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Contents vii

The Federal Role in Social Welfare 71


The Freedmen’s Bureau 71
Veterans and a Suspension of the Ethic 73
City, Town, and County: A Local Institution 75
Social Darwinism 75
The Coming of Social Insurance 76
Society, Social Values, and Modern Views of Human Nature 78
SUMMARY 78
QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION 79
MYSEARCHLAB CONNECTIONS 80

Chapter 5 America and Poverty: Two Paths: The American


Experience II 81
Overiew 81
Three Discoveries of Poverty 81
First Discovery 82
The Fading of the First Discovery 83
Second Discovery 83
Third Discovery 84
The War on Poverty 86
Eight Outcomes 87
The Skirmish against Poverty 89
Families, Children, and Poverty 89
Aid to Families with Dependent Children (“Welfare”) 90
An Old-New Path 92
Social Security 94
Contrasting Values and Aims 94
The Paths Forward 95
Human Nature and the American Dream 96
SUMMARY 97
QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION 97
MYSEARCHLAB CONNECTIONS 98

Chapter 6 Concepts for Social Welfare 99


Overview 99
What Is Social Welfare? 100
Social Policy, Social Services, and Social Work 102
Social Policy 102
Social Services 103
Social Work 103
viii Contents

Ideology, Social Policy, and Government Intervention 103


Five Routes to Social Policy 107
The Federal and Pluralist System 109
The Economic Sphere 111
Fiscal Policy 112
Monetary Policy 113
The Importance of Fiscal and Monetary Policy 114
A Tarnished Business Sector? 115
A Second Welfare System—Corporate and Individual Welfare 116
Globalization and Social Justice 117
The G. W. Bush Administration 120
Obama Administration: A Return to Federalization—Ideology or
Pragmatism? 120
The Debt Commission and Select Committee on Deficit
Reduction 122
International and National Background Features and The Search
for the Dream 123
International 123
The United States 123
SUMMARY 125
QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION 126
MYSEARCHLAB CONNECTIONS 127

Chapter 7 Examining a Social Welfare Program within the Context of


Social Justice: Structural Components, Alternative Program
Characteristics, and Evaluation 128
Overview 128
Structural Components 129
What are the Needs and Goals to Be Met? 129
What Is the Form of Benefit that the Program Produces? 130
Who Is Eligible for the Program? 130
How Is the Program Financed? 131
What Is the Level of Administration? 132
Alternative Program Characteristics 133
Residual, Institutional, Developmental, or Socioeconomic Asset
Development 133
Selective or Universal 136
Benefits in Money, Services, or Utilities 139
Public or Private 140
Central or Local 140
Lay or Professional 142
Contents ix

Evaluating the Program 143


Adequacy 143
Financing 143
Coherence 146
Latent Consequences 146
Testing for Social Justice 147
Whose Social Justice? 147
Views and Proponents 148
The Social Work Clinical Practice Sphere and Social Justice 150
Reader’s Choice 150
SUMMARY 151
QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION 151
MYSEARCHLAB CONNECTIONS 152

Chapter 8 The Welfare Society and Its Clients 153


Overview 153
Who is a Client of Social Welfare? 153
What is Poverty? 155
Understanding Poverty 155
Absolute Poverty 156
Relative Comparison Poverty 159
A Description of the Poor 160
Income and Wealth Inequality 163
Causes of Rising Inequality 164
Housing Wealth 167
Counterintuitive Statistics 167
Intergenerational Mobility 168
The Effect of Some Government Programs 169
The Near-Poor and Expectations 170
Other Views of Poverty 170
Relative Inequality 171
Lack of Power, Access, and Inclusion 172
The Underclass/Culture of Poverty Thesis 173
Strategies for Fighting Poverty 174
Social Utilities 174
Investment in Human Capital 174
Income Transfers 175
Rehabilitation 176
Aggregative and Selective Economic Measures 176
Participation and Organization 178
Ideology Revisited 178
The Second Bush Administration 179
x Contents

Tax Cuts 180


Social Security 180
Medicare 180
Starve the Beast 180
The Obama Administration 181
Ideology Once Again 183
SUMMARY 184
QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION 184
MYSEARCHLAB CONNECTIONS 185

Chapter 9 Current Social Welfare Programs—Economic Security 186


Overview 186
Social Insurance Programs 187
Social Security (OASDI) 187
Unemployment Insurance 198
Temporary Disability Insurance 202
Workers’ Compensation 203
Income Support Programs 207
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families 207
Supplemental Security Income 210
General Assistance 212
Earned Income Tax Credit 214
Socioeconomic Asset Development 216
SUMMARY 218
QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION 219
MYSEARCHLAB CONNECTIONS 220

Chapter 10 Social Welfare Programs: Sustaining the


Quality of Life 221
Overview 221
Managed Care 222
Strategies to Achieve Savings and Profits 223
Public Criticism, Courts, and Legislation 224
Halth Care Programs 225
Medicare 225
Medicaid 229
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 234
Implpementation Steps began in 2010 234
Effective (2012) 235
Effective (2013) 235
Effective (2014) 235
Contents xi

Effective (2015) 237


Effective (2018) 237
How Is the New System to Be Financed? 237
Issues 238
Legal Challenges 238
Payment Advisory Board 239
Abortion 239
What is Medical Care? 240
Universal Health Care: Public or Private Auspices? 240
Nutrition Programs 240
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 240
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants,
and Children 242
School Lunch and Breakfast Programs 243
Housing 245
Veterans’ Benefits 248
Employment Programs 251
Personal Social Services 252
Title XX (Social Services Block Grant) 254
Defense Department Social and Mental Health Services 255
Services to Families 255
Services to Children 256
Mental Health Services 262
Corrections 264
SUMMARY 266
QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION 266
MYSEARCHLAB CONNECTIONS 267

Chapter 11 Nonprofit and Private Social Welfare 268


Overview 268
Early Patterns 269
The Nonprofit Sector 269
Types of Nonprofit Agencies 271
The Proprietary Private For-Profit Organization 272
Services of the Nonprofit and Private Sectors 272
Getting and Spending 273
Privatization 274
Private and Nonprofit Agencies as Social Welfare Programs 276
Finances, Recessions, Budgets, and Mergers 278
A Point of View 279
xii Contents

Leadership, Class, and Gender 279


Trends in Volunteering 281
Private and Public Spheres 281
Uses of Public Funds and Power 281
Tax Laws and Policy 282
Accountability 283
National Policy: Church and State 283
The Marketplace and the Nonmarket Domain 285
Family and Freinds 286
Toward the Future 287
SUMMARY 289
QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION 289
MYSEARCHLAB CONNECTIONS 290

Chapter 12 Social Work: The Emergence of a Profession 291


Overview 291
The Workers of “Good Works” 292
The Process of Professionalization 296
A Brief History of Practice and Methods 297
Development of the Professional Association 301
Social Work with Groups 302
Community Organization and Social Planning 304
Toward a Unified Profession 306
SUMMARY 307
QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION 307
MYSEARCHLAB CONNECTIONS 308

Chapter 13 Social Work: Functions, Context, and Issues 309


Overview 309
The Purposes of Social Work 310
The Professional within Complex Organizations 310
Complex Organizations and Professional Culture 311
Complex Organizations and Authority 311
The Profession and Professional Autonomy 312
Alternative Roles and Settings 312
Society, the Functions of Social Work, and Services for People 313
The Bottom Line 313
The Two Tracks of Social Work: Cause and Function 313
Generic–Specific Social Work 317
Contents xiii

