CHAPTER

1
An Introduction to Social Problems,
Social Welfare Organizations, and
the Profession of Social Work

N o one we know starts out life wanting to be a substance abuser or to be poor. Most
of us want to be lucky, cool, rich, and successful. Some of us are, fortunately, but many
of us aren’t. Part of the reason for individual success and failure has to do with what
we were given biologically in terms of good health, intelligence, and the ability to stick with
projects and finish them. The other part of it has to do with the families we grow up in, the social
and economic conditions of our lives, and the parents, teachers, and friends who influence us.
Some parents do wonderful things for their children and provide safe and happy homes. Other
parents fight, use substances, and sometimes abuse and neglect their children. It doesn’t take a
genius to know that the child who grows up in a happy family has a better chance of being suc-
cessful in life than the child growing up in a troubled family. Child abuse is everything it’s cracked
up to be and so are poverty, abandonment, unsafe neighborhoods, and poorly functioning
schools. Some of us start life out on the right track, but a lot of us don’t. Often those people whose
families function poorly overcome early life problems by the inner strength some people call
resilience. But many children who grow up in difficult, unloving, and abusive homes suffer harm
to their bodies and to their spirit. It’s difficult for them to be as successful as many of us who
grew up in healthier homes. People sometimes pull themselves up by their bootstraps, but for
those who don’t professional help can make an enormous difference.
To help our most troubled families and the children who grow into adulthood having to
cope with the burden of a great many early life problems, we’ve developed social programs
and social service organizations to deliver those programs. We have organizations to help
families when they lose the ability to work and to earn an income. We have other organizations
that help families when the loss of work leads to the loss of their homes and health care. We
have organizations to help people who experience mental illness or physical disabilities

3
 brought about by accidents, war, and health problems. The organizations we have developed
in America come from our concern that all Americans should have an equal chance to succeed
in life. Sometimes our helping organizations work very well, but other times they don’t. There’s
no question that helping organizations reflect the concerns of the society. When the concern
is great, as it is when soldiers come back wounded from war or when people are hurt in ter-
rorist attacks, the organizations often work extremely well. But when society is in a particularly
blaming mood as it sometimes is about homelessness and poverty, then the organizations
don’t work as well because they’ve lost the support of citizens and funding is pulled back.
I’m not apologizing for organizations that don’t work well. They need our help and support.
Neither am I going to brag about our organizations that work very well. I’m just going to clarify
what they do, what they cost, and how well they’re doing the intended job of helping people
resolve the social problems discussed in this book.
Social work is the profession originally developed to work with a number of these social
problems. But it’s not the only helping profession: Psychiatry, psychology, and counseling are also
helping professions working with people in difficulty. The difference is that social work is concerned
about the internal side of a person’s behavior (his or her emotional problems and problem-solving
skills) as well as the external side of a person’s life (the quality of family life, the school the child
attends, the safety of the neighborhoods, and the amount of money he or she has to live on). In a
sense, social work sees people from a total perspective and works to resolve both internal and
external problems. But we use common sense. If people are chronically hungry, social workers try
to eliminate their hunger while at the same time resolving the reasons for their hunger. In this way,
the immediate need for food is met, and the likelihood of repeated need for food may be diminished.

Primitive living conditions in early western United States.

© Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Thinkstock

4   PART I  SOCIAL PROBLEMS, THE SOCIAL WELFARE SYSTEM, AND THE ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL WORK
 I think all people who work in the helping professions are heroic because we give of our-
selves daily to help others. But I believe that social workers are particularly heroic because
we’re on the front line of all of the social problems that exist in our nation. We work with gangs,
the terminally ill, children who are battered and abandoned by parents and caretakers, the
homeless, the mentally ill, soldiers returning from war, the drug and alcohol addicted, and
families who need to learn to communicate with each other more effectively. We inspire, we
cheerlead, and we advocate for millions of people every day, and, in the process, many people
who would otherwise suffer lives of quiet desperation and hopelessness have hope and the
motivation to succeed. We counsel people who want to end their lives because of despair. We
give hope to people facing a long struggle with terminal illness. We work with our political
leaders to make our communities more livable and to offer opportunity where it didn’t exist
before. We are neither liberal nor conservative but believe that what we do from the heart is
paid back in the wonderful feeling that our lives have been dedicated to helping others.
My daughter, Amy Glicken (2005), wrote a piece on volunteering that describes what social
workers do (see InfoTable 1.1).

