As the term implies, applied sociology treats of techniques for improving the quality of human living. The best techniques have been developed experimentally, but by persons who have combined a high estimate of social theory with practical programs of activity. The useful concept of social technology, a more accurate term perhaps than applied sociology, was given to society by Charles R. Henderson, whose balanced thinking, sane judgment, and important ameliorative activities made him the founder of this branch of sociological science. Dr. Henderson’s name is synonymous with a practical interpretation of both democracy and Christianity, with the spirit of vigorous yet kindly reformation in penology, with the concept of prevention in philanthropic endeavors, and with justice and love in all the fields of human achievement. There are many other important names in the list of those persons who helped to found applied sociology; for example, such individuals as Canon Barnett, Arnold Toynbee, Jacob Riis, Jane Addams, and many other social welfare saints.
Poverty and crime have been the two chief phenomena with which welfare work has been concerned. Until the present century the attempts to meet the problems of poverty have been largely remedial. Jesus said that the poor are always present in any age of society. St. Francis of Assisi, tiring of monastery life, sought out the poor in the natural walks of life, and dedicated himself in their behalf.
For centuries England has experimented with solutions for the problems of poverty and pauperism. She has learned that when she cares too assiduously for the poor she encourages the spirit of pauperism and increases the numbers of dependents. When she provided liberal aid for illegitimate children, she found that illegitimacy was furthered.
England has had a series of important literary leaders who have interested themselves in behalf of the poor and outcast. Dickens drew minute word pictures of poverty. Carlyle, the iconoclast and individualist, pierced repeatedly the shams of society which are partly responsible for the perpetual existence of social misery. In beautiful diction Ruskin spoke in behalf of social justice. In similar fields, France has her Hugo and Balzac; Germany, her Hauptmann; Russia, her Tolstoi and Gorky; Scandinavia, her Bjornson, Ibsen, and Strindberg. Individuals of this type, however, cannot be considered social technologists. They have directed public opinion to specific social problems, but rarely offered technological programs of practical value.
Since 1900, the leaders in social technology, such as C. R. Henderson,[XXIV-1] Sidney and Beatrice Webb,[XXIV-2] and E. T. Devine,[XXIV-3] have made clear the specific conditions under which the poor may be permanently aided.[XXIV-4] Remedial care will always be necessary, but it must be offered in ways that will not encourage anyone to make a living by begging. The prevailing thought today regarding poverty is in preventive terms. The individual should be shown how to help himself up the economic pathway. Education will make the individual efficient and safeguard him against falling into a chronic state of pauperism.
Above all else, social technology urges the establishment of justice in economic conditions. As shown in [Chapter XIV], Henry George, in his Progress and Poverty, made a fundamental analysis of one set of causes of poverty, which he found in the unjust factors in the economic system. He showed how ownership in land may be traced back to force. Shall the first person who acquires a section of land be allowed to fence it in and to keep out all other persons unless they pay him a price that rises rapidly as the number of other persons increases?[XXIV-5] Why is there increasing misery amid advancing wealth? The larger the city the greater the degree of squalor—this was George’s perplexing observation. Material progress does not improve the condition of the lowest classes. Prosperity under the present economic system appears to be a heavy wedge driven into society. The individuals who are below the line of cleavage are crushed down; those who are above this line are hoisted upward into positions of luxury and affluence.
Henry George, despite the large number of followers which his ideas have today, was probably in error in believing that to take the ownership of land out of the hands of individuals, through the method of the single tax, would prevent poverty. However, no one should be blind to the fact that increasing land values result from mere increase in population. Either the birth rate or immigration increases population and sends up land values, which in turn is accompanied by a rising scale of rents with an elevated cost of living and increased poverty.
The history of human thought concerning crime has run a vicissitudinous career. It was not until the days of John Howard and Beccaria that a truly scientific approach was made to the problem. John Howard (1726–1790), sheriff of Bedford, became interested in criminals. He visited jails throughout England. He traveled widely in Europe, usually at his own expense, studying the causes of typhus fever and endeavoring to effect a more humane treatment of offenders.
Beccaria (1735–1794), an Italian criminologist, published in 1764 a remarkable book, Crimes and Punishment. Beccaria protested against attempting to repress crime by the use of fear. Retaliation is an entirely inadequate motive for administering punishment. Torture is inhuman. Neither retaliation nor repression meets the problem. Reformation was the concept with which Beccaria startled Europe. Punishment should be administered so as to reform.
In modern days the names of Cesare Lombroso (1836–1909) stands out prominently in the field of criminology.[XXIV-6] Lombroso was a determinist, finding in heredity and environment all the causes of crime, and relieving the individual of moral responsibility. The mental defective, the alcoholic, the frantically angry are irresponsible for the crimes they commit. By defining one irresponsible group after another the Lombrosan school has practically included all individuals in this classification, leaving no one responsible for his conduct.