Social work as a profession can be traced back to the first social welfare agencies appearing in urban areas in the 1800s. It has its roots in the attempts of society at large to deal with the problem of poverty and inequality. Social work is intricately linked with the idea of charity work, but must be understood in broader terms. The concept of charity goes back to ancient times, and the practice of providing for the poor has roots in all major world religions.
Pre-modern antecedents Before the rise of modern states, the Christian church provided social services in (for example) the Mediterranean world. When the Roman Emperor Constantine I endorsed Christianity in the 4th century, the newly legitimised church set up or expanded burial societies, poorhouses, homes for the aged, shelter for the homeless, hospitals, and orphanages in the Roman Empire.C. Gilleard (2007) Ageing & Society — Old age in Byzantine society (2007), 27: 623-642, Cambridge University Press. These were often funded, at least in part, from grants from the Empire.
By 580 AD, the church had a system for circulating consumables to the poor: associated with each parish was a diaconium or office of the deacon. Monasteries also often served as comprehensive social-service agencies, acting as hospitals, homes for the aged, orphanages, travelers' aid stations.
During the Middle Ages, the Christian church had vast influence on European society and Christians regarded charity as a responsibility and a sign of one's piety. This charity came in the form of direct relief (for example, giving money, food, or other material goods to alleviate a particular need), as opposed to trying to change the root causes of social ills. As there was no effective bureaucracy below city government that was capable of large-scale charitable activities, the clergy carried out this role in Europe until the Early Modern Period.
Other societies had their own systems, involving roles such as those of the traditional healer ("witch doctor"). In Islamic societies, the waqf served as private charitable endowment that was the main support for public education and healthcare. In Imperial China, the Qing dynasty responded to food insecurity in its populace by establishing state granaries.
Modern development It was not until the emergence of industrialization and urbanization that the informal helping systems of the church and family began to be replaced by social welfare services.
The practice and profession of social work has a relatively modern and scientific origin, and is generally considered to have developed out of three strands. The first was individual casework, a strategy pioneered by the Charity Organization Society in the mid-19th century. The second was social administration, which included various forms of poverty relief. Statewide poverty relief could be said to have its roots in the English Poor Laws of the 17th century, but was first systematized through the efforts of the Charity Organisation Society. The third consisted of social action - rather than engaging in the resolution of immediate individual requirements, the emphasis was placed on political action working through the community and the group to improve their social conditions and thereby alleviate poverty. This approach was developed originally by the settlement house movement.
This was accompanied by a less easily defined movement; the development of institutions to deal with the entire range of social problems. All had their most rapid growth during the nineteenth century, and laid the foundational basis for modern social work, both in theory and in practice.Popple, Philip R. and Leighninger, Leslie. Social Work, Social Welfare, American Society.Boston:Allyn&Bacon,2011.Print
Professional social work originated in 19th century England, and had its roots in the social and economic upheaval wrought by the Industrial Revolution, in particular the societal struggle to deal with the resultant mass urban-based poverty and its related problems. Because poverty was the main focus of early social work, it was intricately linked with the idea of charity work.
Poverty relief
With the decline of feudalism in 16th century England, the indigent poor came to be seen as a more direct threat to the social order. As they were often not associated to a particular feudal manor, the government moved towards the formation of an organized poverty relief system to care for them.
The origins of the English Poor Law system can be traced as far back as late medieval statutes dealing with beggars and vagrancy but it was only during the Tudor period that the Poor Law system became codified. Monasteries, the primary source of poor relief, were dissolved by the Tudor Reformation causing poor relief to move from a largely voluntary basis to a compulsory tax that was collected at a parish level. Early legislation was concerned with vagrants and making the able-bodied work, especially while labour was in short supply following the Black Death.
The first complete code of poor relief was made in the Poor Relief Act 1597 and some provision for the "deserving poor" was eventually made in the Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601. It created a system administered at parish level, paid for by levying local rates on rate payers. Relief for those too ill or old to work, the so-called 'impotent poor', was in the form of a payment or items of food ('the parish loaf') or clothing also known as outdoor relief. Some aged people might be accommodated in parish alms houses, though these were usually private charitable institutions. Meanwhile, able-bodied beggars who had refused work were often placed in houses of correction or even subjected to beatings to encourage discipline.