InfoTable 1.1  “Volunteering as a Social Responsibility” by Amy J. Glicken

As the volunteer coordinator for a rural nonprofit program in Arizona, I’ve seen the
generous nature of people when they’re asked to volunteer. I think that people become
volunteers as they begin to realize that someone else’s tragedy can easily be their own,
and while many of us feel a responsibility to give back to our communities, so often we
feel powerless to make the changes that seem beyond our personal scope.
I believe we have the power to make those changes by using the skills we already
have. Attorneys donate their time with legal services for the poor. Doctors provide ser­
vices to the neighborhoods and communities with marginal health care. Helping profes-
sionals offer their time and expertise to the many social welfare organizations without
professionals to supervise services and as board members and grant writers.
With all of the options for helping, some of us are gifted at what is sometimes called
“impact work.” Impact work is the attorney who chooses to represent 600 new immi-
grants from Mexico rather than simply representing the one immigrant who walked into
her office. Impact work is going beyond providing shelter and counseling services to
victims of domestic violence by looking at the causes of violence and finding new ways
of preventing it. Impact work is building more low and no income housing rather than
just providing temporary shelters for those without homes.
Many of us are overwhelmed with our daily workloads and feel unable to make long-
term, far-reaching changes in our communities. But whether it’s by peacekeeping,
sculpting, growing corn, counseling, healing, or teaching children, each of us has a gift
that we can use to make our communities much better than they are. The task is simply
to discern what our gifts are and to utilize them. Because, in the end, we are each our
own Tooth Fairies, taking what has been lost and giving gold in return.
SOURCE: A. J. Glicken (2005, p. 310).

CHAPTER 1  AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS  5

 WHAT ARE SOCIAL PROBLEMS?
A social problem is an issue within the society that makes it difficult for people to achieve their
full potential. Poverty, unemployment, unequal opportunity, racism, and malnutrition are
examples of social problems. So are substandard housing, employment discrimination, and
child abuse and neglect. Crime and substance abuse are also examples of social problems. Not
only do social problems affect many people directly, but they also affect all of us indirectly. The
drug-abusing driver becomes the potential traffic accident that doesn’t choose its victims by
race, color, or creed but does so randomly. The child of abusive parents all too often becomes
the victim or perpetrator of family violence as an adult.
Social problems tend to develop when we become neglectful and fail to see that serious
problems are developing. Between 1988 and 1993, for example, the United States saw a phe-
nomenal increase in youth violence. In my book about children who commit violent acts
(Glicken, 2004b), I documented that children younger than age 12 cause one third of all fires
resulting in death and that the average age of children who sexually abuse other children is
younger than age 10. According to Osofsky and Osofsky (2001), “The homicide rate among
males 15–24 years old in the United States is 10 times higher than in Canada, 15 times higher
than in Australia, and 28 times higher than in France or Germany” (p. 287). These are troubling
examples of social problems that affect all of us.
Could these problems have been prevented if our social institutions had been working
well? I think so, but this is where political philosophies are important to understand. Some
people believe that government should be very involved in providing services to people most
at risk. I don’t know if the labels liberal and conservative have much meaning anymore, but in
W
WW times past, we might have called these folks liberals. Liberals believe that where our usual
institutions fail, the government and the private sector should help out. Conservatives believe
that intruding in people’s lives often leads to a weakening of social institutions and the values
that have served us well in the past. Conservatives might say that what we should be doing to
reduce juvenile crime is to promote good family values and look to our traditional institutions
(e.g., religious organizations and schools) to help prevent social problems from developing.
They also believe that the more government has become involved in people’s lives in the past,
the more serious our social problems have become. And finally, although this is true of liberals
as well, conservatives believe in the concept of social capital: that “the good will, fellowship,
WW
sympathy, and social intercourse among the individuals and families who make up a social
W
unit” (Hanifan, 1916, p. 130) will reduce social problems if used wisely. The tension between
political philosophies is often the underlying reason why we respond to or neglect social prob-
lems. This tension can be seen in the grass-roots organizations that often develop in the United
States, such as the Tea Party movement and the radical groups of the 1960s, that seek to correct
political problems through direct and sometimes aggressive social action.
In addition to liberalism and conservatism, there are four major political philosophies that
affect the way we approach social problems in America. Libertarianism believes in maximum
personal liberty and a small and well-defined role for government, and opposes most social
legislation aimed at providing social justice and equity. The following position on a minimum
wage might help you understand the position libertarians take on many social programs:

6   PART I  SOCIAL PROBLEMS, THE SOCIAL WELFARE SYSTEM, AND THE ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL WORK
 Skilled, experienced workers make high wages because employers compete to hire them.
Poorly educated, inexperienced young people can’t get work because minimum wage laws
make them too expensive to hire as trainees. Repeal of the minimum wage would allow
many young, minority and poor people to work. It must be asked, if the minimum wage
is such a good idea, why not raise it to $200 an hour? Even the most die-hard minimum
wage advocate can see there’s something wrong with that proposal. The only “fair” or
“correct” wage is what an employer and employee voluntarily agree upon. We should repeal
minimum wage now. (Advocates for Self-Government, n.d., para. 1)

