Historical perspective of social work

¶ … Social Work

The objective of this work is to trace and critically evaluate the relationship of social work to social justice through the lens of the fact that social work has a record of inclusion or exclusion of oppressed or marginalized groups. This work will explore this through a contemporary social work practice issue.

In understanding the historical perspective of social work in the United States one must first gain an understanding of the basis of the formation of the United States in its' thought and rationale of order within a governmental system. In a speech on social work Ruth G. Dean from the Simmons School of Social Work stated that: "Social work, it seems, now content spending more time doing paperwork than working with people. We talk and write in the professional patois of pathology rather than with words that worry life and insight into dreams and aspirations and hope. We now too often speak the vapid language of objective science rather than in narratives that sing with the heart and soul of life and imagination. We seem to have lost our vision of great causes, of what is possible and worthwhile and worth struggling for, and of what could be if only we believed." (p.4) Dean stats that: "The dominance of ideas of social control and the prevalence of the business ethic are crating dramatic changes in the practice of clinical social work - a profession that developed within an ethos of social welfare. Third party payers control the terms of service, requiring social workers to offer very brief interventions and limited possibilities to clients." (2004) This problem is not a new one in the field of Social Work.

I. IMPERIALISTIC in THOUGHT and BASIS

According to Edward Said in the work entitled: "Culture and Imperialism": "The U.S. was founded as an empire, a dominion state of sovereignty that would expand in population and territory and increase in power. There were claims for North American territory to be made and fought over with astonishing success. There were native peoples to be dominated, variously exterminated, variously dislodged. Then, as the American republic increased in age and hemispheric power during the nineteenth century, there were distant lands to be designated "vital to American interests," to be intervened in and fought over. Curiously, though, so influential has been the discourse insisting on American specialness, altruism and opportunity, that imperialism in the United States as a word or ideology has turned up only rarely and recently in accounts of the United States culture, politics and history." (1993) in other words, the American way was 'the' way and thus all institutions whether for- or not-for-profit were founded on this idealism. Said speaks of the 'hierarchies or race' that were established in the early years of the United States and this is inclusive of certain ethnic groups being considered to be 'under- and un-educated' ignorant of the American way and school of thought both in politics and religion as well as those same groups being considered to be a threat to the American way of life as is evidenced in the writings of the early Nativists of the United States such as Morse, de Toqueville, and others.

Edward Said states that: "Imperialism" means the practice, the theory and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan center that rules a distant territory. Out of the imperial experiences, notions about culture were clarified, reinforced, criticized or rejected." (1993) Said goes on to state that "imperialism has not really ended..." And that."..global thinking tends to reproduce superpower, Cold War, regional, ideological or ethnic contests of old." (1993) According to Said."..the decrease in American power...underlines the continuity of the ideological need to consolidate and justify domination in cultural terms that has been the case in the West since the nineteenth century and even earlier. " (1993)

Said holds that the intervention of the U.S. into third world affairs which has occurred on a regular basis since approximately the year of 1945 is simply a repeat of the pattern of domination that was exhibited in the."..old imperial order, which developed during the era of mass societies commanded at the top by a powerfully centralizing culture and complex incorporative economy." (1993) According to Edward Said the "major task...is to match the new economic and social dislocations and configurations of our time with the startling realities of human interdependence on a world scale...[which can]...be achieved only by revised attitudes to education." (1993)

II. PROBLEMS in SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE EXPLORED

The work of Ronald Takaki entitled: "A Different Mirror: History of Multicultural America" recounts the history of the United States: "from the viewpoint of the many peoples previously left out of the historical canon." (1993) the prevalence of racism in the society of the United States is explored by Takaki and how the conflict in the inner cities developed because of issues relating to educational access for African-Americans during the time of school segregation and racial prejudice. The imperialistic influence in the field of social work and education have been massive in terms of the ideology of society of the United States.

Latinos have experienced much of the same as described in the work of Kilty and Haymes entitled: "Racism, Nativism, and Exclusion: Public Policy, Immigration, and the Latino Experience in the United States" and published in the Journal of Psychology (2000) as these authors relate that immigrants into the country often experience stress in their family unit due to the bicultural nature of their new country of residence and it is because of prior experience with public officials that the immigrants are unwilling to share information or interact with social workers because their history has been colored by these prior experiences leading to anger and fear of social workers that is justified.

Kilty and Haymes also state that the immigration policies in recent years with the English-only requirements have worked toward creating an unwelcome atmosphere for immigrants which is "compounded by a long history of discriminatory policies against Native Americans, Latinos, Asians, and African-Americans." (Eighth Conference on Health Survey Research Methods, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004)