Therese Jennissen and Colleen Lundy, One Hundred Years of Social Work: A History of the Profession in English Canada 1900-2000.
Schmidt, Glen
Therese Jennissen and Colleen Lundy, One Hundred Years of Social
Work: A History of the Profession in English Canada 1900-2000 (Waterloo:
Wilfrid Laurier University Press 2010)
ONE HUNDRED YEARS Of Social Work by Therese Jennissen and Colleen
Lundy examines the history of the social work profession in English
Canada. Although the book's subtitle indicates that it deals with
the period from 1900 to 2000, it actually covers a block of time
stretching from 1880 to 2010. The Preface of the book claims that it is
"the first comprehensive history of the Canadian social work
profession." Other texts, such as Social Work Practice, by Heinonen
and Spearman (2010), include a chapter on the history of social work in
Canada and weave important elements of social work history into other
content areas; however, One Hundred Years of Social Work is the only
text that attempts to deal exclusively with the historical development
of the profession. It is clearly written and represents a significant
contribution to social work literature in this country.
The authors note certain limitations, namely that social work in
Quebec is not discussed to any extent and the book does not present
information about the profession related to social work in the northern
territories. They also indicate that they did not focus much attention
on social work with Aboriginal populations. However, the background
research represents a considerable amount of work and time. Jennissen
and Lundy travelled extensively to explore archival records as well as
interview people with relevant information. There is a fairly heavy
reliance on records of the professional association, the Canadian
Association of Social Work during the Depression, the war, the Cold War,
and the more recent dismantling of the welfare state.
Jennissen and Lundy present interesting examples about the
influence that the CASW was able to exert on the federal government as
Canada developed various policies and programs in the areas of health
and social welfare. The organization presented regular briefs and papers
to the federal government on policies such as unemployment insurance and
family allowance. Members of the CASW were invited to sit on government
committees concerned with the development of policies that built
Canadian social welfare. Today the CASW is a fractured and somewhat
insignificant organization so it is surprising to read about the
influential and active role it played with policy makers even though it
was, and is, a relatively small professional association.
The documented history of the CASW represents the greatest strength
of this book. The authors describe the activities of the organization as
well as the various internal tensions that relate to the dynamic between
what might be termed social action and professionalization. These
elements tend to be presented as incompatible polar opposites, and
occasionally the reader gets the sense that a social worker cannot
espouse professionalism and at the same time pursue social justice that
promotes genuine political and social change. At best, the relationship
between professionalism and activism is presented as one that is
ambiguous and conflicted.
The book also devotes some space to the development of social work
education, unionization and working conditions, and regulation. The
discussion in these areas is somewhat limited and narrow in focus. In
terms of regulation of the profession, the authors present a view that
is somewhat unbalanced. For example, Stuart Alcock, a former director of
the Be Association of Social Workers, is quoted as saying that
regulation is not really necessary as most social workers are employed
by organizations that scrutinize their practice and in effect protect
the public. (242) The quote is ironic as the Gove Inquiry and its
subsequent report (1995) found exactly the opposite case. The lack of
regulation and protection of the public on the part of employers and
employing organizations was cited as a chief reason to regulate the
profession of social work in BC. The evidence and recommendations of
Judge Gove paved the way for subsequent passage of the Social Workers
Act and broader regulation of the profession. In the same vein, a quote
from Marion Walsh suggests that regulatory bodies are undemocratic
servants of government. (242) It is true that governments enact the
legislation that creates the regulatory bodies. However, public
(government) appointees to social work regulatory boards comprise a
minority of the members with the majority elected by peers.
A weakness of the book is the lack of information concerning the
evolution and change in what might be called frontline social work
practice. For example, the rapid deinstitutionalization of populations
that included people with psychiatric disabilities and people who were
mentally challenged had an enormous influence on the growth and demand
for social work as well as the nature of social work practice. Case
management, advocacy, knowledge of the law, medical knowledge, knowledge
of psychotropic medications, psychosocial rehabilitation, risk
assessment, and crisis intervention represent a few areas of knowledge
and skill that social workers have had to master in order to practice
effectively since the policies of deinstitutionalization were
implemented in Canada through the 1960s and 1970s.
The book devotes limited attention to the important field of child
welfare. In rural and northern parts of Canada, child welfare and social
work are often synonymous in the eyes of the general public. In many
provinces child welfare organizations are the major employers of social
workers. This area of social work practice often draws media attention
given the vulnerability of children and the highly publicized tragedies
that occur from time to time. The judicial inquiries that follow major
criticism of child welfare service delivery have exerted a profound
impact on social work practice in the field of child welfare. Reports
such as No Quiet Place (Kimelman, 1985) or The Report of the Gove
Inquiry had significant influence on social work and social work
practice, but this does not receive any attention in the book.
The authors occasionally subscribe to assumptions about practice
that lack validity. For example, they suggest that social work
"embraced Freudian psychology in the 1920s." (230) However, a
careful and thorough analysis of both literature and practice sources
(1972) demonstrates that this is a mistaken belief and that in fact the
influence of Freudian psychology was marginal at best and clearly
located outside the mainstream of social work practice.
Despite some of these shortcomings this book is an extremely
valuable contribution to social work literature in Canada. It provides
an excellent history of the CASW and it sets social work within the
context of broader political and economic events that influenced and
affected the development of the Canadian welfare state. Jennissen and
Lundy have created a useful resource for social workers including
university faculty members, students, practitioners, regulators,
professional associations, and agency managers.
Glen Schmidt
University of Northern British Columbia
