The Historical Roots of Macro Practice Materials from

1
The Historical Roots of Macro Practice

• Materials from Netting, Kettner, McMurtry and
  other sources as cited

2
UTA SSW Generalist Perspective

• Accountability or Evidence based
• Ethical practice
• Self-awareness (Sense of self and values)
• Contingency based analysis
• Ecological systems, (Person-in-environment)
• Holistic, multi-level assessment micro-macro
• Flexible/eclectic use of theories/techniques/roles
  
• Generic change process

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Trends Underlying the Emergence of Social Work
Roles

• Social Conditions
• Population Growth and Immigration
• Industrialization
• Urbanization
• Changes in Institutional Structures
• Ideological Currents
• Oppressed and Disadvantaged Populations

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Population Growth Immigration

• From fewer than 4 million in 1790, the U.S.
  population reached 296 million in the 2005.
• Today, more than 1 and 10 residence were born
  outside the United States.

5
Industrialization Urbanization

• Most Americans 200 years ago were farmers living
  in rural areas. Now, fewer than 1 in 250 works
  in agriculture. 80 are urban dwellers, and ¾ of
  those live in metropolitan areas of more than 1
  million residents

6
Population Growth Immigration

• From fewer than 4 million in 1790, the U.S.
  population reached 296 million in the 2005.
• Today, more than 1 and 10 residence were born
  outside the United States.

7
Changes in Institutional Structures

• As an agrarian society the nation was largely
  self-sufficient.
• Americans now live in a highly interdependent
  economy and social system.
• Most work extremely specialized
• Professions like social work have developed in
  response to the increased complexity of society

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Ideological Currents

• Social Darwinism
• Manifest Destiny
• Labor and Social Justice Movements
• Progressivism

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Social Darwinism

• Darwins survival of the fittest
• Late 1800s Herbert Spencer drew comparisons
  between Darwins biological theories and social
  phenomena
• Suggested that persons with wealth and power in
  society are more fit
• Little should be done for the poor because that
  would only perpetuate societal problems

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Manifest Destiny

• The idea that God willed the North American
  continent to the Anglo-Saxon race to build a
  Utopian world.
• Used to justify westward expansion in the late
  1800s and the seizure of lands from the American
  Indian groups already occupying them.
• The idea of Anglo-Saxon superiority

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Labor and Social Justice Movements

• Labor movement drew its strength from appalling
  work place conditions facing most industrial wage
  earners
• The growing number of poor people, the
  concentration of slums and desperate conditions
  spurred the growth of the social justice
  movement.

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Social Justice

• Social justice is a dynamic goal or condition of
  democratic societies and includes equitable
  access to societal institutions, resources,
  opportunities, rights, goods, services,
  responsibilities for all groups and individuals
  without arbitrary limitations based on observed
  or interpretations of differences in age, color,
  culture, physical or mental disability,
  education, gender, income, language, national
  origin, race, religion or sexual orientation.

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Progressivism

• A counterargument to social Darwinism that
  contends that as societies become more complex
  and individuals less self-sufficient, government
  must act to ameliorate the problems faced by
  those less able to cope.

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Oppressed and Disadvantaged Populations

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African Americans

• Poverty - 8.9 million or 23.9 live below the
  poverty rate (compared to 8 of whites)
• Family Structure 48 married couples, 43
  single female-headed households, 9 men only.
  36 of children reside with both parents
• African American Businesses grew by 46 in the
  late 80s and early 90s. Only 1 of total business
  receipts were to black-owned businesses.

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African Americans

• Labor Force and Income Urban Institute Study
  black applicants subject to unfavorable treatment
  20 of time compared to 7 for while applicants
  (p.65)
• Unemployment rate for blacks is almost twice that
  of whites
• Income The more education people attain, the
  greater the income gap (see Table 4.1)

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African Americans

• Housing- 48 of AA are home owners (70 of
  whites are home owners)
• 19 of poor black families live in physically
  deficient housing
• 54 of poor black families paid more than 50 of
  their income for housing

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Hispanic Americans

• Hispanics are the largest minor group
• By 2050, 25 of US population will be Hispanic
• Hispanic masks diversity with the group. The
  term is use to describe families with histories
  from 22 different nations
• 65 of Hispanics live in three states Texas,
  California and New York

