Thirdly social work now suffers unnecessarily in reputation and support (even among its own practitioners) for disappointing demands which would never have been made were its nature better understood. Every undertaking has its limitations and when known and understood they constitute no reproach. But the preoccupations and aspirations of social work are such as to tempt its proponents to enlarge on infinite possibilities, forgetting in their enthusiasm to state that these possibilities can only be realized if the ministrations and advices of social work are accepted in many places where it has no enforceable influence. The limits set to any single line of human endeavor working by itself are very narrow, and for social work, as for other things, they are in practice promptly reached. Social work when it stands thus at the end of its powers seems to have betrayed the confidence placed in it. A limiting definition would show that the fault lies not in social work but in unreasonable expectations. Such a definition would be its best defense from antagonistic critics and disappointed followers.
Yet “social work” in spite of all uncertainty does stand for something real. Annually there meets a National Conference of Social Work with 2637 individual and group memberships representing 46 States, the District of Columbia, Cuba, Hawaii, the Philippines and Canada and 6 foreign countries.[2] There has lately been formed an American Association of Social Workers[3] composed of master workmen in its several lines, who must qualify in terms of preparation or experience and who are associated for the purpose of maintaining a high standard of work. All this indicates that there is a general concept of social work, and if there is such a thing it must be amenable to some sort of description or analysis. Though water-tight definition seems impossible it is frequently not necessary. If any characteristics can be found which appear in all the forms of social work and not in activities unrelated to it they will at least serve the three practical purposes for which definition is so urgently needed.
Materials for analysis are not wanting. Social work has had its national conference for fifty years, its magazine for thirty-six[4] and its schools for twenty-five[5] and the conference reports, the magazines and the school curricula constitute a competent body of evidence that can be consulted either in cross section or in chronological perspective. If we forego expectation of a precise and all-mentioning definition and adjust our demands to the practicabilities of the case we may hopefully challenge these compact sources of information, together with the dispersed literature of the subject, with observation and experience to stand and deliver a working definition.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] For examples see Appendix I.
[2] Conference Bulletin, published by the National Conference of Social Work, Nov., 1922, Vol. 26, No. 1, 25 E. 9th St., Cincinnati, Ohio.
[3] 130 E. 22nd Street, New York.
[4] “Charities,” which has since become the “Survey,” was first published in 1887.
[5] The New York School of Philanthropy opened its full term winter course in 1904; a summer school had been opened in 1898.