From Poor Law to Welfare State: A History of Social Welfare in America.

Abstract

It is claimed that this is the first interpretative history of American social welfare, which is defined as ". . .those social security, social service, and health programs, activities, and organizations, public and private, the primary purpose of which [is] to promote the well-being of those individuals that society [feels need and deserve] help."As well as supporting and improving the well-being of needy individuals and groups, the modem welfare system also improves community conditions and helps to solve social problems affecting all members of it.This book is not, however, a definitive account, but a brief review of the main American policies and practices from the colonial period to the present, representing the essence of social welfare history and its significance in the American experience.Chapters deal with the background history of colonial and revolutionary America, indoor relief, scientific charity, child welfare, the public health settlement, house and mental movements, the renaissance of public welfare and the quest for profes- sionalization in the early twentieth century, social work in the 1920s, the Depression and a New Deal, and finally the post-war decades.Throughout, the book is well written, with substantial bibliographies after each chapter, and it is modestly priced.It can be warmly recommended.

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