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Hispanic Americans

• This Hispanic poverty rate surpasses the black
  poverty rate (22)
• Net worth for Latino households fell by 24 (from
  12,170 to 9,200) Possibly from continuing
  immigration of poor and unskilled workers
• Hispanic children represent 18 of all US
  children but make up 30 of all children living
  in poverty

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Hispanic Americans

• More than 2 in 5 Hispanics aged 25 and older have
  not graduated from high school
• Hispanics aged 25 and older were less likely to
  have graduated from high school than whites (57
  to 89)
• More than ¼ of Hispanics have less than a 9th
  grade education (4 whites)
• 11 have college degrees (compared to 29 whites)

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Women and Society

• Violence Sexism see pag76
• Violence against Women Act (VAWA)
• Comprehensive approach to domestic violence and
  sexual assault
• Designed to improve response of police,
  prosecutors and judges
• Force sex offenders to pay restitution to victims
• Grants for graining in domestic abuse, battered
  womens shelters, hotlines etc.

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Women and Society

• The Feminization of Poverty Diana Peirce (1978)
  coined the term. She argued that poverty was
  rapidly becoming a female phenomenon
• The poverty rate for women is 13.7 for single
  mother families is 35.5
• 2 of 3 poor adults are women
• 4 of 10 families headed by women live in poverty

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Women and Society

• Income Job Disparity
• About ½ of all working women are in occupations
  in which 80 of coworkers are women
• 98.6 of secretaries are women
• 92.7 of bookkeepers
• 93 of nurses
• Womens wages lag behind mens even in female
  dominated professions

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People with Disabilities

• People First Language
• ADA

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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Persons

• Historically the most hidden of oppressed groups
• Into the 20th century, gay men, lesbians,
  bisexual and transgendered persons were
  considered mentally ill and could be forcibly
  hospitalized
• Slow response to AIDS epidemic

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Community Organization and Social Reform
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The great depression-War on Poverty (1930s-1970s)

• Society responsible for individual welfare
• The New Deal Programs
• 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

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The Organizational Context of Social Work
Contemporary Trends
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Organizations

• Public (government)
• Nonprofit (voluntary)
• Private (business)

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Communities

• Communities are natural human associations based
  on ties of relationships and shared experiences
  in which we mutually provide meaning in our
  lives, meet need and accomplish interpersonal
  goals

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Trends at a Glance

• Income Inequality
• Loss of Community Relevance
• Organizational Changes
• The Information Age
• Welfare Reform

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Income Inequality
33
Income Inequality

• In 2007 the top .01 percent of American earners
  took home 6 percent of total U.S. wages, a figure
  that has nearly doubled since 2000.
• Dr. Emmanuel Saez University of California,
  Berkeley

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Loss of Community Relevance

• Members of society rely less on local
  relationships and are less closely tied to their
  communities than in the past.

35
Organizational Changes

• Social Workers more likely to work in formal
  bureaucratic structures.
• More likely to be private than public agencies
• Likely to depend on purchase of service contracts

36
The Information Age

• A variety of social work functions, services are
  increasingly information driven and computer
  dependent

37
Welfare Reform

• Between 1996 and 2001, the number of welfare
  recipients dropped by more than ½. The US
  continues to have high rates of child poverty and
  children are more likely to be poor now than in
  the 1970s or 1980s.

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Modern Community Practice efforts

• Selective legislative initiatives, e.g., ADA,
  Amber Alert system, Prescription Drugs
• System reform making individual and corporations
  more responsible welfare reform, privatization,
  Faith Based, Social Security reform, Prescription
  drugs
• Application of Science NIHM, NIDA, SAMHSA,
  CSAP/CSAT
• Organizing around injustice ACORN
• Building communities Move on, Meet up, etc.

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The Importance of Change
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Three types of Change

• People-focused change
• Technological change
• Structural change

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Modern Social Welfare Philosophy

• Continual clash between the individual and
  society being responsible for the social welfare
  of citizens
• Western Europe more social democracies taxes so
  government can prevent social problems
• US more capitalism, low taxes, with minimal
  government only to rectify large social problems

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Summary