ABSTRACT
The argument in Part I, in which we were concerned with the first phase of the expansion of social work in Britain, can be summarised as follows. Social work came into being at the end of the nineteenth century at a time of social reckoning to replace traditional ideas about the role of philanthropy in relation to the solution of social problems. The philanthropic answer to social problems had consisted in a charitable transaction between the rich and the poor. This tradition preceded and accompanied the Industrial Revolution. Within the context of the general philanthropic response to large-scale social distress in the nineteenth century, three particular disciplined forms of social action developed which questioned the traditional tenets of the charitable transaction. It was from a fusion of these forms of social action that the particular principles and practices which characterised social work emerged. The three forms of disciplined social action were: first, social action within the tradition of professional social administration; second, social action within the charity organisation movement; and, third, a romantic individualistic tradition based on principles of social pacifism which we have called ‘direct social action’. Each of these three forms of social action emphasised the role of social education and it was in this context that 50social work as a movement gave birth to social work as a profession. The movement stood for the application of scientific principles and humanitarian philosophy to an understanding and a solution of social problems.
