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CHURCH AND MENTAL HEALTHJesse Allen JacobsPublished online: 25 May 2006.

To cite this article: Jesse Allen Jacobs (1935) CHURCH AND MENTAL HEALTH, Religious Education: The official journal of theReligious Education Association, 30:2, 98-105, DOI: 10.1080/0034408350300204

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CHURCH AND MENTAL HEALTH

THE PROTESTANT MINISTER AND THE RELIEF OFDESTITUTION

JESSE ALLEN JACOBS*

THE PRE-DEPRESSION ERA: THE DOMI-NANCE OF THE PRIVATE AGENCY

FIFTY per cent of all charitable giftsin 1927 went to religious objects.1 Pro-

fessional standards among sectarian agen-cies, however, were at a relatively lowlevel. Among secular agencies, on thecontrary, there had been a steady trendtoward the development of new forms ofsocial case work.1 A study of Protestantministers made in 1929 revealed that thework done for the destitute consistedchiefly in such activities as the distributionof Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets,visits by pastor or laymen, and the dis-tribution of second-hand clothing.'

Ministers seldom attended social workconferences, read literature in the fieldor made use of case work methods. Socialworkers in like manner showed no greatconcern in seeking the co-operation ofministers. Ministers tended to emphasizewhat they described as the "human touch"

*The Cook County Bureau of Public Welfare,Chicago, Illinois.

1. Ellsworth Faris, editor, Intelligent Philan-thropy, U. of C. Press, 1930, p. 17 ff. Essayby Arthur J. Todd.

2. For excellent discussion of this point seePorter R. Lee, "Social Case Work," TheFamily Nov. 1934, pp. 199-204.

3. This refers only to work with the destituteand does not include preventive measures em-ployed to keep members of the church frombecoming destitute. The churches have al-ways rendered important services in this lat-ter respect. For a partial report on the abovementioned study see: Education of Amer-ican Ministers, Vol. II by Mark A. May etal., Inst. for Soc. and Rel. Research, 1934,pp. 172 ff.

in charity, whereas social workers, asDean Abbott pointed out in her book,Social Welfare and Professional Educa-tion, contended that technical skill and notmerely pleasing bed-side manners was aprerequisite in social work.*

On the depression the private socialagencies, which had almost exclusivelyadministered relief during the last fiftyyears in the United States, were in com-plete control, and the assumption that therelief of destitution was a local com-munity responsibility, the old parish idea,was accepted as almost axiomatic.

THE EFFECTS OF THE DEPRESSION: ASUDDEN SHIFT TO PUBLIC CONTROL(1) New precedents and programs. The

collapse of the economic superstructure in1920, not unlike the crisis precipitated bythe World War, necessitated concertedaction and a vast increase in federal con-trol. Here, for the first time in years,were millions of unemployed whose needfor relief was not to be attributed to de-fects in character, psychopathic person-ality, laziness, lack of thrift, or other rea-sons often given as causes of destitution.

The boasted resources, techniques, andtheories of sectarian and private agenciesproved inadequate. The 1932 ChicagoConference on Relief Standards, called toadvise on the situation, arrived at the fol-lowing principle: "The major responsi-

4. Edith Abbott, Social Welfare and Profes-sional Education, U. of C. Press, 1931.

5. Chicago Conference on Relief Standards,Reported in The Social Service Review, De-cember 1932, p. 605 ff.

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bility for the relief of destitution restswith government."8

President Roosevelt, soon after takingthe oath of office, sought to revive muchof the war-time methodology and vocabu-lary in "whipping the depression." In- this"War" on destitution, the immediate prob-lem was the relief of those "temporarily"out of work, but the ultimate goal was areturn to "prosperity."

A survey of emergency appropriationsindicates an unparalleled expenditure. InFebruary, 1934, Congress appropriated$95,000,000 to carry forward the vastprogram of relief. Approximately 4,500,-000 families were receiving relief in Aprilof this same year. By the middle of May,three fourths of the above mentioned ap-propriation was expended and a requestfor an additional billion was to be pre-sented before Congress adjourned. OnJune 1st, 1934, newspaper headlines in-formed the public—a public now well ac-customed to such gigantic appropriations—that "A Deficiency Bill Allows Six Bil-lions for Relief." Both in size of budgetand in method of administration the situ-ation was truly unprecedented.

The language of the emergency bills orthe public pronouncements of the Hooverand Roosevelt administrations indicatesthat, in public announcements at least, thedepression was considered a "passingemergency." Both administrations havedeclared emphatically in favor of a returnto private control and local communityresponsibility.

