Social reform in the US: lessons from the Progressive Era

2019 ◽  
pp. 71-88
Author(s):  
Francisco Branco
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Progressive Era ◽  
Social Reform ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Settlement Movement ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Charity Organization ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Social Reformers

This chapter examines, using a historical approach, two lines of research regarding the Progressive Era in the Unites States. The first approach concerns the relationship between social work and social policy. In the first section, the article describes the main features of and lessons from the involvement of social work pioneers in social work and social reform in the context of the public and social policies process. The second dimension analysed focuses more specifically on the methods and strategies adopted by the Settlement Movement, but also by some Charity Organization Societies’ leaders and other social reformers. Both of these approaches also concern the policy formulation and decision-making processes conceptualised and adopted by social reformers in the Progressive Era.

Social Work and Social Welfare: The Organization of Philanthropic Resources in Britain, 1900–1914

1977 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Social System ◽  
Social Reform ◽  
The State ◽  
Charity Organization ◽  
Transitional Era

Late Victorian and Edwardian social reform has been studied in recent years in order to clarify that important transitional era when new state resources were being called upon to help redress the most glaring abuses which comprised the condition-of-England question. Most of these studies have emphasized the politics of social policy and have also subsumed the tangled and competitive world of philanthropy. But philanthropists were prominent in the politics and practice of social welfare. In his study of Edwardian social policy, Bentley Gilbert distinguishes three organizations as characteristic of “scientific social reform”: settlements (inspired by Canon Samuel Barnett), the Fabians, and the Charity Organization Society. His analysis of each concluded that “professionally-minded social work,” as represented by the C.O.S., least typified the transition from old to new attitudes about social policy. David Owen's examination of English philanthropy supports Gilbert's conclusions concerning the C.O.S., and less detailed surveys of social policy also cite that agency as representative of a philosophic individualism which rejected the policies necessary for reform. All agree that the charitable community called attention to many defects in the British social system, but they leave readers with the impression that it generally opposed state sponsored remedies for those ills.It is the concern of this essay to show that the “professionally-minded” world of Edwardian philanthropy was, like the state, developing new agencies and reorganizing its resources to help meet the massive and diverse welfare needs of the twentieth century.

scholarly journals The Role of Public Participation in Governance towards Achieving Sustainable Development. Part 1

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-404
Author(s):  
Maurice S. Nyarangaa ◽  
Chen Hao ◽  
Duncan O. Hongo
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Political Class ◽  
The Public ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Government

Public participation aimed at improving the effectiveness of governance by involving citizens in governance policy formulation and decision-making processes. It was designed to promote transparency, accountability and effectiveness of any modern government. Although Kenya has legally adopted public participation in day-to-day government activities, challenges still cripple its effectiveness as documented by several scholars. Instead of reducing conflicts between the government and the public, it has heightened witnessing so many petitions of government missing on priorities in terms of development and government policies. Results show that participation weakly relates with governance hence frictions sustainable development. Theoretically, public participation influences governance efficiency and development, directly and indirectly, thus sustainable development policy and implementation depends on Public participation and good governance. However, an effective public participation in governance is has been fractioned by the government. Instead of being a promoter/sponsor of public participation, the government of Kenya has failed to put structures that would spur participation of citizens in policy making and other days to activities. This has brought about wrong priority setting and misappropriation of public resources; The government officials and political class interference ultimately limit public opinion and input effects on decision-making and policy formulation, which might be an inner factor determining the failure of public participation in Kenya. The study suggests the need for strengthening public participation by establishing an independent institution to preside over public participation processes.

Richmond, Mary Ellen

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Longres
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Juvenile Court ◽  
Housing Association ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Teaching Materials ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Charities ◽  
Charity Organization

Mary Ellen Richmond (1861–1928) formulated the first comprehensive statement of direct social work practice principles. She founded the Public Charities Association, the juvenile court, and the Housing Association, and helped to develop teaching materials for Charity Organization Societies nationwide.