As we know from the financial meltdown of 2008, this position on noninterference by

government can sound very distant from the reality of life when unemployment and little
income force people who otherwise might take a “hands-off ” position on the role of government
to ask for substantial help.
Socialism is the exact opposite of libertarianism because it values the positive rights of citizens
including the rights to health care, food, shelter, work, and so forth. Under socialism the economy
is run for the good of society as a whole where resources are divided equally among the society
and there is neither great wealth nor great poverty. Communitarianism values tradition; ethnic, WW
W
regional, or national identity; and the common culture that comes from religion or shared moral
values. It emphasizes the importance of belonging to a certain community and sharing in its
traditions, values, and culture. Communitarians believe that libertarians and liberals overempha-
size the importance of the individual. Radicalism believes that government and the private for-
profit sectors often exclude many less affluent citizens from justice and equity and that the primary
tool available to have social and economic rights maintained is to form strong alliances based on
self-interest and to use social action including marches, strikes, and civil disobedience to maintain
social equity. Radicalism is a much more assertive philosophy and believes that unless people
aggressively protect their self-interest, they will lose social, political, and economic strength.
Mahoney (2003) believes that the following four conditions must exist before an issue or a
situation is considered a social problem:

• The condition or situation must be publicly seen as a social problem because of a public
outcry. The conditions in New Orleans after the dikes broke and the city was flooded following
Hurricane Katrina began a public outcry that focused on the slow response to the crisis by
government, concerns about people in poverty who were left in the city to fend for themselves,
concerns about the lack of law and order during the crisis, and, certainly, concerns about racism
and a belief that the federal government had acted slowly because most of the people remain-
ing in New Orleans after the flood were poor and Black.
• The condition must be at odds with the values of the larger society. Although people
have varying degrees of concern about the poor, there was universal anger and grief at what
happened to poor people in New Orleans and a growing recognition that government was
potentially incapable of helping most Americans if they found themselves in a similar crisis.
• Most people must be in agreement that a problem exists. During a 10-year period from
1983 to 1993, America saw astronomical increases in juvenile crime. People were aware and
concerned at the same time because their personal safety was at issue.

CHAPTER 1  AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS  7

 • There must be a solution to a social problem. In the case of New Orleans and future
disasters, most people must believe that government is capable of handling large-scale disasters,
whether man-made or terrorist. If people don’t believe this, they fall into apathy; and while the
problem may still exist, they don’t believe anything can be done about it.

Mahoney also notes that the more influential people are who might be affected by a social
problem, the more likely there is to be recognition of the problem and a proper response. The
mass media also play a role in the recognition of social problems because they highlight
problems in such a graphic way that many people are touched by it. How many people believed
John Edwards (before his unfortunate behavior and fall from grace) when he spoke of two
Americas during the 2004 presidential campaign? But people whose houses lost much, if not
all, of their value in the current real estate collapse and who have had their houses foreclosed
on because they can no longer make their mortgage payments are far more aware of the prob-
lems of poverty now than they were when their houses were dramatically increasing in value.
The media have made a point of telling us how at risk we are and how much we potentially
have in common with those in poverty. In the aftermath of Katrina, pictures of people strug-
gling to survive during the New Orleans flood had a devastating impact on the perceptions
people had about poverty. The media were responsible for informing us that, as much as we
might like to think that poverty is nonexistent in America, it does exist, and its negative impact
is substantial. But the media are not always unbiased or objective in the way they report the
news. During the New Orleans floods, for example, some networks focused on crime and
violence whereas others focused on the plight of poor people and the slow and befuddled
response by the government. There are many people who believe that the media reflect a liberal
bias, and there are also many who think that the media are controlled by their corporate own-
ers who, some think, skew the news to reflect a more conservative orientation. InfoTable 1.2
gives two views of media bias.

InfoTable 1.2  Media Bias: Two Views

A Liberal View of the Media
Each year it is more likely that the American citizen who turns to any medium . . . will
receive [80% of his or her] information, ideas, or entertainment controlled by the same
handful of 5 corporations, whether it is daily news, a cable entertainment program, or
a textbook. . . . One of the dangers in all this is that the new corporate ethic is so single-
minded about extreme fast profits and expanded control over the media business that
it is willing to convert American news into a service for the affluent customers wanted
by the media’s advertisers instead of a source of information significant for the whole
of society. The rewards of money profit through market control by themselves and their
advertisers have blinded media owners to the damage they are doing to an institution
central to the American democracy. (Bagdikian, 2005, para. 1)

8   PART I  SOCIAL PROBLEMS, THE SOCIAL WELFARE SYSTEM, AND THE ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL WORK
A Conservative View of the Media
Conservatives believe the mass media, predominantly television news programs, slant
reports in favor of the liberal position on issues. Members of the media argue [that]
while personally liberal, they are professionally neutral. They argue their opinions do
not matter because as professional journalists, they report what they observe without
letting their opinions affect their judgment. But being a journalist is not like being a
surveillance camera at an ATM, faithfully recording every scene for future playback.
Journalists make subjective decisions every minute of their professional lives. They
choose what to cover and what not to cover, which sources are credible and which are
not, which quotes to use in a story and which to toss out.
Liberal bias in the news media is a reality. It is not the result of a vast left-wing
conspiracy; journalists do not meet secretly to plot how to slant their news reports. But
everyday pack journalism often creates an unconscious “groupthink” mentality that
taints news coverage and allows only one side of a debate to receive a fair hearing.
When that happens, the truth suffers. (Media Research Center, n.d.)

