Social casework and social reform

As argued in previous work (Branco, 2016), social reform was, to paraphrase Richmond (1922: 223), one of the forms of social work present in the thoughts of the most prominent and seminal pioneers of social work in the Progressive Era. Whereas the conceptualisation of and engagement in social reform of Jane Addams is relativity well known and recognised (compare, among others, Muncy, 1991; Lengermann & Niebrugge, 1998, 2007; Lengermann & Niebrugge-Brantley, 2002; MacLean & Williams, 2012; Williams & MacLean, 2016), this vision was not exclusive to the settlement workers. It could also be observed, albeit differently, as present in the thought and work of Mary Richmond and other social case workers (Richmond, 1906/1930; Pittman-Munke, 1985; Agnew, 2004).

A legacy of the social work pioneers of the Progressive Era, policy making (or the socio-political approach) is considered to be an intrinsic element of social work and one of the two faces of social work – the other being individual and family social work (or the psychosocial approach). In this sense, it is important to point out two key ideas of the pioneers’ conceptualisation of social reform. First, they envisaged social reform as a research-based action. Second, their idea of ‘the cycle of social reform’ was an expression of the awareness of the complexity and different levels of the public policy process.

Policy practice as a component of social work

For Jane Addams, the Hull-House residents and other settlement workers, policy-oriented practice was an intrinsic and central element of social work. This was clearly expressed in Hull-House's motto: ‘Research, Reform, Residence’.

Addams developed an influential leadership of policy making in the Progressive Years, a pivotal task not only in the establishment of several public agencies at state and federal levels, but also the establishment of minimum standards of industry work conditions for working-class men, regulation of employment for women and child labour protection, and a system of accident, old age and unemployment insurance (Franklin, 1986: 513). A strong commitment to social reform activities is well documented in biographies and essays about several Hull-House residents and settlement workers: namely, Florence Kelley, Edith and Grace Abbot, Julia Lathrop, Lillian Wald (Addams, 1935/2004; Sklar, 1985, 2001; Coss, 1989; Lengermann & Niebrugge, 1998; Costin, 2003; Cohen, 2017).