John M. Herrick – Encyclopedia of Social Welfare History in North America

Автор: John M. Herrick
Название книги: Encyclopedia of Social Welfare History in North America
Формат: PDF
Жанр: История Америки, Австралии, Океании
Страницы: 543
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

The Encyclopedia of Social Welfare History in North America is a unique reference book that provides readers with basic information about the history of social welfare in North America, including Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Since many themes and issues are similar in the three nations, entries provide comparative information about common as well as distinctive concerns and developments. Significant events, influential people, legislation, social problems, and societal responses are described in detail. Editors include specialists in the social welfare history of each nation, and they have collaborated with scholars from a variety of academic disciplines to prepare entries of varying length addressing these issues. Included in each entry are suggestions for further reading that will guide readers to the rich resources available for learning about the history of North American social welfare. The Encyclopedia also provides cross-references for important topics

Rationale
In the Encyclopedia of Social Welfare History in
North America, we endeavored to bring together
basic information on the history of social welfare in
the three major countries that constitute North
America—Canada, Mexico, and the United States of
America. Our intention was to provide readers with
information about how these three nations have dealt
with social welfare issues, some similar across borders,
others unique, as well as to describe important
events, developments, and the lives and work of
some key contributors to social welfare developments.
If we have succeeded, the encyclopedia will
be useful to beginning students of social welfare
history as well as established scholars who are seeking
to extend their investigations into new areas of
inquiry.
This encyclopedia, the first of its kind, takes a
continental, tri-national approach to its subject matter.
Experts on the history of social welfare in Canada,
Mexico, and the United States contributed entries to
the volume. We have defined social welfare broadly,
to include education, informal mutual assistance, the
development of the social work profession, and voluntary
charitable activities as well as state-supported
public welfare activities. (The encyclopedia does not,
however, attempt to cover the history of social work
practice or the development of specialized education
for social work or the other human services.) The
coverage is broad and interdisciplinary; contributors
include scholars from the fields of anthropology,
economics, education, health sciences, history, labor
and industrial relations, political science, social work,
and sociology.
Much published research on social welfare policy
and social welfare history takes a national approach,
with perhaps a nod to developments in other countries.
In choosing a continental focus for this encyclopedia,
the editors hoped to encourage, in a small way, crossnational
and comparative research. We hope that readers
will find the encyclopedia a convenient guide and
starting point for investigations of the development of
social welfare history in any one of the three countries
as well as for comparative studies.
Organization and Themes
The entries in the encyclopedia are, for the most
part, chronological. In some cases, the entries are sui
generis, unique to a particular country. In other cases,
where appropriate, similar entries on two or on all
three countries have been grouped together to facilitate
cross-national comparisons. In addition, a Reader’s
Guide is provided, which groups entries by country
and by topic.
Research Guides to studying social welfare history
in Canada, Mexico, and the United States are provided
in an appendix. Written by archivists, these
guides introduce the reader to resources for further
research, including archival depositories and printed
primary sources in social welfare history in each of
the three countries. Chronologies of important events
in social welfare that are described in the entries are
also provided. A chronology is presented for each of
the three countries covered in this volume so that the
reader can trace events in one country or compare
developments in two or three countries at various
points in time.
Editorial Process
Social work librarian Ruth Britton suggested a
need for this encyclopedia. Surveying standard reference
works showed a void in this area; hence, the project
began. In planning this project, it was decided
early on that its scope should be North American,
including Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Our
intention was to provide readers with information
about how these three nations have dealt with social
welfare issues, some similar across borders, others
unique, as well as to describe important events, developments
and the lives and work of some key contributors
to social welfare. Associate editors for Canada
and Mexico, both of them experts in the history of
social welfare in those countries, were invited to join
the project and contributors, both established and
emerging scholars, were recruited.
Our intention was to bring together in one source
basic information about themes, issues, events, and
personalities that shaped North American social welfare,
broadly conceived. In deciding what to include,
we were selective, admitting early on that we could
not cover every issue, policy, or personality that might
be relevant. In particular, it was not possible to provide
as much detail on the development of the helping
professions, in particular social work, as some readers
may wish. We hope the final product will provide
readers with valuable information about national as
well as cross-national social welfare history. And we
hope that our work will encourage further study in this
rich and complex field. The history of North American
social welfare shows how three nations, each with a
complex history, have chosen to deal with the provision
of social welfare programs and services to their
populations. Social welfare decisions in the past have
affected the well-being of millions of people and individual
and collective social welfare in the future
remain a fundamental concern for all nations.
Acknowledgments
The editors are grateful for the opportunity to
work together on this project. The editors’ names
are presented in alphabetical order and each of us
appreciates the contribution of the other. We also wish
to acknowledge the work of our Associate Editors
for Canada and Mexico, John Graham and Enrique
Ochoa, respectively, for their critical work in identifying
experts to prepare entries and in providing editorial
guidance to the contributors. We are grateful, too,
to Associate Editor Ruth Britton, librarian emeritus of
the University of Southern California School of Social
Work, who first suggested the need for this project,
and for her keen suggestions and editorial skills. And,
of course, this project could not have been completed
without the generous commitment of time and expertise
by the authors of our many entries. The hard work
of keeping track of authors’ entries and generally
keeping the project on track was done by our able editorial
assistants, both of them students in the PhD
Program in Social Work at the University of Alabama,
Benson Chisanga and Russell Bennett. It is appropriate
to admit that without their good work this project
might not have been completed. Staff members of
Sage Publications, in particular Sara Tauber, Rolf
Janke, and Kristen Gibson, worked tirelessly and
patiently with us to bring this work to completion. We
are indebted to them. Our employing institutions,
Michigan State University and the University of
Alabama, generously provided time for editorial work
and resources for scholarship. We particularly want to
thank the administrators who provided release time
for research and tangible resources. John Herrick
would like to thank his colleagues in the College of
Social Science and the School of Social Work for their
unflagging support and encouragement and for the
patient concern and support of his wife, Kathleen.
Paul Stuart would like to thank his wife, Joan E.
Esser-Stuart, for her assistance and support, as well as
University of Alabama colleagues, including Provost
Judy Bonner, Dean James P. Adams, Jr., and Jordan
Kosberg, former chair of the PhD program, for the
provision of time and resources in support of this
project