The Empirical School: Social Administration

Abstract

We begin with what might be called the empirical or pragmatic view of welfare, represented in Britain by the work of Titmuss, Townsend and others. It forms part of a tradition of social investigation and reform which goes back to the last century. Such names as Booth and Rown-tree, the Webbs, Beveridge and in an earlier age those of Chadwick, Kay-Shuttleworth and John Simon are associated with this highly utilitarian and practical rather than speculative approach. Here the interest is not in knowledge about social-welfare institutions for its own sake but rather in understanding the nature and dimensions of a particular social problem — for example, poverty or homelessness — with a view to its solution. In short, the study of welfare is approached from an interventionist viewpoint. Not description but prescription -recommending a course of action or at least laying bare the choices confronting society — is the main objective. Given these objectives it is not surprising that social administration (as this approach has come to be known) concerns itself far more with facts than with theories of welfare. In the words of a practitioner, ‘As a subject it has developed an impressive empirical tradition while lacking any systematic body of explanatory theory’. 1

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