Social workers comprise a class whose function it is to cement the constantly widening gaps in the cracking status quo, said Dr. Horace M. Kallen of New York, who arrived at the Hotel St. Charles here to attend and address the National Conference of Jewish Social Work.
A new deal in social work is not likely, Dr. Kallen declared, so long as the “patron” system prevails and workers are afraid to speak out lest they lose their jobs, made possible by the wealthy. Only symptoms and not causes are treated, he maintained.
The necessary reorientation would take place, he said, “through the complete democratization of the social workers,” who in addition to exercising free speech would fashion their attitude to ward “clients” as doctors to their patients.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.