Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-01


First. social work in the United States
strikes me as being more interpretive
than social work in Great Britain
Everything that is done in America Is
thoroughly analyZed. l heard OF an
American book recently published In
which the habits. tastes, desires. houses.
clothing. automobiles and ideals OF
every citizen of town in the Middle
West were tabulated. This is the sort
of looking within themselves tha'
Americans so often do.
MY second impression is one OF SINH
larity rather than difference. When
visited the uptown clinic of the Henry
Street Settlement in New York and sdw
the babies there who had had their
tonSils removed. thought, They might
be London children!" l was informed
some Is nationalities were represented
in that building. but l could not tell
one from the other On the whole they
were fairly healthy children. too. al
though knew they came from SUM
districts in which it is always sIr-
prise to me to find children surviving.
Social work in America and at home
have come to mean more and more to
modern young women. l am but an
example of a great body OF young p,o-
ple who are striving. sometimes futilely,
sometimes effectively. to improve con-
ditions under which people live, or to
make up in some way for the suffer-
ingS they undergo.
The normal young woman wants U.
do something to better social condi-
tions. On the whole, the fiapper mas
been deceiving the public. She has
been hiding her inner feelings under
an attitude of gayety. She has much
more feeling for humanity than the
world realizes. 1t is her frivolous side
she shows. and the onlooker accepts
that as her whole character.
Underneath the modern girls nun
loving exterior there is an earnestness
about the problems of the world. She
may not always find a means of OK
preston. but the interest Is imbedded
deep. That is why the young girl and
the newly married woman. as we'll as
the mother who has brought up fam
lily and sent 1t out into the world. are
the logical persons to do social work.
Fayors Training for Girls.
I think every girl ought to have the
training which makes 1t possible FOR
her to 60 to work for her living, even
II she does not take mp the profession
for which she is trained In England
1t is not usual for a married woman
to 90 out to work. The overfull labor
market makes her competition unwel-
come. But there Is always social serv-
ice. 1t serves to broaden her outlook
and to deepen her interest in the world
around her, as we'll as to give her
certain amount of extra self-respect.
Two kinds of social services are open
TODAY to the women who are free to
enter Involuntary and professional.
The voluntary workers make up the
larger class. They form little groups
for specific purposes, working independ-
entity of other groups, and often dupL-
eating the efforts of other groups. 1t
is these independent groups have cred
tied with occasional PATCHWORK" social
service. Lacking a central office to dl-
rect them with a sweeping program In
view. their perfectly good intentions
often express themselves in temporary
measures and wasteful procedure. They
waste huge quantities of energy, rare
valuable energy, raising funds for these
activities.
But in spite of occasional blunders,
voluntary social workers are extremely
important They make up the bulk OF
the workers. Under the directions OF
trained, paid social workers they eXer-
else enormous power for good, provid-
ing they have also that natural talent
for social work which is so vital 10
success In this field, as talent for paint
ing is in the field Of art.
I do not believe in charity In the old
sense of the world. Women have no
right to go into the slums TO visit the
poor. saying patronizingly, Il must help
the poor!" 1 am glad to say this type
of social worker is going out of fashion.
We regard the poor as friends and not
as people through whom we satisfy our
desire for a sense Of superiority. The
war brought about this change. / am
told. although my knowledge OF social
service before the war springs largely
from hearsay. because I was too young
then to take any active part.
Urges More Trained Workers.
With more trained paid workers In
would vanish completely. From my own
observation / should say in the United
States there are more paid social work.
ers than in Great Britain, AS well as
greater number of private organizations
to administer social welfare. An edu-
Gated. independent, self-respecting young
woman working for her living among
the Door and wretched is not likely to
take a holier-than-thou air with her
into a humble home. But in both
countries there still Is dearth OF wom-
ell eQuCdLco W w PAohN""A"A
service.
The leaders in Great Britain are girls
who have had such special training as
I was having when my father first went
to Downing street, and which / had to
abandon to become his hostess. Re
Gently standards for professional social
workers have gone up amazingly. IN
nv time I was training to be health
visitor, which meant I intended COM
Melting some social science course and
should learn smattering of nursing.
Now, to be a health visitor, / should
have to be a registered trained nurse.
The power of the trained social work
or is remarkable. What respect motfGrs
have for a uniform! That is because
it is a certificate of training and expe-
rience.
I remember when was going around
following I'D cases for my school-care
committee in the Bow and Bromley sec
ton of London I sometimes CHANGED to
wear q straight brown cloth coat and
brown hat. Some thought this was a
nurses uniform. With them my words
carried more weight than with other
mothers who had not happened to see
the brown coat and hat. because when I
spoke so CARRIED I had the authority of
a professional person. My words, in
other clothes, were received as the ad-
vice of a young, inexperienced West End
lady.
Tact Is Required by Worker.
Every social worker must have the
talent for making people like her. A
tactless person never can be a success
full home visitor or a club organizer, no
matter how kind her motives. She can
take charge Of once routine. keep rec