MY POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
What is my political philosophy? I like some liberal philosophies, yet I also like some conserva-
tive philosophies. Does this make me wishy-washy or, in political terms, a flip-flopper? Maybe
it does, but most Americans are politically moderate, and our beliefs don’t neatly fit most labels.
I grew up in a blue-collar, working-class family. My father was involved in the labor movement.
I agree with Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, that “the idea
that the rich get richer and wealth is going to trickle down is a bankrupt economic and moral
theory” (“Ten Questions,” 2005, p. 6). Perhaps because of my early life experiences with the fight
for fair wages and benefits for working people, I believe in many government programs that
protect working people. Like what? Well, I believe in unemployment compensation for workers
who have lost their jobs because of a poor economy. I believe in workmen’s compensation to
protect workers who are injured on the job. I believe in Social Security and Medicare because
they provide a safety net for older Americans who would like to spend their later years enjoying
the fruits of their hard labor. And I believe in public education, which means that all Americans,
regardless of age, race, or gender, should have the opportunity to learn and benefit from a free,
or reasonably inexpensive, but very high-quality educational system. Coming from a poor fam-
ily, the quality of education I received helped me succeed in my life and was paid back many
times in the work I’ve done, in the taxes I’ve paid, and in the mentoring I’ve done for a number
of students who, like me, came from poor backgrounds and needed someone to cheerlead and
offer a guiding hand.
On the other hand, I think that people who practice their religious beliefs or have a strong
social consciousness that we sometimes call spirituality are often better off because of it (see
InfoTable 1.3). I also think that capitalism is a great economic system but its more predatory

CHAPTER 1  AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS  9

 impulses need to be regulated and that people who are not competitive in our economic system
because of physical or mental health reasons need to have alternative avenues of work. When
they can’t work, I think it’s only humane that we help them by offering economic security.

InfoTable 1.3  Religion and Spirituality

According to George, Larson, Koenig, and McCullough (2000), a growing body of
research points to the positive health benefits of religious involvement. Religious involve-
ment was found to reduce the likelihood of disease and disability in 78% of the studies
attempting to determine the existence of a relationship between religion and health.
The positive health benefits of religion were particularly noted with certain medical
conditions including coronary disease and heart attacks, emphysema, cirrhosis and other
varieties of liver disease, hypertension, and disability. The authors also point to a rela-
tionship between religious observance and longevity, noting that “multiple dimensions
of religion are associated with longevity, but attendance at religious services is the most
strongly related to longevity” (p. 108).

I worry about what John Edwards called the “two Americas” during the 2004 presidential
campaign: one America for the wealthy and privileged and the other America for the rest of us.
This book will continually return to the concern about two Americas and the belief that govern-
ment needs to be the advocate for the majority of us who want and deserve the same quality
of health care, education, safety, and healthy environments as our more affluent fellow
Americans.
This isn’t to say that I’m not critical of our social institutions. I’m afraid that we have
a long way to go before we can feel very happy about our ability to resolve many social
problems. Money is often the issue. Even though we spend more money on health care than
any other nation, the health of many Americans is not nearly as good as that of citizens in
many other countries. Part of the reason is that more than half of all Americans live in or
near communities with substandard air quality, which dramatically increases the rates of
asthma, emphysema, and lung cancer, particularly in very young children. Another reason
is that many Americans either completely lack health insurance or have limited coverage.
This problem is thankfully addressed in part by the new health care reform bill passed in
2010. Much more will be said in Chapter 14 about how the bill will improve health care
coverage for almost all Americans. While we spend vast amounts of money on public safety,
I’d venture a guess that most of us would not feel safe in many parts of urban America
during the evenings and even in many parts of some communities during daylight hours.
While we discuss family violence and child abuse and develop public education approaches
to inform our citizens about the impact of family violence, it remains a serious problem
affecting all too many American homes. Much as I love America in a way that only the child
of immigrant parents can, I think we have a long way to go before America works as well
as it should.

10   PART I  SOCIAL PROBLEMS, THE SOCIAL WELFARE SYSTEM, AND THE ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL WORK
WHAT IS SOCIAL WORK?
This is where social workers come in. Social work has a long and glorious history, much of
which is outlined on Professor Dan Huff ’s website (see Chapter 2). Professor Huff describes
the early history of social work and explains our roots in charitable organizations that flour-
ished in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries. Out of this impulse to help people in
need, the profession of social work developed with its unique emphasis on directly helping
people as well as improving their environments. Social work deals not only with the internal
aspects of the human condition (values, beliefs, emotions, and problem-solving capacities of
people) but also with its external aspects (the neighborhoods, schools, working conditions,
social welfare systems, and political systems that affect us). By working with the internal and
external aspects, social work is able to provide a uniquely encompassing service to people in
need. And by networking with other professionals, social workers are able to help our clients
receive needed medical, financial, and educational services that improve their physical, finan-
cial, and emotional lives. Because social workers act as advocates by helping our clients access
services they may be unable to access by themselves, we empower our clients. Our goal is to
help people become self-sufficient by only doing for people what they may be unable to do for
themselves.
We work in the organizations that help people with social and emotional problems. I think
we’re pretty terrific people because we work at demanding jobs with great conviction and
dedication, and although we’re paid well, nobody gets rich being a social worker. Like most
Americans, social workers represent a range of political and religious beliefs. We come from
different social, ethnic, and economic backgrounds. We have differences of opinion about how
best to help people, and we can be as stubborn as any group of professionals in our beliefs.
However, our core values have developed over the years and are apparent in all the work we do
to help our clients. The complete social work code of ethics is found in the appendix. These core
values have been developed over the years by social workers through their experience and
practice and are now part of the code of ethics of our professional organization, the National
Association of Social Workers (2010b).