Oratory and Platform Culture in Britain and North America, 1740–1900

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Eastman
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
North America ◽  
Social Reform ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Eighteenth And Nineteenth Centuries ◽  
The Relationship

Examining oratory as a dynamic, changing medium for communication during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in America and, to a lesser extent, Great Britain, this essay scrutinizes several of its most important sites of performance: religion, politics, social reform, performance, and education. In each of those arenas, oratory helped to fuel some of most exciting social and political changes of the era by reconceptualizing ideas about the relationship between leaders and the public, the notion of rhetorical persuasion, and the importance of public opinion. An exceptionally interdisciplinary set of scholarship on the subject has done much to invigorate the study of oratory in recent years, and yet this field lacks an intellectual center from which scholars might move beyond individual studies to conceptualize the larger significance of oratory across all sites of performance.

Allies or Antagonists? Philanthropic Reformers and Business Reformers in the Progressive Era

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-117
Author(s):  
Nikki Mandell
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Progressive Era ◽  
Social Reform ◽  
Labor Relations ◽  
Business Management ◽  
Shop Floor ◽  
Labor Management ◽  
Welfare Capitalism ◽  
Welfare Work ◽  
The Social

In the early twentieth century, amid heightening industrial tensions, many large corporations introduced welfare work to co-opt their employees' loyalties and pacify public anger. Many of the techniques and ideas of what became known as “welfare capitalism” were adapted from charity aid and settlement work. Over time, however, labor relations moved from being identified as a social reform issue—bound up with other issues on which the new profession of social work concentrated—to a business management prerogative. This article argues that professionalization played a significant role in these developments. Philanthropic reformers initially claimed welfare work as part of their professional agenda. However, in the second decade of the century, the social work profession began to narrow its field of operations. As social work's ambivalent claims on the factory and shop floor atrophied, business schools were introducing elements of industrial social work into their new management curriculums. The burgeoning field of professional labor management incorporated welfare work as one of its essential tools.

Building Canals from Panama to Mars

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 420-446
Author(s):  
Emily Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Progressive Era ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Panama Canal ◽  
Theodore Roosevelt ◽  
Chief Engineer ◽  
The Public ◽  
Contemporary Media ◽  
The Relationship

This article explores common themes between the Martian canal debate and the building of the Panama Canal. The focus is on the American period of canal construction in Panama beginning in 1904. The scope of the discussion ends with the Martian opposition of 1907. During this period, the Martian and Panamanian canal narratives intersected at points that reveal mutual values relating to the use of political rhetoric in science and the idealization of science and scientists. Some of those shared values include the dichotomy of old and new, the emphasis on technoscientific progress, and the relationship among wilderness, masculinity, and self-determination. The first section provides context for the larger canal debate. The second section discusses instances in which contemporary media considered the outcomes if Martians, in the forms of both laborers and engineers, were to assist humans in the building of the Panama Canal. By considering their intervention, Martians became idealized into the archetypes of the efficient worker and the objective expert. This section emphasizes a series of articles published in 1905–06 by the first chief engineer for the U.S. Isthmian Canal Commission, John F. Wallace (1852–1921). The third section further explores the political rhetoric of the canal debate by comparing the public identities of Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) and Percival Lowell (1855–1916), both champions of their respective canal intrigues. This comparison reveals the Martian canal debate as one steeped in Progressive Era political ideology as well as other sociopolitical norms. In conclusion, we are left with two versions of the scientific ideal—the objective, apolitical expert and the heroic scientist.

Older people, pensions and poverty: An issue for social workers?

2011 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam Foster
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

Poverty is encountered by the majority of users of social services but is often overlooked in social work practice. This article explores the relationship between poverty in older age, pension receipt and the role of social policy formulation in the UK with particular reference to New Labour governance. It also briefly explores the EU context before considering the implications for social work.

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