Celebration Social Work Month

Commentary

March 13, 2025

From AAPCSW's Diversity and Social Action Committee:

Dear Colleagues,

March is SOCIAL WORK MONTH which commemorates and celebrates the over a century old profession of social work. The official theme for 2025 is COMPASSION + ACTION. In the context of the current affairs in our world, the topic illuminates the essence of the social work profession's existence and its contributions to the wellbeing of society throughout its history.

An important aspect of celebrating our social work month is the fact that it provides us with the opportunity to reflect on who we are, where we have been historically, and where we are going. Let us honor our legacy and raise our contemporary collective voice.

This year's selected theme highlights social work's bio-psycho-social perspective on human functioning, as manifested in its core principles of person-in-environment and the concept of relationship. Furthermore, foundational core values of dignity and worth of the person, social justice, service, and empowerment of marginalized populations have been the guiding lights of the profession from its beginning. As such, this perspective has historically been instrumental in keeping a focused attention on the impact of inside/outside forces on the needs and well-being of individuals, families, groups and larger communities.

Inspired by this year's theme of Compassion and Action, and reflecting on the arc of social work history, from the Settlement House Movement to the Great Depression, Civil Rights Movement, wars, current Digital Revolution, and other epochal events, the social work profession faces challenges during such historical events.

The modern concept of social work as a profession has its roots in the 19th century Charity Organization Societies (COS), along with the Settlement House Movement in response to the enormous problems caused mainly by industrialization, immigration, urbanization, and abject poverty. Furthermore, awareness of the urgent need for trained professionals to address the complex resulting problems and advocacy for social change paved the way for the 1898 establishment of Columbia University School of Social Work in New York and the rapid opening of other important schools with their own pioneering programs within a few years.

Social work history and contributions of its practitioners to society and the world are full of energizing stories of its luminaries. Let us begin with our Founding Mothers: Jane Adams (1931 Noble Peace Prize winner) and her pioneering Settlement House efforts at exploring scientific approaches to charity through neighborhood improvement projects, and Mary Richmond's development of case work methodology (1917 “Social Diagnosis” and 1922 “What is Case Work” books) as the beginning of clinical social work treatment and a specialization within the larger field of social work.

The long list of our other notable early American pioneers include: Francis Perkins and Harry Hopkins the first woman Secretary of Labor and Presidential Advisor, respectively, pertaining to New Deal policy and programs in President Roosevelt's administration; Lester Blackwell Granger who introduced civil rights to social work advocacy; Thyra J. Edwards in 1953 organized the first Jewish child care program in Rome to help Holocaust survivors; Dorothy Height who became known as The Godmother of Civil Rights Movement; Whitney M. Young Jr.(Civil Rights Leader and President of National Urban League; Inabel Burns Lindsay clinical Social Worker and Founding Dean of Howard University School of Social work, and Barbara Mikulski social worker and first woman Democrat elected to the Senate.

Based on US Labor Department statistics, social work currently is the fastest growing profession in the country involved in all aspects of health, mental health and social service programs. Licensed Clinical social workers are recognized for their knowledge and skill in mental health treatment in public programs and independent private practice. It is important to note that from the beginning, clinical social work educators, like the rest of the field, felt free to integrate other disciplines' theoretical perspectives into social work sensibilities. In this process, psychoanalytic/psychodynamic information has had a foundational influence on clinical social work education and practice. However, our own psychoanalytically oriented American social workers and psychoanalysts also contributed much to the uniqueness of our knowledge base as represented by the following authors: Gertrude Blanck, Rubin Blanck, Florence Lieberman, Carolyn Saari, Selma Freiberg, Jean Sanville, Eda Goldstein, Joseph Palombo, and many others in the recent past and continuing in the present.

As clinical social workers, in general, and AAPCSW members, in particular, we have met a lot of challenges and have achieved important goals with our abiding commitment to professional values and hard work. What lessons can we take with us as we continue moving forward in a new world of chaos, limited resources, and frayed human connectivity? Relishing pride in our gains, how do we invest in innovative changes to meet the new unfamiliar tasks before us?

The fundamental lesson of our history tells us that with the strength of our knowledge and skills, our ethical duty toward the care of vulnerable people who seek our professional help, along with support and respect for our colleagues, then together, we can continue Dreaming the Future - the title of our November 2025 biennial conference - remembering this month's theme of Compassion + Action. We can and will persist! Let's celebrate!

AAPCSW Diversity and Social Action Committee