Professionals and Volunteers 318


Issues Confronting the Profession 319
Multiculturalism 319
Technologies 320
Managed Care 320
Religion and Spirituality 321
Leadership 321
Sufficiency of Qualified Social Workers and Other Resources 322
Accountability 322
2010 Social Work Congress 323
Proposed Imperatives 323
SUMMARY 324
QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION 324
MYSEARCHLAB CONNECTIONS 325

Chapter 14 Social Trends Affecting Social Welfare 326


Overview 326
National Society 326
Individual and Shared Goals 327
The International Economy 328
Population Growth and Resources 329
Food Security 330
The Downside of the Upside 330
A Human/Nature Crisis and Worldwide Emergency 331
The United States: A Changing Population, a Selected Social Welfare
Agenda, and Social Justice 332
Productivity and the Service Economy 335
Ethnicity and Pluralism 336
Gender 339
Gay Men and Lesbians 340
The Place of Social Welfare in a Changing Context 345
SUMMARY 346
QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION 346
MYSEARCHLAB CONNECTIONS 347

Chapter 15 Toward the General Welfare and Social Justice 348


Overview 348
Children and Poverty 349
Adverse Effects of Poverty 350
Universal Services are Needed 352
xiv Contents

Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan 353


Health outcomes 353
Social outcomes 354
Resources 355
Education 356
Employment and Training 356
Criticisms 356
What Should Be Done? 357
What Will it Cost? 358
Social Workers, Services, and Policy Choices 359
Elder Abuse 360
What are the Major Types of Elder Abuse? 360
What Is Known About Interventions? 361
Social Policy 362
Implications for Social Work 362
Globalization, Privatization, Socially Just Services, and the Future of
Social Welfare 363
The State of the Welfare State 363
Privatization: The Strategy of Choice 364
Managed Care 367
Drug Abuse Services 367
The Roles of Social Work 368
Issues for Social Workers 368
The Choices Before US: Social Justice and the Baby-Boomer
Generation 369
Retirement 370
Health Care 370
Technology and Social Action 371
Where We Are 373
Coda: Two Views of the Future 375
SUMMARY 376
QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION 376
MYSEARCHLAB CONNECTIONS 377

Notes 378
Index 399
Preface

As this is being written, the world is faced with serious social and economic problems. In
Europe, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal are experiencing serious financial problems. It
has been necessary for members of the European Union to bail them out with loans. One
path for these nations to solve their problems consists of retreating from provisions of the
welfare state, including early retirements and generous retirement pensions. A similar phe-
nomenon is taking place among the states in the United States. There is a growing shift of
wealth to the East as China, India, Singapore, and South Korea have expanded their econo-
mies at fast paces. Accompanying economic growth is population growth and a demand
for more energy supplies, food, and water. The financial ability to eat richer diets drove up
the price of food, metals, and fuels. Thus, there is a downside to the upside of economic
growth when large numbers of people gain wealth; they then seek more and different types
of food and goods, and they place increased strains on food and other supplies.
The economic success of a farmer in China enables him to replace his bicycle for deliv-
ery of goods to market with a motorcycle, cutting his delivery time but also using gasoline
as part of a new driving force in the competition for oil. A young Indian learns English
and computer technical skills and joins the global workforce as a competitor with similar
persons in several parts of the world. There is no way to avoid these evolving events and
no Luddites can roll back the clock. Globalization is here to stay and its effects will be
long-lasting, especially regarding social welfare needs and services. These and other inter-
national forces form the background context for the United States and—in turn—influence
what issues confront the United States and what social welfare can be.
Many parts of the world are also facing non-state actors such as international busi-
nesses, tribes, religious organizations, and criminal networks. The growth of aging popula-
tions is widespread. Also, there are groups of radical Islamists that contribute to economic
and security instability. Poverty, although diminishing, remains a major problem, along
with pollution, disease, hunger, and drug and people trafficking.
More directly, forces confronting the United States establish the national context within
which social welfare must deal with problems and issues. The War on Terror continues and
uses many billions of dollars; the price of oil continues to be problematic, which in turn
raises the price of fertilizer, gasoline, and other goods and—in turn—creates shortages of
food crops that are being used to replace gasoline. There is no short-range solution for the
supply and cost of oil and gasoline, the lifeblood of our economy and civilization. Also, the
major debts of the United States are held by the Chinese, Japanese, and other sovereign
funds, and others who not only hold our IOUs but also buy into our economy. The hous-
ing bubble evolved into multitudes of foreclosures, delaying an economic recovery. Many
people lost their homes, the major part of their wealth, while others grew rich. The gap
between the lower and middle classes and the wealthy continues to widen.
The United States is slowly coming out of the Great Recession and unemployment
remains above 9 percent; fiscal national annual deficits, when combined with record
breaking national debt, are very serious problems facing the nation. There are projections
that our nation has entered a period of slow economic growth where the competition for
available funds becomes intense. Human services will have to compete for scarce funds

xv
xvi Preface

with all other societal needs. These contextual factors do not support attempts to deal with
issues of poverty, education, and social problems in general, and, unfortunately, with the
exception of the very costly Patient Protection and Affordability Care Act, it seems un-
likely that in the foreseeable future the situation will become more supportive of efforts
to improve social and human services. Do solidarity, national morale, and social justice
require maintenance of these programs that help individuals and families take advantage of
their opportunities? What will be the way forward? There are suggestions the economy will
remain in low gear for more years. All of which suggests we have reached a time of scarce
resources for social welfare and the likelihood of constrained incremental progress. What
are the implications when the wealth created becomes less than the needs of the citizenry?
We have written a book with a point of view—one that examines social welfare issues
critically, focusing on concepts and inviting challenge and alternative interpretations. We
have striven to produce a usable textbook, one that covers detail and fact in an organized
manner and that is useful for all those concerned with our society’s social welfare and hu-
man services. The success of our work can only be judged by individual readers, whom
we hope will be challenged to reach their own conclusions about the issues discussed. We
will have succeeded if readers attain knowledge and understanding to aid them in decision
making both as professionals and as informed and inquiring citizens.
This revised edition reflects change in the social welfare system, our society, and our
world since the last edition of this text. In addition to a complete updating, we have tried to
anticipate issues and propose solutions to various social problems. Yet we have still main-
tained the main theme and focus on the impact of societal structure and change on the
nature of people’s needs and problems and the search for social justice. In this edition we
have added or augmented material on the following:
• Trends, data, and discussions are all up-to-date, including programs, income, pov-
erty, wealth, demographics, and the several welfare systems.
• The Obama administration, the financial crisis, the effort to avoid a second Great
Depression, the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (the stimulus).
• A Return to federalization: Ideology? Or pragmatism?
• Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare).
• Phases of implementation, issues, and financing.
• The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.
• The Road Map for America: Ryan’s plans and other conservative plans for Social
Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
• Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan and social justice.
• Children and the life effects of poverty and social justice.
• Elder abuse and social justice.
• Issues confronting social work and social welfare.
• The 2010 Social Work Congress.
• Leadership, multiculturalism, religion, and spirituality.
• Technologies, managed care, sufficient quantity of qualified social workers and
other resources, and accountability.
• New trends in volunteering.
Preface xvii

• Expanded description of legislative process within federalism, including


incrementalism.
• Description and data regarding the latest social welfare legislation as well as poten-
tial future directions are incorporated.
• Explicit emphasis on human rights and social justice is included throughout.
• The concept of the social minimum, a standard for social justice.
• Various perspectives on social justice and descriptions and analysis of all programs
have been updated.
• Emphasis throughout on the political and economic contexts for social welfare and
the impact of social and economic structures and globalization and its effects.
• Counterintuitive statistics about wealth are considered.
• Intergenerational mobility is discussed.
• Equality of opportunity and stronger societies.
• Were the services for workers of Krupp Industries in mid-nineteenth century
Germany the forerunners of social insurances?
• A number of new questions have been introduced for consideration by readers at
the end of each chapter.
• The paths forward are examined from several perspectives.