CORE SOCIAL WORK VALUES

The following broad ethical principles are based on social work’s core values of service, social
justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and
competence. These principles set forth ideals to which all social workers should aspire.

I. Service
Ethical Principle: A social worker’s primary goal is to help people in need and to address social
problems.

Social workers elevate service to others above self-interest. Social workers draw on their
knowledge, values, and skills to help people in need and to address social problems. Social
workers are encouraged to volunteer some portion of their professional skills with no expecta-
tion of significant financial return (pro bono service).

CHAPTER 1  AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS  11

 II. Social Justice
Ethical Principle: Social workers challenge social injustice.

Social workers pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and
oppressed individuals and groups of people. Social workers’ social change efforts are focused
primarily on issues of poverty, unemployment, discrimination, and other forms of social injus-
tice. These activities seek to promote sensitivity to and knowledge about oppression and cul-
tural and ethnic diversity. Social workers strive to ensure access to needed information, services,
and resources; equality of opportunity; and meaningful participation in decision making for
all people.

III. The Dignity and Worth of the Person

Ethical Principle: Social workers respect the inherent dignity and worth of the person.

Social workers treat each person in a caring and respectful fashion, mindful of individual
differences and cultural and ethnic diversity. Social workers promote clients’ socially respon-
sible self-determination. Social workers seek to enhance clients’ capacity and opportunity to
change and to address their own needs. Social workers are cognizant of their dual responsibil-
ity to clients and to the broader society. They seek to resolve conflicts between clients’ interests
and the broader society’s interests in a socially responsible manner consistent with the values,
ethical principles, and ethical standards of the profession.

IV. The Importance of Human Relationships

Ethical Principle: Social workers recognize the central importance of human relationships.

Social workers understand that relationships between and among people are an impor-
tant vehicle for change. Social workers engage people as partners in the helping process.
Social workers seek to strengthen relationships among people in a purposeful effort to pro-
mote, restore, maintain, and enhance the well-being of individuals, families, social groups,
organizations, and communities.

V. Integrity
Ethical Principle: Social workers behave in a trustworthy manner.

Social workers are continually aware of the profession’s mission, values, ethical principles,
and ethical standards and practice in a manner consistent with them. Social workers act hon-
estly and responsibly and promote ethical practices on the part of the organizations with which
they are affiliated.

VI. Competence
Ethical Principle: Social workers practice within their areas of competence and develop and
enhance their professional expertise.

12   PART I  SOCIAL PROBLEMS, THE SOCIAL WELFARE SYSTEM, AND THE ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL WORK
 Social workers continually strive to increase their professional knowledge and skills and
to apply them in practice. Social workers should aspire to contribute to the knowledge base of
the profession.

A DISSENTING VIEW

Now that you’ve read this brief description of the ethics of the social work pro-
fession, noted columnist George Will (2007) took schools of social work to task
by writing that social work education forces students to accept a liberal ideology
that “mandates an ideological orthodoxy to which students must subscribe
concerning ‘social justice’ and ‘oppression’” (p. 7). He also writes that promoting
“social and economic justice” by social work education is thought to be espe-
cially imperative as a response to “the conservative trends of the past three
decades” (p. 7).
Will gives as an example of the invasive use of liberal ideology a student in
a school of social work who was enrolled in a class taught by a liberal professor
who believed that social work is a liberal profession. The professor gave a man-
datory assignment for his class to “advocate for homosexual foster homes and
adoption, with all students required to sign an advocacy letter, on university
stationery, to the state Legislature” (p. 4). When the student objected on reli-
gious grounds, she was given the most serious violation of professional stand-
ards by the school. After a two-and-a-half-hour hearing, she still refused to sign
the letter and later sued the university where the charges against her were
dropped and the university was forced to make financial restitution.
Will concluded by writing, “Because there might as well be signs on the doors
of many schools of social work proclaiming ‘conservatives need not apply,’ two
questions arise: Why are such schools of indoctrination permitted in institutions
of higher education? And why are people of all political persuasions taxed to
finance this propaganda?” (p. 4).
Thyer (2005, para. 19), a conservative social work educator and former dean
of a school of social work, adds to Will’s concerns when he writes,

Conservative social workers labor as strangers in a strange land. The words of

one social worker writing in the April 2003 issue of the NASW NEWS, the
flagship newsletter of the largest professional social work association, are
seemingly representative of the views of the majority of social workers: “If you
accept that social workers have an obligation to advance social justice and
that political engagement is a means to accomplish that end, then you have
to accept that we will reject conservative thought and conservative politicians”
(Newdom, 2003, p. 3). This is unfortunate as conservative thought, practition-
ers and politicians have contributed much to genuinely progressive social
welfare policies and programs in the United States, and will continue to do so.
(Continued)