(2) Redefinition of the function of theprivate agency. The emergency reliefmeasures have raised anew the questionof the future of the private as contrastedto the public agency and vital questionsconcerning a permanent function for theprivate agency. The preponderance ofcritical opinion has been in favor of thecontinuance of private agencies as ex-perimental units; as pace-setters in theoryand methods for public welfare agencies.

If the present tendency continues it iscertain to have far-reaching effect oncharitable organizations. Such agencies

as the community chest have raised theirbudgets primarily on the relief appeal,and not, as is sometimes assumed, on thebasis of the support of character build-ing and educational institutions. ProfessorA. Wayne McMillen predicts that thecommunity chest movement, althoughhaving made a very significant contribu-tion to social work, will gradually recedein influence, and the council of socialagencies will rapidly come to the fore asthe coordinating agency.

Stuart A. Queen summarizes this grow-ing point of view among trained socialworkers:

For a time community chests will increasein number and financial strength until thebody of givers becomes so great and thepressure on recalcitrant citizens so strong thatthe transition to a tax-supported system willbe easy. . . . Social agencies will be usedincreasingly by persons of all economic andsocial classes, but most of the clients will bepeople of very limited resources. There willbe increasing attention to the prevention ofpoverty, disease, crime, and various forms ofsocial maladjustment. The spirit of charitywill not disappear, but it will gradually beovershadowed by the spirit of democracy andthe spirit of science.*(3) A new philosophy in the making.

However appropriate the older philoso-phies of charity may have been for fron-tier days, they are anachronisms in thepresent era. As Professor Paul H. Doug-las has cogently pointed out:

Industry, thrift and intelligence, are re-garded as the infallible qualities which leadto success and the lack of which is the causefor the failure of others. This faith is astrange compound of frontier traditions, theProtestant ethic, and eighteenth century ra-tionalism. Since the more the poor hold tothis philosophy the safer will be the seats ofthose who now hold the reins of power, it isbut natural that it should be inculcated bothconsciously and unconsciously by the domi-nant forces of society. If men feel that theyhave qnly themselves to blame, then nochange in society is needed and life can goon as before.*There are many indications that the

6. Stuart A. Queen, "Backgrounds of SocialWork" in Ellsworth Faris, editor, IntelligentPhilanthropy, p. 268.

7. Paul H. Douglas, The Coming of a NewParty, Whittlesby House, 1932, p. 3. Fora popular recognition of this point of view bya government official see Harold L. Ickes,"Jobs vs. Doles," Today, Nov. 17, 1934, p. 3.

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present era marks a rapid decline in thepopular confidence in what Carlton Hayeshas called "bourgeois benevolence." Toomuch water has already gone under thebridge and powerful social forces, not tomention financial considerations, are op-erating to compel federal planning andcontrol and the adaptation of relief giv-ing policies to the needs of modern life.*In several states where political dema-gogues have threatened the relief-givingagencies, the federal government has as-sumed complete supervision. An evenmore complete federal control is pending.

(4) The Protestant predicament. Whatabout the role of the Protestant ministerin the "new era" ? Because Protestantismhas been traditionally more favorable tostate control of charitable enterprises, andhas far fewer vested interests than theCatholic and Jewish agencies, it is in amore promising or a more embarrassingposition with reference to recent trendstoward public relief, depending on thepersonal bias of the observer.'

Protestantism is divided on the ques-tion. One group seeks to keep Protestant-ism on a par with the Jewish and Catholicsocial agencies. The other group, al-though not discrediting the social worknow being conducted under Protestantauspices, recognizes its limitations. Theminister, the group contends, if operatinga sectarian agency, will do so in coopera-tion with the specialists of the community.The main function of the Protestantmovement lies in a constructive emphasison a social order and an educational sys-tem, under skilled leadership, which willeliminate the causes of poverty and pro-vide a minimal care for all.

The defenders of the traditional pointof view contend that current methods ofpublic relief are impersonal and cold, as

8. For discussion see "Rising to a New Chal-lenge," Gertrude Springer The Survey, June1934, p. 179 ff., and "Our Illusions RegardingGovernment in same issue by Mary VanKleeck, p. 190-194.