Acknowledgments
We are grateful to a number of persons whose reactions and advice have helped us
to improve this book: Ana Alvarez, Aaron Dolgoff, Eliana Tretiak, William Jackson,
Jr., Heejung Koh, Richard Larson, Margie Simon, Dr. Raju Varghese, Dr. Janice Wells,
Dr. Donna Harrington, Dr. Howard Altstein, Rex Rempel, Linda Neuwirth, and Janice
Wells. We also want to express our appreciation to the librarians of the Health and Human
Services Library of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the Milton S. Eisenhower
Library of the Johns Hopkins University.
Many people have contributed to the development of this book, including our review-
ers: Michael J. Cappel, University of Louisiana, Monroe; Mark Cederburg, University of
Kansas; George T. Patterson, Hunter College, City University of New York; and Cynthia
J. Rocha, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. We are appreciative of the support our fami-
lies have provided. Special thanks are due to Sylvia Dolgoff, who has contributed in many
ways. Finally, we want to express our deep appreciation to our students, whom we have
taught and from whom we have learned.
To communicate with the authors, contact RDolgoff@ssw.umaryland.edu. We will
respond to your comments as soon as possible.
About the Authors

Ralph Dolgoff is professor emeritus at the School of Social Work at the University of
Maryland, Baltimore, where he also served as dean. Previously, he served as acting dean
and associate dean at the Adelphi University School of Social Work, and as senior program
specialist at the Council on Social Work Education. Dr. Dolgoff is the author of Introduc-
tion to Supervisory Practice in the Human Services and coauthor (with Frank Loewenberg
and Donna Harrington) of Ethical Decisions for Social Work Practice (Ninth Edition). He
has published widely on social and welfare services, ethics, social policy, and social work
education.

Dr. Donald Feldstein is the former associate executive vice president of the Council of
Jewish Federations. He has had a distinguished career in Jewish Communal Service and in
social work education. He is the author of numerous monographs and articles in the previ-
ously mentioned fields.

xviii
Chapter 1
Socioeconomic Structure, Human
Needs, and Mutual Responsibility
Competition . . . is a law of nature . . . . [I]f we try to amend it, there is only one way in which
we can do it. We can take from the better and give to the worse. We can deflect the penalties
of those who have done ill and throw them on those who have done better. We can take the
rewards from those who have done better and give them to those who have done worse. We
shall thus lessen the inequalities. We shall favor the survival of the unfittest, and we shall
accomplish this by destroying liberty. Let it be understood that we cannot go outside of this
alternative: liberty, inequality, survival of the fittest, not-liberty, equality, survival of the
unfittest.
—William Graham Sumner1

Overview
Embedded in Sumner’s statement is a deep American belief: Those who have done well
materially are better than those who have done not so well. Those who have prospered
have done so because of their own individual talents and efforts. The corollary is that those
who have not done well have done so because of some personal defect. They are immoral,
lazy, unmotivated, or not so bright. Poor people, for example, are individually responsible
for their poverty. According to this perspective, each person is responsible for his or her
personal situation. The most important values are self-reliance and the avoidance of
dependence. One should not be a burden to family, others, or—especially—society. Essen-
tially, those who are disadvantaged, victimized, poor, or disabled somehow are responsible
for their condition; if they were better or more adequate people, they would not be in a
dependent position.

1
2 Chapter One

We begin this book by noting this perspective because it has had a profound and
continuing impact on the nature of social welfare in the United States and has reemerged
as a widespread force during the 1980s and 1990s. However, this emphasis on individual
responsibility is not the only driving force in U.S. social welfare, which is influenced by a
mixture of motives rather than one unified, impelling force. Altruism, a refusal to ignore
the suffering of others, a sense of fairness, and a concern for mutual aid are also essential
American values. Social welfare also functions to meet the maintenance needs of society by
preventing instability and providing for social continuity. In part, one’s views of the func-
tions of social welfare depend on one’s personal perspective, but in reality the U.S. social
welfare scene is marked by ambivalent motivations rather than one pure and straightfor-
ward intention.
The values of a society, even implicit values, can influence the nature of its social
welfare system. What are the roots and various manifestations of social welfare in U.S.
society? What drives the American tendency to focus on individual responsibility as a
major influence on social welfare policy? How are this and other values expressed in
concepts of social welfare? And what are the biases of the authors that will inform this
volume?

The Impact of Social and Economic Structures


Many Americans, including most students and practitioners in the helping professions,
have been socialized to think in a certain way—primarily to understand case situations in
individual, family, and group terms, often minimizing the effects of the multiple factors
and levels of the social environment on human behaviors and lives.
In this book, in addition to individual responsibility and effort, we want to consider
the impact of social and economic structures on us all. Although this approach is not com-
pletely explanatory, it does provide a contrasting view to the prevailing wisdom and offers
other ways of understanding what happens to people. A child who is reared in a commu-
nity which has a poor school system with few resources cannot be judged at fault when
a quality education escapes him. Similarly, people seeking employment during the Great
Recession are competing with many others. The failure to find work is not always the result
of individual effort but is also related to the number of people in one’s generation who are
seeking work, the nature of the economy, and the opportunities available. Textile workers
in North Carolina when their jobs moved overseas could not be responsible when work
opportunities in their towns became scarce.
The following studies illustrate that many social problems are associated with, influ-
enced by, and even caused by social and economic structural factors:
1. Intimate partner violence and persistent poverty co-occur at high rates and limit
coping options and have mental health consequences for those coping with both. The
stress, powerlessness, and social isolation at the heart of both phenomena combine to pro-
duce post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and other emotional difficulties.2
2. Forty heads of household with school-age children who lived in New Orleans dur-
ing Hurricane Katrina were interviewed about their pre- and post-Katrina life as hurricane
survivors. It was found they had experienced multiple negative life events linked to their
poverty status even prior to the hurricane. Their negative life events included social isola-
tion and physical and mental health problems, high debt or financial insecurity, dangerous
neighborhoods, witnessing violence and early deaths, child abuse, being incarcerated or
observing incarceration, and teen pregnancy.3
Socioeconomic Structure, Human Needs, and Mutual Responsibility 3