CHAPTER 1  AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS  13

 (Continued)
In response to Will’s editorial, Abramovitz and Lazzari (2008, para. 2) wrote,

Recently the social work profession has come under attack for its dedication
to advocacy and social justice. George Will (2007, October 14) repeated the
charge in a Washington Post column in which he stated that social work
education programs at 10 major public universities “mandate an ideological
orthodoxy to which students must subscribe concerning ‘social justice and
oppression.’” Indeed, social work students are expected to study forms and
mechanisms of oppression and discrimination and to work toward positive
social change to best meet the needs of all people. Fortunately the profes-
sion stood its ground. In an email to the CSWE membership executive direc-
tor Julia Watkins (2007, October 16) publicly declared that “the profession
. . . has a long and time-honored practice tradition of advocacy for social
justice as well as a commitment to participation and inclusion in the struc-
tures of democratic society.” Elizabeth Clark (2007, July), the executive
director of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), wrote that
“NASW proudly embraces and supports the guiding value of social justice
in social work education and practice.” In a letter sent to The New York Times,
NASW President Elvira Craig de Silva stated that “social work requires its
members to advocate for individual clients and for systemic reform that
improves communities” (de Silva as cited in Clark, 2007). In response to
these attacks, leaders of major social work organizations modeled courage,
commitment and advocacy on behalf of the profession. 

Questions
1. Do you think students should be forced to accept ideologies that are con-
trary to their personal beliefs? In my classes, many students are opposed
to gay marriage but aren’t forced to change their minds. Should they be?
Can they work with all clients if they retain strong prejudices or negative
attitudes toward specific groups of people?
2. The investment firms that went bankrupt in 2008 suffered from a lack of ethical
practices. Do you think teaching ethics in business schools might have stopped
some of the more egregious violations of ethics on Wall Street? Shouldn’t all
professions have a code of conduct for their members and enforce it?
3. In my classes, students who cheat, plagiarize, seem to dislike people, or don’t
take social work seriously are in big trouble. Should I be less hard-hearted
and more lenient on the assumption that ethical behavior doesn’t matter and
what happens in class will never happen once a student works in a social
work agency?

14   PART I  SOCIAL PROBLEMS, THE SOCIAL WELFARE SYSTEM, AND THE ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL WORK
WHAT SOCIAL WORKERS DO
The U.S. Department of Labor (2004b) defines the functions of social workers as follows:

Social work is a profession for those with a strong desire to help improve people’s lives.
Social workers help people function the best way they can in their environment, deal with
their relationships, and solve personal and family problems. Social workers often see clients
who face a life-threatening disease or a social problem. These problems may include inad-
equate housing, unemployment, serious illness, disability, or substance abuse. Social
workers also assist families that have serious domestic conflicts, including those involving
child or spousal abuse.

Although some social workers conduct research or are involved in planning or policy
development, most social workers prefer an area of practice in which they interact directly with
clients. Child, family, and school social workers provide social work intervention to help improve
the social and psychological functioning of children and their families, and to maximize fam-
ily well-being and the academic functioning of children. Some social workers assist single
parents, arrange adoptions, and help find foster homes for neglected, abandoned, or abused
children. In schools, social workers address such problems as teenage pregnancy, misbehavior,
and truancy. They also advise teachers on how to cope with problem students. Some social
workers may specialize in services for older adults. They run support groups for family caregiv-
ers or for the adult children of aging parents. Some advise elderly people or family members
about choices in areas such as housing, transportation, and long-term care; they also coordinate
and monitor services. Through employee-assistance programs, they may help workers cope
with job-related pressures or with personal problems that affect the quality of their work. Child,
family, and school social workers typically work in family service agencies, schools, or state or
local governments. These social workers may be known as child welfare social workers, family
services social workers, child protective services social workers, occupational social workers,
or geriatric social workers.
Medical and public health social workers provide individuals, families, or vulnerable popu-
lations with the social and emotional support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal
illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, or AIDS. They also advise family caregivers, coun-
sel patients, and help plan for patients’ needs after discharge by arranging services in the home—
from meals-on-wheels, to public health nurses, to homemakers, to oxygen equipment. Some work
on interdisciplinary teams that evaluate certain kinds of patients (e.g., geriatric or organ trans-
plant patients). Medical and public health social workers may work for hospitals, nursing and
personal care facilities, individual and family services agencies, or local governments.
Mental health and substance abuse social workers assess and treat individuals with men-
tal illness or substance abuse problems, including abuse of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs.
Such services include individual and group therapy, outreach, crisis intervention, social reha-
bilitation, and training in skills of everyday living. They may also help plan for supportive
services to ease a patient’s return to the community. Mental health and substance abuse social

