Voluntas (2010) 21:135–136 DOI 10.1007/s11266-009-9115-y BOOK REVIEW
Gisela Hauss and Dagmar Schulte (eds): Amid Social Contradictions: Towards a History of Social Work in Europe Barbara Budrich Publishers, Michigan, 2009, 263 pp., $23.95 April L. Murphy Published online: 23 January 2010 Ó International Society for Third-Sector Research and The John’s Hopkins University 2010
Amid Social Contradictions: Towards a History of Social Work in Europe is a comprehensive analysis of the role of social work across history in Finland, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Ireland, Russia, the former Soviet Union, Switzerland, and the former Yugoslavia. It is organized in a logical and coherent manner. Comprised of 14 short essays in three sections (Professionalization between Dependence and Autonomy; Integration, Selection, and Exclusion in the Content of Social Welfare; Motherhood Policy and Child Protection) allows readers to easily find information related to their individual interest. In addition to easily accessing material relevant to specific areas, it also allows readers to comparatively analyze social work across countries. Throughout Amid Social Contradictions: Towards a History of Social Work in Europe, the issue regarding the ‘‘dual mandate’’ of social work is evident. Throughout history in Europe, social work has been faced with the challenge of both serving individuals and the state. The problem arises in that, in most cases, the desires of individuals and the state are often in conflict. Therefore, social workers had to determine which entity they would serve. The challenge of establishing a profession based on serving contradictory clients posed a major problem throughout Europe. The six essays that comprise the first section, Professionalization between Dependence and Autonomy, highlight the eventual emergence of social work in response to societal problems in Europe. As issues arose, a need was created that needed the collaboration of both voluntary social workers and the state. However, as social workers began providing more and more services in areas such as poverty relief, hygiene, and the protection of women and children, social workers began to search for an identity. They began to desire an identity independent of the state, where they could be autonomous. This resulted in the emergence of social work training programs that began to professionalize the field of social work. Book review editor: Silvia Ferreira. A. L. Murphy (&) MSW, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA e-mail:
[email protected]
123
136
Voluntas (2010) 21:135–136
Section 2, Integration, Selection, and Exclusion in the Context of Social Welfare, includes four essays aimed at illuminating the unfortunate interrelatedness between integration, seclusion, and exclusion in Europe. As welfare services were initially established to assist the poor, they became tools used to discriminate against ethnicities. This is evidenced in both Dorottya Szikra’s article, ‘‘Social policy and anti-Semitic exclusion before and during World War II in Hungary: The case of the productive social policy’’ and Elena Iarskaia-Smirnova and Pavlov Romanov’s article, ‘‘Rhtetoric and practice of modernization: Soviet social policy (1917– 1930).’’ Szikra explicitly discusses how poverty relief programs were established to assist Hungarian farmers but eventually became a means the state used to discriminate based on ethnicity. Likewise, Iarskaia-Smirnova and Pavlov showed how social welfare transitioned from helping individuals attaining equality to meeting political agendas in the former Soviet Union. The final section focuses on child protection and parenting, specifically motherhood, in Europe. The four essays comprising this section expose the developing problem of government control in familial issues. Over time, in Europe, the state began establishing restrictions on birth control and mandating who should or should not have children. In Gisela Hauss and Be´atrice Ziegler’s article, ‘‘‘Give the countries good mothers’: Normalizing motherhood in welfare discourse and practice (1920–1950),’’ they discuss how Swiss government began to dictate that only wealthy women should give birth to children as a result of policies the state implemented. This is just a subtle, more humane form of ethnic cleansing. While policy did not explicitly state that poor women could not have children, the state made it almost impossible for poor women to be good mothers. On the other side of Europe, in Finland, the state was implementing policies that forced women to choose between working and being a mother as was discussed in Mirja Satka’s essay, ‘‘Investing in future citizens: Finnish social policies and child welfare social work after World War II.’’ As maternal separation was seen as depriving the child, women were uncertain with regard to the right action. Gisela Hauss and Dagmar Schulter have put together a phenomenal collection of essays that reflect the comparative history of social work in several European countries. The sections are divided brilliantly to reflect the evolving nature of social work. Social work began as a volunteer network of individuals who had a desire to invoke positive change. As the nature of their work became more professional, the desire for independence and autonomy grew. This consequently resulted in the establishment of educational institutions and social work training programs. As individuals were becoming trained on how to effectively provide social work services, they became professionalized. However, this did not come without great trial and tribulation. The conflicting goals of individuals and the state began to create more problems that social workers needed to address. Problems such as turning welfare programs into sources of discrimination and using elected wealthy mothers to perpetuate wealth while eliminating poverty. Amid social contradictions: Towards a history of social work in Europe describes the journey of social work to become a profession in Europe and shows the connectedness of social work policy and practice.
123