3. When children grow up in poverty, they are more likely as adults to have low earn-
ings, which in turn reflect low productivity in the workforce. They are also more likely to
engage in crime and to have poor health later in life. Their reduced productive activity
generates a direct loss of goods and services to the U.S. economy. Any crimes they commit
impose large monetary and other personal costs on their victims and on taxpayers who pay
for the criminal justice system. Their poor health generates illness and early mortality that
require large health expenditures, impede productivity, and reduce their quality and quan-
tity of life. The statistical relationships between growing up in poverty and later earnings,
as well as productivity, plus estimates of the costs of crime and poor health per person were
aggregated across the total number of children growing up in poverty. The results sug-
gested that the costs associated with childhood poverty total about $500 billion per year:
Productivity and economic output are reduced by about 1.3 percent of Gross Domestic
Product (GDP); the costs of crime are increased by 1.3 percent of GDP; and health expen-
ditures are increased by 1.2 percent of GDP.4 But, the high dollar costs of eliminating child
poverty will not by themselves change the situation. The poverty situation of children can-
not be understood or changed without changes in behaviors, neighborhoods, and parents’
actions.5
4. Families of children with disabilities face elevated costs of caregiving, insufficient
support from income transfer programs to offset the additional costs, and parental employ-
ment severely limited by child care and leave policies. Young children with disabilities are
significantly more likely to live in poverty than their peers without disabilities. Living in
poverty is associated with consequences such as poor physical health, diminished cogni-
tive abilities, emotional and behavioral problems, and reduced educational attainment.
Ill health is overrepresented in low-income families. Children in low-income families are
twice as likely to die before age 15 as children in families from the professional social class.
Perinatal and postnatal mortality rates, birth weight, height, dental health, respiratory ill-
nesses, traffic accidents, and deaths from fire are all related negatively to income and social
class. These problems are compounded among families receiving public assistance. Half
the families on California public assistance with special needs children had both out-of-
pocket expenses and foregone earnings. These are substantial burdens for many low-income
families with special-needs children.6

Cascading Effects
Disadvantages can cascade, that is one problem can lead to another or in some cases to
many. Lin and Harris (2008) report that “difficult but solvable problems—the lack of
dependable food, clothing, or shelter; the inability to control oneself; the presence of a
disruptive peer group; a home environment that does not or cannot support learning—
exacerbate and are exacerbated by other disadvantages.” Further, they suggest multiple disad-
vantages exist, even solutions can intensify the problems. For example, giving a child extra
help at school, paradoxically, can reinforce his parents’, his teachers’, and his own belief that
he is bad or incapable.7
Unemployment and poverty are inextricably tied to the structure of the economy.
Among these structural factors are a shift from a goods-producing, manufacturing econ-
omy to service-producing industries; the polarization of the labor market into low-wage
and high-wage sectors; increasing technology; and the dispersal of manufacturing and
other jobs to suburban and overseas locations. Although these structural factors—such as
the nature of the job market, the job preparation of potential workers, geographic factors,
4 Chapter One

and racial and other types of discrimination—affect everyone in our society, their impact
is differential on different groups, as we shall see in more detail in Chapter 8.8 For example,
the structure of jobs and wages has changed. Many industries require more able and highly
skilled workers. Such workers are generally in short supply, bidding up their wages and in-
creasing the gap between their incomes and those of workers with lower educational levels
and skills.
Poverty in the United States has become more urban, spatially concentrated, and clus-
tered with other indicators of disadvantage. The residents of neighborhoods of concen-
trated poverty who experience multiple forms of social and economic disadvantage are
disproportionately members of minority groups. Changes in the wage structure over the
past several decades have impacted negatively on noncollege-educated minorities living in
inner cities. Declining real wages overall, rising inequality in wage and income distribu-
tion, and growing numbers of low-wage jobs have been accompanied by an increase in
joblessness, especially among black minority youth in cities.9
We will return to these issues and concepts in later chapters. For now we need
to recognize the impact of structural factors such as business cycles; the shifts in the
number, types, and degrees of skilled labor required by various industries; interna-
tional trade and competition; and technological change. Additional significant factors
are discrimination, immigration, changes in the age and educational composition of
the work force, and unionization or the lack of it, as well as changes in the political
climate.10

Defining Social Welfare and Social Work


Social welfare is referred to throughout this book. What is social welfare, and what do
we mean by this term? The definition is not simple and is discussed at some length at
the beginning of Chapter 6. But the reader is entitled to a brief definition early on. For
reasons explained in Chapter 6, we define social welfare as follows: all social interventions
intended to enhance or maintain the social functioning of human beings. We limit our con-
sideration, however, to the broadest parts of the social welfare system that are not clearly
the domain or territory of other fields or disciplines such as education, police, and fire
services.
Social work is discussed in Chapters 12 and 13, where the emergence of the profes-
sion, its current functions, the context within which it operates, and other selected issues
are examined. At this point, however, it is important that the reader understand that social
work is a professional occupation that delivers social welfare services.11 Although social
workers serve preponderantly in the societal social welfare institution, they also deliver
services in a large number of societal institutions that are not within the social welfare
institution per se, including business and industry, the military, and criminal justice, as
well as educational, health, and religious institutions, among others. The reader should
keep this distinction in mind, differentiating the societal institution of social welfare from
the profession of social work.
Our aim in this book is to examine U.S. social welfare and social work. We are
mindful of the interconnections and interdependence of U.S. society, in all its aspects,
with other parts of the world. The United States in contemporary times is affected by
developments in many nations and regions far from our shores. Although the world is
a series of societal and ecological interconnections, and these systemic relationships
Socioeconomic Structure, Human Needs, and Mutual Responsibility 5

impact on the U.S. economy and general culture—including social welfare, both directly
and indirectly—our priority focus will be social welfare and social work within the U.S.
context.

The American Myth of the Hero


For more than five centuries people have come to America: the secular Zion, the golden
nation, the land of possibilities. Leaving behind families, traditions, and the familiar,
people set out for America. Although we note these migrations to a land of dangers and
dreams, there was—of course—a major exception. In the case of African Americans, they
were forcibly taken to this land.
From the Puritans seeking religious freedom in Massachusetts to the debtors escaping
imprisonment in Georgia, the earliest American settlers were a mixture of indentured per-
sons, craft workers, paupers, businesspeople, sailors, artisans, and adventurers. They were
seeking to escape, and they were searching for new horizons beyond the ocean and beyond
the constraints of more developed societies.
The pioneers were seen as rugged individualists, self-reliant and independent.
The reality was quite different from the myth. A communitarian spirit was needed in
frontier territories and pioneering times. Settlements developed, and people became
interdependent.
There were, of course, courageous lone explorers and travelers but, essentially, the
movement of people from the Atlantic seaboard to the Appalachian mountains and
then gradually across the continent had to be accomplished in groups. Individualism
was valued but the building of communities required help from family and fellow
travelers. Groups were needed for protection, to include helpful skills, and to fulfill
daily chores from hunting, trapping, and farming to wagon wheel repair to law en-
forcement to health care to the care of children, all the requirements for survival and
community building.
Even the early U.S. government aided the individual with mechanisms similar to those
used today. Puritan communities paid a salaried town doctor in a sort of community-supported
medicine. New Englanders attempted to regulate wages, prices, and interest rates. Laws
were passed to ensure the quality of workmanship and goods. Public officials scrutinized
the regulation of weights and measures, as well as ferries, mills, and inns.12 In fact, the gov-
ernment during early U.S. history played an affirmative role in the economy in regard
to credit, a national bank, currency and coinage, public lands, and other matters. During
Jefferson’s first administration, the Cumberland National Road linked the eastern seaboard
with the Ohio Valley. The government also owned stock in the Chesapeake and Delaware
Canal Company, as well as in the Dismal Swamp Company of Virginia and the Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal Company. These governmental interventions had many purposes, chief
among them the encouragement of travel and trade.13
The complexity and specialization of modern society make interdependence
greater and more necessary than ever. Each of us can perform only a small fraction
of the functions necessary to help ourselves and society to survive. The astronauts are
heroic figures even while they are excellent symbols of the necessary interdependence
of “heroes.” They need each other’s skills; they are dependent on teams of scientists
and technicians. Even so, we are left with Americans still idealizing images of the self-
sufficient hero.
6 Chapter One

The American idealized myth includes the following:


1. The best people are rugged individualists who are physically strong, psychologically
independent, and able to flourish without help.
2. “Making it” is what counts and is to be respected and admired.
3. Everything is possible. Those who try hard enough, no matter how humble their
beginnings, can “make it.”
4. Humans strive for material gain. If it were not for the carrot of material gain or the
stick of hunger and deprivation, motivation for work might disappear. Other motives
are shadowy, unreal, or idealistic.
5. The corollary of all the above is that those who fail to “make it” are at least incompetent,
and perhaps even lazy and immoral (synonyms).
Although the entire mythology has created some of the strains in American life, it is
this final corollary that places personal responsibility and independence at the heart of
American values. Somehow, if things do not go well or if one fails, then one is to blame.
Although other cultures have extolled ambition and progress, it is the combination of this
striving philosophy with the corollary that people determine both their successes and fail-
ures that make American society particularly unusual. However, the mythology does not
find complete acceptance, and at different periods it is stronger or weaker. For example,
during the Great Depression of the 1930s people felt simultaneously that they were inade-
quate but also that the social system had failed them.14 The tension between individualistic
and communitarian values creates simultaneous trends away from and toward this American
mythology. These trends, discussed in Chapter 14, continue to have profound effects on
life in the United States, particularly regarding social welfare.
But, the emphasis on the individual has, from early in the United States, been mod-
ified and balanced by a community value. An astute observer of American life, Alexis
DeTocqueville, suggested early on that:
as soon as several of the inhabitants of the United States have taken up an opinion
or a feeling which they wish to promote in the world, they look out for mutual
assistance; and as soon as they have found one another out, they combine. From
that moment they are no longer isolated men . . . The Americans have combated
by free institutions the tendency of equality to keep men asunder, and they have
subdued it.15
According to the historian Frederick Jackson Turner, the idea of a constant frontier
is central to the American spirit, and it was only in the last decade of the nineteenth cen-
tury that the frontier was officially declared closed. Illustrative of this idea was the young
and vigorous Kennedy national administration that in 1960 named its program “The New
Frontier.” The idea of a constant frontier remains potent within the United States in several
forms: the reach to fulfill the American dream, to fulfill the potential of the nation and all
its citizens, to explore space, to develop the contributions of science and technology for
human betterment, and to create throughout our urban centers, suburbs, and rural areas
“user-friendly” habitats for all citizens. However, even where agreement exists as to the
goals, as we shall see later, intense disagreement fuels debate about how to achieve these
goals.
Intellectual, scientific, and religious currents have all fed this mythology. In Chapter 2
we discuss the relationship between the views of human nature in any society and its wel-
fare approach and programs. In the United States such views have been influenced by the
ideology of industrialism, the development of the Protestant ethic (particularly the Calvinist
Socioeconomic Structure, Human Needs, and Mutual Responsibility 7

strain), and social Darwinism, each contributing to our placing priority on individual
responsibility.
Industrialism encouraged mobility, material gain, and competition, resulting in the
amassing of capital, which was frowned on in more traditional Christian theology.
Industrialism demanded a large pool of low-paid workers and drove people from their
traditional homes and pursuits to cities. Religion and science generated a rationale and
justification for these developments. Additional support came from economics and evo-
lutionary theory. The theories of laissez-faire capitalism suggested that society functions
best and that the common good is furthered most when there is constrained governmental
interference in the affairs of the market. The market is a grand anonymous stage in which
each commodity finds its own value. If labor is underpaid, this reflects its market value.
Any attempt to interfere by regulation lessens the ultimate benefit to society.16 Social sci-
entists went further. They took the ideas of natural selection developed by Charles Darwin
and created a social equivalent. The theory of natural selection, most simply stated, is that
in nature the most fit survive and the least fit die. Similarly, according to this view, in
society, in the free market (nature), there is a natural tendency for the best (most fit) to
succeed, and any attempt to interfere with this “natural selection” only perpetuates and
gives favor to those who can contribute least.
According to these views, social welfare measures, which help the weak, only weaken
society. The kindest approach, in the long run, is to let the weak fail. Laissez-faire philoso-
phers acknowledged the value of charity, but more to foster uplifting the soul of the phi-
lanthropist than for aiding the victim. President Herbert Hoover claimed that enterprise
builds society while charity builds character.
All of these ideas and forces had their impact in shaping the American myth. They
were particularly functional to a young, vigorous, and expanding country whose growth
left many casualties, from the indigenous Native Americans to enslaved African Americans,
as well as the working poor and the waves of immigrants in each generation.
It is not our intent here to try to counter the arguments of these philosophies. They
are discussed further in Chapters 2 and 3. Many Americans reject them on face value, but
many others believe them. It is suggested that we live in a welfare society, and “they” are
expected to be able to do something about our social problems, finding approval in some
quarters and indignation in others. Most Americans believe the destitute should be helped.
But so deep and pervasive in the American psyche is the philosophy of individual responsi-
bility and competition17 that we still find ourselves, in many overt and subtle ways, repeating
the patterns that belong to ideologies many have long since rejected. Many others believe
these ideologies are true and best for each of us and for the nation.

Balancing Individual and Societal Responsibilities


An overemphasis on individual causation (personal troubles are mainly a result of personal
failures) can be harmful; similarly refusing to recognize “public issues” that must be dealt
with can be equally destructive. Some forces are beyond the control or influence of any
individual. Nonetheless, an emphasis on personal responsibility for one’s situation regard-
less of the context and structural factors in society is very much alive and very much with
us. In fact, this deeply ingrained value judgment and perception is rather ubiquitous and is
found often where least expected. For example, Peggy Say, the sister of Terry A. Anderson,
who had been snatched off the streets of Beirut and held captive in Lebanon for many
years, reported, “I won’t tell him of the accusation that ‘he shouldn’t have been there in
the first place.’”18 Every important social problem—crime, mental illness, civil disorder,
8 Chapter One

unemployment, child abuse, health care, slum housing—has been analyzed within the
framework of the responsibility of the individual. Those who experience the problem are
poorly motivated, lack information, have the wrong characteristics, have poor judgment,
or are not acculturated.
What are some of the reasons we shift responsibility from community and society
entirely to the individual? To do so serves certain purposes. It makes us feel superior;
it allows us to express our hostilities toward relatively safe objects. It also separates and
distances us from those in need and allows us subtly to defend the status quo in regard
to the poor.
The sector of the economy, the degree of unionization, the geographic part of the coun-
try one resides in—all these and other factors, as we shall see in greater detail in Chapter 8—
affect one’s well-being. Events in distant locations can have enormous implications for per-
sons and families, events over which, in this interdependent world, we often have little, if
any, control.