CHAPTER 1  AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS  15

 Los Angeles Police Department gang unit officers arrest two known Crazy Rider gang
members (center) and question a young woman associating with them on August 5, 2006
in the Rampart District of Los Angeles, California.
© Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images News/Getty Images

workers are likely to work in hospitals, substance abuse treatment centers, individual and
family services agencies, or local governments. These social workers may be known as clinical
social workers.
Other types of social workers include social work planners and policymakers who develop
programs to address such issues as child abuse, homelessness, substance abuse, poverty, and
violence. These workers research and analyze policies, programs, and regulations. They identify
social problems and suggest legislative and other solutions. They may help raise funds or write
grants to support these programs. Many social workers are community organizers who help
communities tackle problems of crime, poverty, unemployment, schools, and transportation.
President Barack Obama was a community organizer, and the things he did in his community are
exactly the same things social workers who work with their communities do. Watching his style
of managing the country, it’s clear that he has taken to heart many of the principles social workers
stand for in their work with individuals, groups, families, organizations, and communities.
Three terms are important to understand because they represent the systems with which
we work in social work: micro-, mezzo-, and macropractice. Micropractice typically focuses on
help to individuals. Mezzopractice refers to work with families and small groups, and macro-
practice refers to work with an organization, a neighborhood, a community, an institution, a
movement, or even an entire society. Some authors use the term micropractice to describe
practice with individuals, families, and small groups. Just know that social work provides a

16   PART I  SOCIAL PROBLEMS, THE SOCIAL WELFARE SYSTEM, AND THE ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL WORK
holistic service, and the size and focus of the service depends on the nature of the problem,
who is experiencing the problem, and the best way to resolve it.
An adolescent experiencing depression might be seen individually by a social worker yet
benefit greatly from work with the family and perhaps even becoming part of a group focusing
on adolescent depression. It’s possible that an unusually large number of adolescents in a com-
munity suffer from depression. Might the problem be caused by a lack of suitable recreation
facilities, high crime rates, or communitywide problems with drugs and alcohol? It might then
be a good idea for the social worker to also work with community leaders to create communi-
tywide change. Are there institutions such as the school system that aren’t working well that
have limited ability to resolve serious problems such as bullying, sexual harassment, cyber-
bullying, and other problems that lead to depression and might suggest social work intervention
to help our depressed client and many others suffering from depression? In social work we work
with systems, and as those systems pertain to our clients, improving their social functioning,
we may interact with a number of systems. Social functioning is the ability of a client to suc-
cessfully work, do well in school, function as a parent or spouse, and be a contributing and
productive part of the community.
I want to emphasize the need to understand the word social in social work. Perhaps unlike
other helping professions, not only does social work see its function as helping people become
healthy, happy, and successful members of the community, but social workers also want the
communities and the larger society we live in to be healthy, humane, and productive. In this
sense we have a dual focus: to help our clients while making the society better. We think this
combination makes us an invigorating and successful profession with large, idealistic, and
compelling goals. If the idea of directly helping people and the structures, politics, and institu-
tions of our communities work better sounds good to you, then you’ve definitely found a place
in social work practice.
This unique idea of working with social systems might help you better understand the goals
and objectives of social work. A social system refers to people, institutions, and the larger soci-
ety as each interacts with the other. That interaction suggests patterns of behaviors, norms, and
values that help create our collective sense of how each should relate to the other. In social work
we often work with systems that are functioning badly. It’s our job to help align systems so they
work well. In doing so everyone should gain. The trick is to define the system that needs inter-
vention and to use interventions with proven ability to help. In our discussion above of the
depressed adolescent it’s entirely possible that the depression has its origins in badly function-
ing family life. Before we know that for certain, however, we need to consider other social sys-
tems and evaluate their impact. It’s possible that many systems collude in creating the
depression. We may be unable to work with all of them, and we then must determine which are
most instrumental in creating the problem and which interventions will have the most prob-
able impact. Think of this as you would a doctor trying to treat an illness. It’s not enough just
to treat the illness if there is an environmental cause such as pollution. The drugs we use to
treat the illness won’t cure the illness because the underlying cause is pollution. Without the
doctor trying to reduce pollution in the community, not only will the problem be unresolved,
but many more people will suffer. Similarly social work believes that when we help to change

CHAPTER 1  AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS  17

 badly functioning social systems, not only do we help our current clients, but we may even
prevent similar problems from happening to others in the future.

