INTRODUCTION

BASIC HISTORICAL FOUNDATION OF SOCIAL WELFARE

Social welfare

 Refers to a wide range of activities and services by volunteers, non-profit

organizations and governmental agencies providing help to needy persons
unable to care for themselves.

 Activities and resources designed to enhance or promote the well-being of

individuals, families and the larger society.

 Efforts to eliminate or reduce the incidence of social problems.

 Organized system of social services and institution, designed to aid

individuals and groups to attain satisfying standards of life and health.

History of social welfare

 Interdisciplinary study of the evolution of charitable works, organized

activities related to social reform movements and non-profit or public
social services designed to protect or benefit individuals, families and
citizens of the larger society.

 Charitable efforts have often grown out of religious beliefs — beliefs that
inspired reformers to deep compassion, firm ethical convictions, and a
strong sense of justice. The reformers’ faith backgrounds were the
foundation of movements such as abolition, temperance, and the
establishment of settlement houses. And from the nation’s earliest days,
religious groups and individuals have provided significant labor and
financial support for social reform and humanitarian aid.

A major first step in creating organized social welfare programs

 Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601 by the Parliament of England. It authorized

government provision for the poor residing in local parishes and established a
system of obligatory financing outside the church.
  The principles and policies of English Poor Laws were carried by the
settlers of the American colonies to cut the costs of;

 Poor relief

 New laws were enacted so no able-bodied person between the ages of 18 and
50 would be given public assistance.

 And the young, old and disabled residents unable to care for themselves
were placed in public or religious years.

The impact of the Revolutionary War, large scale immigration, rapid

industrialization and widespread urbanization increased the incidence of
poverty and raised the costs of taxes required for poor relief.

 Very shortly, circumstances demanded more public attention to preventing

poverty and other social ills and finding ways to help those in needs to
become more independent and self-sufficient.

 Contributing to this was the embarrassing reports published about the

conditions of institutional care and a number of significant developments
such as;

 A large influx of immigrants

 Rapid industrial and urban growth

 Low wages

 Slum housing

 Diseases and;

 Child labor. These conditions developed greater public health efforts,

a mental health movement, the settlement house movement and other
programs.

 For example, between 1800 and 1860, six million immigrants came to the
U.S composed mainly of very poor German and Irish Catholics. These
foreigners were not welcomed into the Protestant ethical society of America,
nor did they receive help from existing private or sectarian charities.
 Eventually, these new American citizens would adapt and create their own
social service and charitable organizations similar to what the Jewish and
Protestant communities provided their members.

A final step in the evolution of modern social welfare history was determined by
the impact of the Great Depression, the New Deal, enactment of the Social
Security Act and the domestic programs known as the Great Society.

 The consequences of the Great Depression motivated President Franklin

D. Roosevelt and Congress to enact the New Deal policies designed to
provide a very large number of unemployed workers with paying jobs.
These initiatives were the impetus for creating the Civilian Conservation
Corps (C.C.C.), the National Youth Administration (N.Y.A.), the Works
Progress Administration (W.P.A.) and Public Works Administration
(P.W.A.). Federal work relief program were looked upon favorably by most
Americans because they made public assistance something earned rather
than granted.

 On August 15, 1935, enactment of the Social Security Act established a

national system of old-age insurance for retired workers, benefits for victims
of industrial accidents, unemployment insurance, aid for dependent mothers
and children, the blind and the physically handicapped.

 The  Great Society was a set of domestic programs launched during the term
of President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964–65. The main goal was the
elimination of poverty and racial injustice. During this period, new major
spending programs were launched that addressed education, medical care,
urban problems, rural poverty and transportation.

Social welfare history describes the changes in helping activities and services
initiated in the United States to combat a variety of social ills of complex origins.
While poverty and public assistance play large roles in this narrative, they are not
the entire story.  Social welfare history reflects the lives of people living, being
educated, working and voting in the nation. The efforts of individuals, religious
groups, non-profit organizations and governments recounted in this history have
strengthened the fabric of American society and improved the quality of life for
many who live within our borders.
THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL WELFARE IN THE
PHILIPPINES

PRE- HISTORIC PERIOD

Source policies

* Maragtas Code

*kalantiao Code

Basic Concepts

* Damayan

* Bayanihan

Basic

 Pre-historic Filipinos lived in small scattered communities usually located

along mouths of rivers and coastal plains.
 These communities were independent social units called “barangay”.
 Compose of parents, relatives, children, and slaves.
 The barangay was often ruled by a headman, who was usually the oldest
member of the community, known as the “dato”. His responsibility was to
oversee the welfare of the members in barangay.
 He also functioned as arbiter of conflict and leader in times of danger.
 Social welfare work in those times centered on mutual protection and
economic survival.
 This caused groups or band together and communities to link each other
through marriage among their members.

ANDOR, JUDY TABINAS

BS in SOCIAL WORK 1A