Historical Evolution of Social Welfare and Social Work

Vocabulary flashcards covering key historical events, key figures, legislation, and milestones in the history of social welfare and social work in Europe, the United States, and the Philippines.

Statute of Laborers (1348)

English law issued by King Edward III requiring able-bodied poor to accept any employment, stay in their home manors, and prohibiting them from leaving under punishment of ear and nose mutilation or hanging.

St. Francis of Assisi

Founder of the Franciscan missionary who started collecting alms and distributing them to the sick and the poor.

Martin Luther (1520)

German reformer who appealed to forbid begging and organize a common chest to receive citizen donations for the needy.

Juan Luis Vives

16th-century Spanish philosopher who developed a poor relief program involving dividing the city into parish quarters, investigating pauper families' social conditions, and distributing alms.

Elizabeth Poor Law of 1601

Codification of English poor laws enacted under Queen Elizabeth I confirming local community responsibility for the poor and categorizing them into able-bodied poor, impotent poor, and dependent children.

Speenhamland System (1795)

System established in 1795 that set the earliest poverty line based on bread prices and family size, providing wage subsidization when earnings fell below it.

Elberfeld System (1853)

Relief system financed by taxation and voluntary gifts where volunteer social investigators lived in the same quarter as the poor they supervised to build familiarity.

Daughters of Charity (1633)

Organization co-founded by Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac, composed of young peasant women devoted to nursing the sick, handicapped, and poor; considered the forerunner of modern social work.

Louise de Marillac

Co-founder of the Daughters of Charity alongside Vincent de Paul, venerated as a saint, and recognized as the patron saint of the social work profession.

Rev. Thomas Chalmers

Scottish parish minister (1780-1847) who pioneered a private charity program based on neighbourly aid and personal, parochial relief, laying the foundation for casework practice.

Charity Organization Society (1877)

First U.S. COS established in Buffalo, New York, to prevent waste and duplication of relief funds by requiring social investigation of applicants by a friendly visitor.

Mary Richmond

Author of Social Diagnosis (1897) who helped establish the Training School for Applied Philanthropy, leading to the first social work courses in New York in 1898.

Social Diagnosis

The attempt to arrive at an exact definition of the social situation and personality of a given client by searching for the cause of the problem bringing them for help.

Hull House (1889)

Settlement house built for working people in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr, providing counseling, day nursery, kindergarten, and other services.

Barangays

Independent social units in pre-historic Philippines ruled by a dato who oversaw member welfare, centered around mutual protection and economic survival.

San Lazaro Hospital

Hospital originally built for Filipino beggars that became a hospital for lepers in 1631 upon the arrival of 150 lepers from Japan.

La Gota de Leche

Organization established in 1907 to furnish child-caring institutions with fresh cow's milk from a dairy farm in Pasay, Manila.

Josefa Jara Martinez

First Filipino to earn a diploma in Social Work from the New York School of Social Work (1921), who introduced the scientific approach to social work in the Philippines.

Dr. Jose Fabella

Secretary of the Department of Health and Public Welfare who is regarded as the father of Social Welfare in the Philippines.

President's Action Committee on Social Amelioration (PACSA)

Committee created in August 1948 by Pres. Elpidio Quirino tasked with providing relief assistance to the hungry, homeless, sick, and victims of dissident violence.

Philippine Association of Social Workers, Inc. (PASWI)

Professional organization founded on November 12, 1947, which advocated for women to be allowed to train and take civil service examinations for community development roles.

Social Welfare Administration (SWA)

Agency formed on January 3, 1951 by fusing the Social Welfare Commission (SWC) and PACSA.

Asuncion A. Perez

First female cabinet member in the Philippines and Secretary of the Social Welfare Administration.

Republic Act 4373 (1965)

Law sponsored by Senator Maria Kalaw-Katigbak regulating social work practice and agencies, serving as the formal recognition of social work as a profession in the Philippines.

Petra de Joya

Eminent educator and social administrator who advocated for key legislation professionalizing social work and transforming the SWA into the DSW.

Republic Act 5416 (1968)

The Social Welfare Act signed by Pres. Ferdinand Marcos, which elevated the Social Welfare Administration into a cabinet-level Department.

National Association for Social Work Education, Inc. (NASWEI)

Organization incorporated in December 1990 (formerly SSWAP, formed 1969) created to promote social work education in the Philippines.

Executive Order 123 (1987)

Executive order signed by Pres. Corazon Aquino on January 30, 1987, reorganizing the MSSD into the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Crisis Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD)

A form of crisis intervention used with victims of disasters and other crisis situations.

Mandanas-Garcia Ruling (2019)

Supreme Court decision ordering full and permanent devolution of services under RA 7160 following a 28% increase in the Internal Revenue Allotment.