THE FOLLOWING CHAPTERS

In the following chapters, I will discuss a number of social problems facing the United States.
Many social problems, such as youth violence, child abuse, domestic violence, poverty, and
racism, are of such a serious nature that they affect the way all Americans live. Social work
organizations and social workers are on the front line in dealing with serious social problems.
To show you what we do, most chapters will contain an actual case study demonstrating what
social workers do in practice. To help you develop a sense of what you would do if you were a
social worker, many chapters have a section that offers a short case vignette and then asks what
you would do if you were the social worker. The websites you will find listed at the end of each
chapter contain information that will add to your knowledge base. Some websites provide
government reports, some provide articles written by authors for journals, and some provide
historical overviews of the development of social programs.
I’ve tried, where possible, to give you many sides of each issue; but when it comes right
down to it, I believe in helping people, and the side I’ve chosen is the side that seems humane,
positive, and morally right. I believe that helping people always has a large payoff for society.
It’s what defines us as a caring nation. I also believe that whenever possible political correctness
(see InfoTable 1.4) should never affect the way we approach serious social problems.
If, after reading this book, you absolutely want to be a social worker, I’ll be very happy for
you and feel that I’ve written this book for the best possible reasons. If you think that helping
people is a wonderful thing but that you’d do better as a volunteer, I’ll also be very happy. And
even if I simply move your attitudes and opinions a bit, that’s equally wonderful because having
an open mind about social problems and the people who experience them the most is all any-
one who writes can hope for. So give the book a chance, think about the issues, talk to your
friends and classmates about the problems discussed, and have a very good year! Social work
is a terrific field, and I hope you think about making it your life career.

InfoTable 1.4  Political Correctness

There is a sad need to conform to ideas in America today and political correctness
sometimes determines what can and what cannot be studied. Issues of race, ethnicity,
gender and social class that should be very important to social scientists are often felt
to be too risky, too likely to offend someone. I hope that you don’t fall into the trap of
political correctness and that the star you choose to shoot for is a star that may not
blink as brightly for others. Dissent is the mother’s milk of a democracy, and dissent
born of rational analysis and objectivity is the most sublime form of dissent.
SOURCE: Glicken (2003, p. 261).

18   PART I  SOCIAL PROBLEMS, THE SOCIAL WELFARE SYSTEM, AND THE ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL WORK
 SUMMARY
This chapter explains the content of the book and provides an introductory discussion of the
importance of one’s own political philosophy in viewing social problems and their solution.
The chapter also discusses the three types of social work practice—micro, mezzo, and macro—
and the importance of working with social systems. The social work code of conduct was also
discussed, as were criticisms of the code by conservative commentators. Future chapters will
discuss social problems in more detail, and the role of social service and helping organizations
will be discussed, as will the function of social work within those organizations.

QUESTIONS TO DETERMINE YOUR

FRAME OF REFERENCE
Many people believe that America is a divided nation and that this sharp division can be defined
by political ideologies. Perhaps half the people are conservative and believe that government
should have a limited role in people’s lives. Many conservatives also believe that government
should permit more religious observance in public settings, including schools, and that prayer
in school should be permissible just as gay marriages should not. The other half have a more
liberal ideology and believe that there is a significant role for government in people’s lives: the
role of protecting and offering succor and relief when help is needed. These people point to the
failure of government to function well and its consequences in the economic meltdown of 2008
and after Hurricane Katrina as examples of what happens when government becomes weak-
ened. You are about to embark on a voyage into the world of social problems and the helping
profession of social work. Given your current beliefs, please answer the following questions
about your ideological preferences.
1. Do you believe not only that prayer in school should be permissible but also that it has a
positive impact on children? A corollary might be whether you find it objectionable to mention
“God” in the Pledge of Allegiance or whether you believe it begins a child’s day with a strong
sense of moral grounding.
2. Do you believe that most poor people are responsible for their situation and that if they worked
harder or had more motivation, they’d be fine? Or is it more likely that most poor people are
poor because they lack good education, healthy homes, and a safe environment?
3. Do you believe that those who have the most income should pay the most taxes, or does it
reduce incentive to work hard and have much of your income go to pay taxes?
4. Do you believe that most helping functions should be done by family, religious organizations,
and other private charitable organizations, or do you believe that when people need help, it’s
good to have government there to provide it?
5. Good citizens, whether they are liberal or conservative, take their vote seriously and vote in
elections. Will you vote in the next election if eligible? If not, why not?
6. Social workers believe that all people should be treated with dignity. We have imprisoned many
terrorists, some of whom have done awful things. Do you believe that they should be treated
with dignity?

CHAPTER 1  AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS  19

 7. Conservatives believe that in a country with high crime, high drug rates, and dangerous sexual
practices that sometimes lead to rape and unwanted pregnancy and then an astonishing
number of abortions, that what we need is a moral rebirth through more religious involvement.
What do you think?
8. Liberals believe that poverty is increasing and that people often live lives of quiet
desperation because we’ve become such an uncaring society. What’s your position?
9. As you face your future, what excites you most: the amount of money you will make and
accumulate or the value of the work you do for yourself and others?
10. What would you do, if you had the power, to help us become less divided and contentious as
a nation?
WW
W

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20   PART I  SOCIAL PROBLEMS, THE SOCIAL WELFARE SYSTEM, AND THE ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL WORK
 KEY WORDS
FOR CHAPTER 2

American Charity
Organization
Barack Obama
Bill Clinton
Council on Social Work
Education (CSWE)
Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare
(HEW)
Dorothea Dix
English Poor Laws
Franklin Roosevelt
George W. Bush
Great Society
Hull House
Jane Addams
National Association of
Social Workers (NASW)
National Organization for
Women (NOW)
Neighborhood Guild
New Deal
Office of Economic
Opportunity (OEO)
Veterans Administration
(VA)
War on Poverty
Workhouses
Works Progress
Administration (WPA)

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