Human Rights, Social Justice, Social Work,


and Social Welfare
According to the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW),
the primary mission of the social work profession is “to enhance human well-being and
help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and
empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.”
The mission is based in a set of core values integral to the practice of social work.
Among these values is social justice, a value expressed through this ethical principle: Social
workers challenge social injustice. The code understands social injustice as being reflected
in social conditions:
Social workers pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable
and oppressed individuals and groups of people. Social workers’ social change efforts
are focused primarily on issues of poverty, unemployment, discrimination, and other
forms of social injustice.
The social justice value and its underlying ethical principle are further developed in the
code’s ethical standards:
Social workers should promote the general welfare of society, from local to global levels,
and the development of people, their communities, and their environments. Social
workers should advocate for living conditions conducive to the fulfillment of basic human
needs and should promote social, economic, political, and cultural values and institu-
tions that are compatible with the realization of social justice. (Code, 6.01)
Social workers should engage in social and political action that seeks to ensure
that all people have equal access to the resources, employment, services, and
opportunities they require to meet their basic human needs and to develop fully.
(Code, 6.04)
At first glance, the concept of social justice seems simple, easily grasped, and readily
apparent to all persons, finding broad agreement. But is it? There is no one agreed-on
definition of social justice. What is social justice? What is the “general welfare” of society
and how is it measured? To whom is primary responsibility owed? When a resource is
in short supply and cannot be provided to every needy person, how does one choose
recipients? How can one choose among several disadvantaged groups? To what extent
Socioeconomic Structure, Human Needs, and Mutual Responsibility 9

should one group be deprived so that the general society is better off at least to a certain
degree? Under what circumstances can global needs take priority over the needs of the
local community? What are the basic human needs, and how does one know when they
are fulfilled?19
A simple answer to all these questions might follow jazz great Louis “Satchmo”
Armstrong’s approach. When he was asked by a young woman to explain jazz music, he
responded: “There are some people that if they don’t know, you can’t tell them,” thus sug-
gesting that one has to find the concept apparent at first view; otherwise, one won’t ever
get it. Using the Armstrong method, Miller described social justice as “how the good and
bad things in life should be distributed among the members of a human society.” When
a policy or state of affairs is attacked, critics are “claiming that a person or a category
of people enjoys fewer advantages than they ought to enjoy (or bears more of the bur-
dens than they ought to bear) given how other members of the society in question are
faring.”20

Beliefs about Social Justice


Some people concerned with social justice hold that historical inequities, insofar as they
affect current injustice, should be corrected so that actual inequities no longer exist.
There should be a redistribution of wealth, power, and status for the good of individuals,
communities, and society. It is the government’s responsibility (or those who hold suf-
ficient power) to ensure a basic quality of life for all citizens. On the other hand, critics
may believe that to favor one group over another is inherently unjust. Those who are
successful according to the standards of the society should not be penalized by being
compelled to support those who are not. Personal liberty is more important than gov-
ernment social policies (an idea shared by many supporters of social justice). Social jus-
tice is expensive social engineering that can only fail or create additional and different
problems.21
There may be consensus (more or less) among social workers as to the meaning of
social justice. Nevertheless, people’s assumptions and views about social justice can differ,
as we’ve seen. Consequently, there may be agreement about the term social justice at a high
level of generality, but what happens when we begin to examine the term more closely and
from different perspectives?
Indeed, there are divisions in American society about values—among other issues—
concerning euthanasia, the right to die, human cloning, abortion, same-sex marriage, and
the respective responsibilities of individuals, families, and governments. In addition, im-
migrant, racial, generational, religious, sexual orientation, and ethnic and cultural groups,
among others, can clash over values.
Should society sit by when people are starving in our nation? What if it is not a ques-
tion of starvation but of a nutritionally adequate diet? Is everyone entitled to a decent
minimum of health care? What is a decent minimum of health care? Should all citizens
be helped to meet their basic needs? What are the basic needs of people? What about il-
legal immigrants? Should their needs be met? What about criminals and those who have
harmed other people? What is a decent minimally adequate standard of living?

The Social Minimum: The Standard for Social Justice


Those persons trying to understand the concept of social justice can disagree about what
constitutes the social minimum. What is the exact nature of a social minimum? What
assumptions and rationale support the idea of a social minimum? What justifications can
10 Chapter One

be offered to support the enactment of a social minimum in a society? All these questions
are the subject of debate and argument, and the answers one provides depend on many fac-
tors, including values.
White defined a social minimum as “that bundle of resources in the circumstances
of a given society which enable someone to lead a minimally decent life.”22 What is the
nature of that “bundle,” and what is a “minimally decent life”? Second, what policies and
institutions can serve to secure reasonable access to this social minimum for all members
of society?
One way of approaching these questions is to identify a set of necessary human capabili-
ties and activities. Nussbaum, among others, believed we can identify a set of vital activities
so critical that they define a life which is truly human. She defined the following capabilities
or activities as those that are central to human functioning in the world:
Life. Being able to live to the end of a human life of normal length; not dying prema-
turely, or before one’s life is so reduced as to be not worth living.
Bodily Health. Being able to have good health, including reproductive health; to be
adequately nourished; to have adequate shelter.
Bodily Integrity. Being able to move freely from place to place; to be secure against
violent assault, including sexual assault and domestic violence; having opportunities
for sexual satisfaction and for choice in matters of reproduction.
Senses, Imagination, and Thought. Being able to use the senses, to imagine, think,
and reason, and to do these things in a “truly human” way, a way informed and culti-
vated by an adequate education.
Emotions. Being able to have attachments to things and people outside ourselves; to
love those who love and care for us, to grieve at their absence; in general, to love, to
grieve, to experience longing, gratitude, and justified anger.
Practical Reason. Being able to form a conception of the good and to engage in criti-
cal reflection about the planning of one’s life. This entails protection for the liberty of
conscience.
Affiliation. Being able to live with and toward others, to recognize and show concern
for other human beings, to engage in various forms of social interaction. Having the
social bases of self-respect and non-humiliation; being able to be treated as a dignified
being whose worth is equal to that of others. This entails protections against discrimi-
nation on the basis of race, sex, religion, caste, ethnicity, or national origin. The capa-
bility for love and friendship.
Other Species. Being able to live with concern for and in relation to animals, plants,
and the world of nature.
Play. Being able to laugh, to play, to enjoy recreational activities.
Control Over One’s Environment. Political. Being able to participate effectively in
political choices that govern one’s life; having the right of political participation, pro-
tections of free speech and association. Material. Being able to hold property (both
land and movable goods); having the right to seek employment on an equal basis with
others; having the freedom from unwarranted search and seizure.23
The point of the suggested list is to create a list that people from many different tradi-
tions, with many different and fuller conceptions of the “good,” can agree on as the nec-
essary basis for pursuing a good life. The list is deliberately general but refers to a life
comprising full human functioning and whose human dignity is not violated by hunger,
Socioeconomic Structure, Human Needs, and Mutual Responsibility 11

fear, or the absence of opportunity. According to Nussbaum, these attributes deserve


the same social protection that rights such as political participation and equal employ-
ment receive.
No list such as Nussbaum’s can avoid disagreement. There are many such lists, and there
are frequent value differences among them. For example, Doyal and Gough include in their
list of needs security in childhood and safe childbearing (the lowest possible maternal and
infant mortality rate).24 In regard to Nussbaum’s list, does being human really require “the
capability for connection with nature and other species”? Must you have some sense of con-
nection with animals or a sense of wonder when standing at the rim of the Grand Canyon to
be considered fully human? One can quibble over such matters, but the establishment of a
list helps us to better understand and consider what social justice might be.
However, another serious issue has to be considered regarding the social minimum.
The “bundle of resources” that makes a life human—a minimal standard of living or the
social minimum—is defined by the circumstances of a person’s society. To what extent is
the social minimum dependent on the general standards of living in one’s society? Does
this mean the social minimum in a wealthy society should be higher than in poorer societ-
ies? Is poverty a matter of absolute or relative income or wealth? What if a poor person’s
income remains constant with inflation but the incomes and wealth of those more well-off
are moving ahead by leaps and bounds? As the reader will see in Chapter 8, wealth in-
equality is large and increasing with a growing concentration of wealth at the top income
levels. It has been suggested that the poor are better off in the United States than in many
other nations. If that is true, what does criticism of the growing gap in income and wealth
between those who are wealthy and those who are poorer imply? Does this represent con-
fusion between poverty and inequality or an unacknowledged assumption about inequality
in general?
Leading a life without shame with a social minimum in any society is related to one’s
self-respect and sense of dignity. Self-respect depends on a person’s ability to maintain a
lifestyle that is sufficiently similar to his or her fellow citizens and that enables him or her
to participate in the life of his or her community. From this perspective, disabled persons
and families with children need more and poor families should be able to afford transpor-
tation, appropriate clothing, and family vacations, among other resources. Poorer persons
look inferior, and start to feel inferior, if they do not share the common experiences of their
society. One view is that it is crucial for families to have access to experiences common to
their neighbors, rather than money alone.25 A social minimum for income and wealth will
be examined in some detail in Chapter 7. In a society such as ours—the wealthiest in the
world—what should the social minimum be?

