The social workers I meet every day are a breed apart. Their dedication and resilience are fueled by a drive to care for others. They work with great zeal in a poorly paid profession that is fraught with risk, trauma and tragedy. They are genuine in their desire to help.
Is it the nature of the profession that attracts all these like-minded people? I decided to take a look at the history of social work.
The Civil War first stimulated the emergence of large-scale private social welfare initiatives, such as the US Sanitary Commission and the Red Cross.
Then a little later in the 19th century, the efforts of upper-class women in church-based and secular charitable organizations was the next wave of social welfare to address the consequences of poverty, urbanization, and immigration.
The working class quickly awakened to the needs of the less fortunate among them, and in the summer of 1898, the first social work class was offered at Columbia University. By 1919 there were seventeen schools of social work.
In 1905, Dr. Richard Clarke Cabot created the first professional social worker position in the United States. He saw the connection between tuberculosis and social conditions, and hired Garnet Pelton to assist patients in finding proper homes and improving sanitary living conditions. Pelton, a nurse by training, was followed in the role by Ida Cannon, who worked with Dr. Cabot in the outpatient ward of the hospital, redefining the way in which health and wellbeing was managed. This was the first time the economic, social, family and psychological conditions that underpinned many of the patients' disorders were recognized. Social workers would work in a complementary relationship with doctors, the former concentrating on physiological health, and the latter on social health.
In the early 1900s, Jane Addams, a dedicated community organizer and peace activist, began establishing settlement houses in Chicago for immigrants. For this work, she became one of the first women to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
I had my answer. Caring people like Dr.Richard Cabot, Garnet Pelton, Ida Cannon, and Jane Addams all came together at the beginning and set the Social Work profession off on an inspired course. Like-minded people have continued to follow their lead to the present day.
