, prostitution, and others.
 As such, there was a great need for social
work.
 Churches and governments established
effective systems and laws to provide
assistance for the needy, and many
individuals started to form groups and
organizations to perform social work.
 Social work, as a profession, originated in the

9. Jane Addams, Mother of Social Work

10.  Jane Addams was one of the first social workers in the US.
 When she was 27 years old, she visited the Toynbee Hall settlement
house in London, and she developed an aspiration to open a similar
house in Chicago. In 1889, she partnered with her friend Ellen Starr
to set up a settlement house called the Hull-House
 They gave speeches about the social problems that were plaguing
their neighborhood, raised funds, and encouraged young women to
become volunteer social workers.
 After two years, the Hull-House was providing assistance to around
2,000 people every week. As she became more famous in
Chicago, she began to take on greater civic responsibilities, such as
founding a school of philanthropy, conducting investigations on
social problems, and campaigning for peace.
 For her extraordinary efforts in social work, Jane Addams was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in the year 1931.

11. Social Work in the UK

12.  Social upheaval and mass migration contributed significantly
to the evolution of social work in the UK.
 The populations of cities were increasing dramatically during
the industrial revolution, and many people were afflicted by
poverty and diseases.
 The UK government responded by offering free treatment in
hospitals, and hospital almoners were recruited to help in the
treatment of patients.
 These almoners were regarded as social workers, and their
roles began to include other social responsibilities in the
following years.

13.  Social work in the UK developed as a philanthropic activity on
the margins of statutory services, social work in the 20th
century became increasingly a professional activity, either
carried out directly by the state, or carried out by the voluntary
sector on its behalf.
 Social work has been incorporated steadily into statutory
mechanisms since its 'high tide' in the 1970s
 Not only has the state won the right to intervene in the lives of
individuals, it has effectively taken control over how this
should be carried out and by whom.
 Voluntary social work agencies cannot now function without
some measure of control over their activities by the local
authority and by the legislature.
 Even in the era of „care in the community‟, it is the local
authority which inspects voluntary institutions and give out
contracts for work on its behalf.

14. Social Work: The Indian Heritage

15.  India has a long history of Social Work of which it can be justifiably
proud.
 The concept of concern for others, often in the form of charitable
giving, has been enshrined in Hindu scriptures since ancient times
 In addition to India‟s sacred texts, there have been many historic
individuals who have sought to provide help for the vulnerable and
those in need.
 Recent history has given us further examples of individuals who
have furthered the cause of Social Work in India.
 Raja Ram Mohan Roy sowed the seed of social and religious reform
in his work for the abolition of Sati, in addition to supporting widow
remarriage and women‟s education.
 Iswar Chandra Vidya Sagar also advocated for widow remarriage
and women's education, as well as economic self-reliance and an
end to polygamy.
 Gopal Hari Deshmukh promoted the establishment of dispensaries,
maternity homes, and orphanages.
 M.K. Gandhi worked tirelessly for the upliftment of women and dalits
when, alongside his fight for freedom from foreign rule, he also

16. Development of Social work in
India

17. Pre- British Period to 1800 A.D
 Pre-british system was dominated by caste
system, upper caste protected lower caste people in
time of same difficulties, some of the important aspects
are as follows:
◦ Joint family: it is like a trust sharing common property. It
protected aged, children and women. It sarved as a social
trust.
◦ Village community: Indian villages were independent in
matters of food, clothing and shatter. The whole community
used to take each other.
◦ Village Temple:In every village there were temples.
People donated money to the temple and under this
system socially backward people were protected.

18. During the British Period
 Before the advent of the British, Indian practically
lived in village. Thus the economy of the village
was self-sufficient. But under the British rule only
Industries were allowed to develop.
 These economic and organization change
brought down the economic condition of Indians.
All the problems are chiefly related with health,
housing, child and woman welfare and labour,
recreation, crime and social disorganization. Due
to these problems the need for organized social
work was realized.

19.  Christian missionaries spread education, brought
the theory of equality, which in turn helped the
social reforms to attack the evil customs and
inequality.
 Raya Ram Mohan Ray started the brahma
samaj, Pandit Ramabhai started the Arya
Samaj, Swami Vivekananda established
Ramakrishna mission and Annie Besant started
home rule movement against British.
 Late Gandhi did a lot of work in the field of social
reform
 Due to the impact of the western education, and
Christian missionaries, a new term of social work

20. Growth of professional training in India
 Professional social work is of recent origin in India. During
1900 onwards, those who were engaged in social welfare
activities found the need of trained social workers.
 In India, professional social work owes its origin to a short-
term training course on social service organized by the
social service league at Bombay.
 Later, the first school of social work was started in 1936 by
Clifford marshal, who was a protestant missionary and
worked in Nagpada. He came to Indian in 1925 and felt the
need of trained social workers.
 Later on different schools of social work came into
existence in
Delhi, Calcutta, herknow, Varanasi, baroda, agra, adaipur

21. After Independence
 In the Independent India the source of all
welfare service are inherent in the
constitution.
 In order to supervise the social welfare
services, the central social welfare Board has
been established.
 The board assists in the improvement and
development of social welfare activities
 Thus, in Indian social work is gradually
emerging as a social oriented profession.

22. Conclusion
 Social work has come a long way to
become an important profession in the
modern society. The scope of
responsibilities of social work has
become wider over the years, and social
workers require more extensive training
to perform their duties effectively. As
social problems grow in the modern
society, social work will continue to gain
importance around the world.

23. References
 http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_did_social_work_begin_and
_who_is_the_founder_of_social_work
 http://web1.boisestate.edu/socwork/dhuff/history/central/core.
htm
 http://www.maduraimessenger.org/printed-
version/2011/september/issues/
 http://web.archive.org/web/20071221085300/http://www.socia
lwork.ed.ac.uk/social/history.html
 http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/14826079?access_key=key-
b722i6riz25zyzprdsv