The NASW Standard: Equal Access and Rights


The NASW standard cited earlier (6.04) suggested that social justice is achieved when
“all people have equal access to the resources, employment, services, and opportunities
they require to meet their basic human needs and to develop fully.” Kallen approached
this issue from a human rights perspective and distilled from international human rights
documents a threefold theme: (1) The right of all human beings to participate in the
shaping of decisions affecting themselves and the broader society (freedom to decide);
(2) reasonable access to the economic resources that make participation possible (equal-
ity/equity of opportunity); and (3) affirmation of the essential human worth and dignity
of every person, regardless of individual qualities and/or group membership (dignity of
person).26
12 Chapter One

Toward the Social Minimum


In our society today, many disparities and contradictions hamper the achievement of the
rights cited previously and the attainment by all of a social minimum. The Preamble to
the U.S. Constitution suggests, among other activities, that we are to “promote the gen-
eral welfare” of all citizens. Yet in regard to the achievement of a broader general welfare,
many in our society lack resources. For example, our educational systems leave much to
be desired; racial, gender, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, and other prejudices and
discrimination continue; many persons lack access to health care; issues exist about labor
fairness; there are problems regarding violence and safety, as well as child, domestic, and
elder abuse; voting rights have come under attack in recent elections; unemployment leaves
many without productive employment; many go without sufficient and appropriate housing;
some citizens do live in toxic environments; and there are many who although conscientious
and determined still lack sufficient income for their families, while “the richest are leaving
even the rich far behind.”

Equality of Opportunity
Equality of opportunity plays an important part in the search for distributive justice,
the allocation of the benefits and burdens of economic activity. The central question is,
Under what conditions is the distribution of liberties, opportunities, and goods that society
makes available to persons just or morally fair? The distribution is just and fair if it
satisfies the norm of equality of opportunity. This requires that unchosen inequalities
(matters imposed on an individual in ways that he could not have influenced or con-
trolled) be eliminated and that inequalities that arise from choices of individuals given
equal initial conditions and a fair framework for interaction should not be eliminated or
reduced. This is the concept of a “level playing field.” Justice requires leveling the play-
ing field by making everyone’s opportunities equal and then letting individual choices
and their effects dictate further outcomes.27 The ideal is a society in which people do not
suffer disadvantage from discrimination on grounds such as race, ethnicity, religion, sex,
and sexual orientation. One can understand this ideal as morally right in and of itself.
Or, one can understand that excluding persons, for example, women from the labor force
makes markets function less efficiently and can result in the loss of valuable talents so-
cially and economically.
The equality of opportunity is key. Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, British public
health researchers, found that greater equality makes societies stronger.28 They suggest
that it has long been known that poor health and violence are more common in more
unequal societies. However, they studied internationally other social problems and found
they were more common in more unequal societies. The list included: level of trust, men-
tal illness (including drug and alcohol addiction), life expectancy and infant mortality,
obesity, children’s educational performance, teenage births, homicides, imprisonment
rates, and social mobility (not included for the United States). For example, inequality is
associated with lower life expectancy, higher rates of infant mortality, poor self-reported
health, low birthweight, AIDS, and depression (2009). Social mobility (moving up or
down the social ladder) is lower in more unequal countries. Homicides are more common
in more unequal societies. Among the nations studied were Australia, Austria, Belgium,
Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the
United States.
Socioeconomic Structure, Human Needs, and Mutual Responsibility 13

Views of Social Welfare


As we proceed in this book, the reader will see that there are many different assumptions
and perspectives about social welfare—what it is and what it should be in a society. Is the
role of social welfare to be limited to dealing with the dysfunctions of a free (laissez-faire)
economy, or is it to work toward social justice and equity and a sense of fair play within a
relatively free market economy? As we shall see, there are essentially two basic positions
that will be explored in greater depth in later chapters. The first view, which has gained in
popularity over the past few decades, suggests the market is good for almost everything and
most problems can be better solved by market mechanisms than through governmental ac-
tions. In this view, there should be a minimum of government intervention. Individuals
and families should have a high degree of responsibility for themselves. When individuals
and families cannot deal with their problems, there should be limited state intervention.
However, close observation of those who publicly espouse this ideology often reveals that
they do believe in government intervention when it serves their purposes.
The second point of view suggests government has a role to play when there is a need
for it. The question concerns when the need arises. This perspective is exemplified by Les-
ter Ward (American sociologist) and by John Stuart Mill (English philosopher). Ward sug-
gested that without constraints, liberty and happiness are impossible. True individualism
seeks to maximize personal liberty but to do so requires some governmental restraints;29
laissez-faire at the extreme is incoherent and futile. Quoting Mill, Goodin stated:
Energy and self-dependence are . . . liable to be impaired by the absence of help, as
well as by its excess. It is even more fatal to exertion to have no hope of succeeding
by it, than to be assured of succeeding without it. When the condition of anyone is so
disastrous that his energies are paralyzed by discouragement, assistance is a tonic, not
a sedative.30
In succeeding chapters, the reader can follow the development of social welfare, in-
cluding who enjoys advantages and who carries undue burdens, and how the social justice
theme has played out over the centuries. In Chapter 7, we will return to an examination of
the reasons and arguments in favor of a social minimum by persons representing different
philosophical points of view. We also will introduce in that chapter the arguments against a
social minimum. The reader will be asked to decide then whether a social minimum is jus-
tified and, if so, what it should be. Finally, in Chapter 15, we will examine in detail several
issues concerning social justice: children and the effects of poverty; veterans of Iraq and
Afghanistan; elder abuse; globalization, privatization, socially just services, and the future
of social welfare; and the baby boom generation and the choices before us.

The Authors’ Perspective


The reader deserves to know something more about the biases of the authors. We move
from multiple perspectives:
1. Many problems faced by people in our society are largely caused by the institutional
structure of society and not by people’s own inadequacies or actions.
2. Although societal structures impact on individuals, people ultimately are respon-
sible for their actions and behavior, if not for their fates. There is free will within the
boundaries of the opportunities available, boundaries that are defined by both objec-
tive and subjective realities.
14 Chapter One

3. Social policies and programs can have a profoundly positive influence on society.
4. Private troubles and public issues are interrelated. Private troubles are embedded in
public issues, and public issues are often embedded in private troubles.

