Notable social work figureheads - Essay Example

This research will begin with the statement that Jane Addams lived between 1860 and 1935. A settlement house reformer, women rights activist and pacifist, she is known for founding Hull-house, which typified social work at that time. In 1888, in a visit to England with her friend, she was motivated by a settlement house that she saw at that place. Upon their return to American, Addams and her friend chose Hull mansion, a building that was at that time used as a warehouse. Addams used experimental models that entailed trying solutions to check whether they would work.

Addams trained people to keep in touch with the needs of neighbors, and through this, she was able to establish Hull-House, an institution that is now known globally. Addams conducted fund raising personally and served in various social welfare commission. Adams campaigned for social reform issues like housing; sanitation; rights of women, children and immigrants and pacifism. In training social workers, Addams would have emphasized that they apply empathy, understanding, selflessness, and sacrifice so that her programs would be a success.

These attributes were necessary for her succeeding in social work ventures. Another skill that Addams would have emphasized while training her social workers is resilience. Resilience is a virtue that enabled Addams to establish Hull-House. This is typified by the progress she made after she had visited England in 1888.. To be able to undertake these tasks, they had to exhibit compassion and sympathy since without this; one would not be able to identify problems facing other people. The other skill that Addams taught her students was patience, and this ensured that, from a small social center emerged a very large facility that was widely known to provide social work services.

With time, Addams and her team started gaining popularity and Addams started being part of many social institutions. She became the most famous social work figurehead in her time as a result of her patience. Mary Ellen Richmond lived between 1861 and 1928 is another renown social work figurehead. Richmond was a proficient teacher and theoretician who came up with principles of social work practice. In her training, Richmond emphasized the need for volunteer work so that social work would be a success (Richmond, 2009).

Richmond worked tirelessly to ensure that his social work principles changed the society. Therefore, her teachings encouraged hard and selfless work so that his social work efforts would have a positive impact. Richmond was an extraordinary social work proponent since she formulated many social work theories that revolutionalized social work. Her teachings encouraged her students to come up with potent theories for social work so that their social work operations would be efficient and proficient.

Richmond encouraged the use of creative and critical thinking by her students so that they would be able to succeed in social work. Another skill that Richmond may have emphasized is the skill of tireless and selfless duty. This ensured that her policies spread and impacted positively on the lives of people that surrounded her. It is impossible for social work to assist the society if its