Session 2: Historical development of macro practice: 1850-present

UTA SSW, Practice III Professor Dick Schoech

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Overview

• Basic Concepts• Generalist Practice• History of Community Practice • History of Administrative Practice• Conclusion

Basic Concepts

Basic Concepts: Human Services

HUMAN SERVICES facilitate daily living by enabling individuals, families, and other primary groups to function, to cope, and to contribute. Human services address the problems that people individually or collectively have with:

• themselves, for example, emotional and mental difficulties

• primary groups, for example, family conflict, divorce, child abuse

• other nonrelated individuals, for example, crime

• organizations, for example, unemployment, poverty; and

• communities and the larger society, for example, deviance

Basic Concepts: Definitions

• Social work: A Human Services profession with specified knowledge, skills, and values.

• Macro Practice: Social Work practice concerning organizations, communities, and societies as opposed to individuals, families, and groups. (Brueggermann, pg. 3)

• Generalist: As opposed to specialist. Social workers must be prepared to address a large variety of problems/opportunities.

• Problem/opportunity (capacity/need-opportunity): – Every opportunity contains a potential problem.

– Within every problem is an opportunity & vice versa. For example, our strengths are also our weaknesses.

History of

CommunityPractice

Early History

• Role of the individual • Role of the family • Role of the clan• Role of the tribe• Role of the guilds/feudalism

(protection from others)• Clan/tribe/guild most responsible

for social welfare of individuals in their clan/tribe

Industrial Revolution & Immigration 1880s-1930s

• Mass movement from farm to city• Replacement of family, clan, tribe/guild by

workplace & charitable organizations– COS, Charity Organization Societies– Settlements Houses– Community Councils– United Funds

• Individuals most important for their own social welfare, otherwise charity

• Community Practice = charity and relief resources

• Community Practice = Organizing for better working conditions/pay using labor organizing tactics

The great depression-War on Poverty (1930s-1970s)

• Society responsible for individual welfare • The New Deal Programs (http://www.socialpolicy.ca/cush/m2/m2-t14.stm)

– Social Security– Workers Compensation– Public works, Works Progress Administration (WPA), etc.

• The Great Society Programs– Community Mental Health Centers Act– Welfare (ADC)– Head Start– Job Corps, Peace Corps, VISTA– Community Action Programs– Model Cities– Older Americans Act– Comprehensive Health Planning

• Community practice = relief resources and structural change

Modern Social Welfare philosophy

• Continual clash between the individual and society being responsible for the social welfare of citizens

• Continual clash between whether government or business offers the best way to provide human services

• Europe has social democracies & taxes so government can prevent social problems

• US more capitalism, low taxes, with minimal government only to rectify large social problems, not prevent them.

Modern Community Practice efforts 1980+• Selective legislative initiatives, e.g., ADA,

Amber Alert system, Senior prescription drugs

• System reform making individual and corporations more responsible: welfare reform, privatization, Faith Based, Social Security reform, health care reform

• Application of Science: NIHM, NIDA, SAMHSA, CSAP/CSAT

• Organizing around injustice: ACORN• Building communities: Move on, Meet up,

etc.

History of

AdministrativePractice

History of management

• Ancient• Middle ages• Industrial revolution• Modern

Guess the author: who and when

“We trained hard … every time we began forming up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing… and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing inefficiency and demoralization.”

Author

Gaius Petronius speaking of his duty while assigned to fight the barbarian wars in the north of Briton around 20 A.D.

History — ancient

• Based on Egyptians, Assyrians, etc.:– Church– Military– State (government)

• key variables– communications– submission of those managed

(Galileo)– Male and authority based

History — Middle ages

• Crafts and guilds• Based on

– skills– apprenticeship – collectives, teams– exclusion thru “ole boy system”

History: Industrial revolution-Weber

Max Weber definition of bureaucracy• Hierarchy of authority• Written rules, rights and duties• Procedures for most work• Impersonality (decisions based on

qualifications)• Professionalism (training important)• Specialization (division of labor)

Key = design of organization

History: Industrial revolution-Fayol 1900s

POSDCORBE• Planning• Organizing• Staffing• Coordinating• Directing (leadership)• Reporting• Budgeting• Evaluating

Key = understanding processes

History: Industrial revolution-Taylor 1900s

Frederick Taylor’s scientific mana Frederick Taylor’s scientific mana (1900-(1900-1930s)1930s)

• Applied research can improve work• Time and motion studies• Lack of consideration of labor unions who

labeled him a “contented cow” sociologist

Key = use scientific principles to design tasks

History: Social/Psychological influences (1920-50s)

• Hawthorne Experiments (Hawthorne effect)

• World War 1 and II• Psychology via Freud and Maslow• Theory X & Theory Y

History: Modern influences

• Systems, computers, the Internet• Many competing theories, TQM, “White

Knight” popularism, etc.• Globalization• Privatization, managed care, capitation• Best practices, evidence

informed/based, etc.

• Business-to-business infrastructure, organizational learning

Conclusion

• Generalist macro practice is based in

– Generalist social work process

– Professional knowledge, skills, and values

– Not personal values or common sense

• Community and administrative practice has become complex (private/public mix of finance & delivery) and struggling to be scientific

• Questions and discussion