As populations grew in Colonial America, almhouses were built to house vulnerable people with no other support, including people with a long-term illness or older people without families. The first recorded almshouse was built in 1713 near Philadelphia by William Penn, and was only open to Quakers. A second one was built nearby in 1728, this time with public money. In 1736, New York opened the Poor House of the City of New York (later renamed Bellevue Hospital) and in 1737, New Orleans opened the Saint John's Hospital to serve the poor of the city.Gehlert, S. in Gehlert, S. and T.A. Browne (2006). Chapter Two: The Conceptual Underpinnings of social work in health care. Handbook of Health Social Work. New Jersey:WILEY
The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 completely overhauled the existing system in Britain and established a Poor Law Commission to oversee the national operation of the system. This included the forming together of small parishes into poor law unions and the building of workhouses in each union for the giving of poor relief. Although the aim of the legislation was to reduce costs to rate payers, one area not reformed was the method of financing of the Poor Law system which continued to be paid for by levying a "poor rate" on the property owning middle classes.
Although the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 did not ban all forms of outdoor relief, it stated that no able-bodied person was to receive money or other help from the Poor Law authorities except in a workhouse. Conditions in workhouses were to be made harsh to discourage people from claiming. Workhouses were to be built in every parish and, if parishes were too small, parishes could group together to form poor law unions. The Poor Law Commissioners were to be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the act.
In France, poverty relief suffered after the French Revolution reduced the role of the Catholic Church in the country. The Napoleonic Wars further stretched the resources of the poor, and it wasn't until the rise of the French Third Republic around 1871 that the state became organized and wealthy enough to provide thorough poor relief. This was in-particular due to the 1880s efforts of Radical Republicans who emphasized solidarity and referenced back to the Revolution-era Jacobin views on the "sacred national duty" of assistance to the poor.
Private philanthropy
The 19th century saw a great leap forward in technological and scientific achievement. There was also a great migration to urban areas throughout the Western world, which led to many social problems. This galvanised the socially active, prosperous middle and upper classes to search for ways to ameliorate the physical and spiritual conditions of the poor underclasses. This was coupled with a religious revival, and many Protestant mission efforts (urban missions), attempted to resolve the problems inherent in large cities like poverty, prostitution, disease, and other afflictions. A new philosophy of "scientific charity" emerged, which stated charity should be "secular, rational and empirical as opposed to sectarian, sentimental, and dogmatic."
During this time, rescue societies were initiated to find more appropriate means of self-support for women involved in prostitution. State-built Mental asylums were built from the 1840s to assist in taking care of the mentally ill.
Most historians identify the Charity Organization Society, founded by Helen Bosanquet and Octavia Hill in London in 1869, as the pioneering organization of the social theory that led to the emergence of social work as a professional occupation. COS had its main focus on individual casework. It supported the concept of self-help and limited government intervention to deal with the effects of poverty. The organisation claimed to use "scientific principles to root out scroungers and target relief where it was most needed".Rees, Rosemary (2001). Poverty and Public Health 1815-1949. London: Heinemann.
Alsager Hay Hill was prominent from its foundation, acting as honorary secretary of the council until July 1870, and as an active member of the council until 1880. Hill also worked as an almoner to the Society for the Relief of Distress in the East of London. He campaigned about the many flaws in the poor laws and urged for a more scientific classification of paupers. His 1867 pamphlet, on Our Unemployed, was one of the earliest attempts to highlight the problem of systemic unemployment; he suggested a national system of labour registration. In 1871, Hill pioneered a system of labour exchanges in England, establishing 'The Employment Inquiry Office and Labour Registry,'. There, Hill advised applicants for assistance, and founded and edited Labour News to improve communication between masters and men seeking work.
Octavia Hill is regarded by many as the founder of modern social work. She was a moving force behind the development of social housing, and her early friendship with John Ruskin enabled her to put her theories into practice with the aid of his initial investment. She believed in self-reliance, and made it a key part of her housing system that she and her assistants knew their tenants personally and encouraged them to better themselves. She was opposed to municipal provision of housing, believing it to be bureaucratic and impersonal. Under her guidance, the Charity Organisation Society organised charitable grants and pioneered a home-visiting service that formed the basis for modern social work.