I found Jane Addams to be such an amazing role model for human service workers. I was particularly impressed by he dedication to people with MI. She had a down-to-earth way about her that I’m sure was appreciated. As our reading explained, her father gently pointed out to her when she was young that her cloak was a little too fancy to wear to church. This set the stage for a simple Hull-House environment.
In the quote from our reading assignment, Addams stated that she wondered how to make people more equal, “equal in things that mattered much more than clothes, the affairs of education and religion, for instance which we attended to when we went to school and church, that it was very stupid to wear the sort of clothes that made it harder to have equality even there. (Addams, 1910 p.13-14)
It was clear that she believe in a down to earth.
In the movie, the treatment home was similar. It was not like a hospital or formal intuition. The actions of the staff reflected respect and humanistic approach. My favorite clip was when Frances had success in lobbying. He made the phone call to share is appreciation. The staff person said, “it goes both ways”. He thanked Frances.
I have been part of a movement that I think Addams would have approved of. It was a community action group that met monthly. The worked together to develop programming for the community. It involved community members, services workers, and business workers. They came up with community events to connect people such as a summer concert series in downtown Brattleboro Vermont. The idea was to have live music and entertainment available for everyone. There was a free cookout as to have equal sharing of a meal.
This sounds like really amazing work, Becky! It's great that the whole community was involved - different stakeholders with varying perspectives coming together to work for the benefit of everyone. And I also really appreciate Jane Adams perspective, as a social work student. It's been so cool to learn more about the start of the field, because social work seems to have this divide - people talk about working on the micro level (i.e. clinical social work) or on the macro level (i.e. community social work, legislative work, etc.), so it's cool to see that Jane Adams may have worked with individual people while she was in Chicago but she was focused on changing the culture of the surrounding communities at the same time. We as social workers need to be focused on both - the individual and the societal. Very interesting stuff.
ReplyDeleteMegan,
ReplyDeleteYou have an excellent point in the need to focus on the individual and the societal. I think from a VR perspective it is very easy to focus on the individual. Yet, we should also be looking at ways to advocate for people with disabilities. Being visible in the community is one way I try to stay in touch with my community. I can’t imagine the dedication of Jane Adams as she was a true role model for service providers.
Hi Becky,
ReplyDeleteI also found Jane Addams to be a true role model. I hope to be the kind of social worker she was one day! I also love the quote that you chose about her search for a way to make people "more equal." Though I don't think that I knew this when I began school, I believe now that part of the reason I am so drawn to being social worker was for this exact reason. My work with the poor and those experiencing homelessness has led me to wanting to really change societal structures so they are more equal and fair. In fact, I think that this is one of social work's biggest jobs - to really face societal inequality and to change it.