All of these perspectives are important. Because of the circumstances in which people
are born and raised, there are different obstacles and opportunities confronting each indi-
vidual. There are unequal capacities among people, and there are oppressive social forces.
We do not deny these factors as part of the reality that confronts each individual in re-
lation to his or her own responsibility. Moreover, people are sometimes so incapacitated
that their impairment makes it impossible for them to control their own actions; therefore,
they do not have a full measure of responsibility. These exceptions and external forces cre-
ate dilemmas for human beings, but, it seems to us, we must hold people responsible for
their actions precisely because such a claim upon them maintains their very humanity and
dignity. The question is this: To what extent are people really human without assuming
responsibility for their actions?
If one is human, one is deserving of faith in ultimate worth, in capacity to grow. But
being human implies being responsible for one’s acts in spite of adversity. There is a
patronizing element in portraying vandals as social revolutionaries, and there is racism
in suggesting that any group cannot be expected to live up to standards for responsible
behavior.
We believe that poverty and other social problems derive largely from the institu-
tional arrangements of the society in which we live. These arrangements result from an
interplay between philosophical beliefs, such as those that have been reviewed here, and
the demands of our society. These factors are structural in the society and not simply the
byplay of individuals with equal opportunity making their demands felt in a free-market
economy. From the tax structure, which is much less progressive than it was in recent decades,
to the availability of social services and supports, to the punishments meted out by the
penal system, we observe vast inequalities in how people are treated by society. There is a
kind of “welfare” for the wealthy and for large industries not available to the poor. It is our
point of view, therefore, that solutions to social problems must be sought mainly in insti-
tutional and structural arrangements rather than in the rehabilitation of vast numbers of
sick, disturbed, or uncultured people. Although we believe that individuals may need and
deserve individual services, the greatest help will come to the most people through insti-
tutional change such as quality education, job creation, improved housing, and equitable
health services.
Recent rhetoric from the highest levels of the U.S. government portrayed government
as the enemy of social progress, ignoring the impact of societal structure. That rhetoric
suggests that government programs can only make problems worse; it is the voluntary
efforts of people in local communities that can really make a difference. There have been
poor government programs and exciting local voluntary programs, but this basic proposi-
tion is essentially false. Major and massive social problems have, throughout our history,
been amenable to amelioration only through major government efforts, including the
application of fiscal resources. From the Social Security system to Medicare to any number
of other significant programs, changes and improvements in the social system have come
about through major public efforts, most often national—not local.
We live in a highly complex, postindustrial society in which we are all very interdepen-
dent. We are not the mythological self-reliant, autonomous, and independent beings we are
led to believe constitute the highest order; we are, in fact, integrally dependent on others.
We cannot all repair automobiles, build roads, grow corn, and teach ourselves, and we are
Socioeconomic Structure, Human Needs, and Mutual Responsibility 15

deeply dependent on others who are, in turn, dependent on our own specialized skills and
knowledge.
We also believe there is an alternative reading of evolution, which leads us to coopera-
tion and survival. In nature there is competition, but there is also cooperation. There is
selfishness, but there is also mutual aid and self-sacrifice. Contrary to the argument put
forth by the social Darwinists with which we began this chapter,
animals . . . are strikingly unselfish, particularly with their own species—giving
warning of predators, sharing food, grooming others to remove parasites, adopting
orphans, fighting without killing or even injuring their adversaries. They work duti-
fully for their communities instead of being hard-bitten, self-seeking individualists.31
However, the fact that altruism is natural does not mean it is inevitable. Altruism is
in keen competition with other values and has not been socially nurtured in recent U.S.
history. Altruistic behavior depends on social structures within which we live. It is neither
essential nor a universal characteristic of human nature, and the structural choices our society
makes either support or undermine altruistic behaviors.32
We see the poor as the outcome of imperfect systems. We believe this is not the only
choice in society and that other options are available. Finally, we suggest that the middle
class is also injured by structural factors. Although economically less disadvantaged, the
middle class, too, is caught in a snare of individualism run rampant, in which blame for
personal misfortune is self-directed. Members of the middle class, often ineligible for
public welfare programs and unable to pay for private assistance, frequently believe that
their problems, too, are the result of individual failure: “If we were really equal to the
task, all things would be possible. Whatever our difficulties, they are the result of our
failures.” The overreaction to this belief system, the other side of the coin, is the tendency
among some contemporary groups to deny their own humanity, to disclaim respon-
sibility for their behavior, to despair of achieving progress when “they” don’t respond
immediately to a political campaign, or to retreat to utopias and inactivity. This is a kind
of self-victimization.
It is clear U.S. society has several predominant values in regard to social welfare, some-
times conflicting and always interdependent. An emphasis on self-reliance, individual
responsibility, and social Darwinism are strong currents in American thought. However,
U.S. society is also influenced by the value of mutual aid, the ideal of equal opportunity,
and the “second chance” philosophy.
Our social welfare system, as we will see, has been profoundly affected by the English
Poor Laws. Even so, when the pain is distributed broadly enough in our society, Americans
begin to think more in terms of improving society than of “we” and “them.”
There are several strong themes in social welfare. For example, Americans suspend
their judgmental values about persons with problems on the basis of human tragedies,
especially widespread disasters that affect persons across the board and also in regard to
special categories of persons, such as war veterans. We do suggest, however, that an em-
phasis on individual responsibility is a crucial perspective that is unduly influential in U.S.
society. A major thesis of this book is that values inform social welfare, and this theme will
be explored as we proceed.
Even though we believe that all persons in the United States are entitled to the
inalienable rights provided by the Constitution, they are entitled not on the basis of their
problematic situations but simply because they are human. We do not believe individu-
als should have to demonstrate how beaten down they are before government interven-
tion helps them out. Similarly, we do not believe that groups should have to contest with
16 Chapter One

each other over how persecuted they have been in order to qualify for necessary benefits
and resources. The basic question is, How can U.S. society ensure equal rights and equal
opportunities for all? Thus, we see societal values as having profoundly affected the social
structure in the United States, particularly in social welfare. We see humans, however
imperfectly, as being capable of adopting more humane values and of structuring a more
humane society.

Summary
In Chapter 1, we introduced the ideas of self-reliance and individual responsibility as driv-
ing forces in U.S. social welfare and suggested the importance of societal structures as they
impact on our lives. We briefly defined social welfare and social work; explored the American
myth of the hero; and introduced intellectual, scientific, religious, and socioeconomic
factors contributing to the state of U.S. social welfare. Finally, we introduced the authors’
perspectives. Students and readers are entitled to know our perspectives because of the
importance we assign to values as determinants of each person’s and our society’s views
regarding social welfare. We hope readers will be encouraged to consider how values play a
part in determining how our society deals with social welfare.
We turn now to Chapter 2, in which we review the relationship of perspectives on
human nature in any society and the approach the society takes to welfare. Early history
and examples of social welfare practices over time will be explored.
Electronic information sources are growing in importance. In the Appendix, you will
find sources of information and a timeline of significant social welfare events that you can
use to enrich your learning.

Questions for Consideration


1. Can you identify problems and issues that seem to be caused more by societal struc-
tures than by individual responsibility?
2. What is your professional view about the concept of social justice? What are your
thoughts about the NASW Code’s statements about social justice?
3. Do you think the social minimum is complete and correct? If not, how would you
change it?
4. Before you have read further in this book, what do you believe social welfare is?
5. What are your reactions to the values expressed in the authors’ perspective?
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DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least


the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,


some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.

NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR


MAHUTA

I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.

MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO


This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]

MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY

With no small pride first one householder and then a second


showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
“We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of iron-
working. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
THE MAKONDE
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
BRAZIER

Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I


came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT

SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB

CUTTING THE EDGE


FINISHING THE BOTTOM

LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE


BURNING

FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE


LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE

TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL

NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI


Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightly-
built, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
MAKUA WOMAN closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKING A POT. of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boiling-
point—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK

DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG

REMOVING THE OUTER BARK


BEATING THE BARK

WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT


SOFT

MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA


To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN

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