9. For a detailed and critical statement of theProtestant point of view see essay by ShailerMathews—"Protestant Churches and Char-ity," in Intelligent Philanthropy, p. 119 ff.

contrasted with the more personal andhumanitarian approach of the churches.The church, it is asserted, has been pushedaside by secular agencies, and the presentmovement to abdicate the field of reliefgiving is only a further abandonment byProtestantism of hard-won territory.Johnston Myers, well known pastor ofthe Immanuel Baptist Church of Chicago,who boasts that he has "fed more hungrymen than any other man in the UnitedStates" summarized the position in a let-ter to the Christian Century. He stated"To feed the poor is all a ministerhas left."10

A popular and much d;sct;ssed defenseof the point of view implied in Dr. Myers'assertion appeared late in 1933 in an edi-torial in the Chicago Tribune. Thislengthy editorial, along with other ex-tensive arguments for liberty and ruggedindividualism, summed up the situationas follows:

Thoughtful Protestant pastors have viewedwith dismay the rise of the huge impersonalrelief industry. . . . Left in the hands of thechurches are only their long established char-itable and social institutions. These are nowin jeopardy largely because governmental andsecular agencies have been permitted to usurpan area included in Christianity's originalcharter, with resulting decline in public con-fidence in all church agencies. . . .

Protestant churches have been reluctant toundertake relief work supplied by governmentmoney, but there has occurred a change ofview among leaders of the Chicago Churchfederation, which has formed a commission tocanvass the problem of administrationthrough Protestant churches. . . .

As soon and as completely as possible, re-lief should be taken out of the hands of gov-ernment agencies and put in the keeping ofprivate or non-political organizations, ofwhich by far the most important, and in thedeepest sense the most efficient, are thechurches."

The fact that the controversy elicitedsuch lengthy editorial comment indicatesthe interest in the topic and the pros andcons of the arguments as propounded bythe middle class humanitarians. The Chi-cago Daily News, commenting editoriallya year later, took a similar position.

Philanthropy and religion, as the private

10. The Christian Century, October 11, 1933.11. Editorial—Chicago Tribune, 1933.

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agencies of voluntary human service, face to-day the menace of a spiritual drought. Thewell-springs of spontaneous helpfulness showsigns of going dry, and that, not merely be-cause private resources are shrunken, butbecause the habit of generous giving, thespirit of neighborly solicitude and contribu-tion is being sapped by state and nationalrelief

On the one hand we are making paupers;on the other we are dehumanizing philan-thropy. . . .

But with all the resolution we can summon,we should fight the deadly peril that thespirit of individual initiative in benevolencemay not succumb to the cold, machine-likeprocess of state charity routine. The transferof the heart to the compulsion of taxes willnot help humanity."

(5) Social service vs. relief giving.Social workers, although questioning thewisdom of the church as a relief-givingagency, eagerly seek the cooperation ofchurch leaders in other phases of socialwork. Professor McMillen, specialist incommunity organization, writes:

I object to a federation of Protestant agen-cies if they are to administer social services;but I have wondered whether a new federa-tion, or a strengthening of the Federal Coun-cil of Churches, might not be desirable fromthe standpoint of providing a rallying pointfor the teaching function of the clergy. IfProtestant clergy were agreed and convincedas to the next steps in social development,they could exert a tremendous influence inpromoting social objectives."

The discerning social worker does notdesire to discredit the minister. He ispainfully aware of the inadequacies ofsocial work in public agencies. The weak-ness, however, he attributes to the em-ergency nature of the work, to the in-sufficient supply of trained workers, to alack of time for the maturation of tech-niques and not to a fallacy in principle.The fact that the state pays the bills andthat there are fewer sentimental publicpleas to help the poor are not indicationsthat charity, under public auspices, needbe cold, or that the giving or receiving ofit will dry up the springs of either gen-erosity in the citizens or initiative in the

12. Editorial, The Chicago Daily News, Aug.28, 1934.

13. Excerpts from unpublished statement byProfessor A. Wayne McMillen, Universityof Chicago, School of Social Service Admin-istration, June, 1934.

recipient. It may have just the reverseeffect. Instead of tag days, charity foot-ball, charity dances, and an income whichfluctuates with every wind of the stockmarket or the whims of the eccentric rich,there could be a carefully planned budgetduly presented and approved as a legiti-mate appropriation for those in need ofcare and protection.

On the part of the recipient such pub-lic assistance might then be accepted asfrankly as public education and only as ameans of spanning an inevitable gulf be-tween a temporary lack of income andthe restoration to self-support." The per-sons administering the relief would not begivers of doles, clever detectives, senti-mental or condescending dispensers ofunsolicited advice, but objective and ma-ture persons who, as the family physician,place themselves at the disposal of theclient, to be used as a guide to the re-sources of the community.

(6) Protestant ministers as pioneersin social work. That sectarian groups wereoriginators of many social welfare insti-tutions now exclusively under secular con-trol, is an accepted historical fact. Steinerhas pointed out that "religious forceschampioned the cause of the weak, andlaid the foundations upon which socialwork was later built."15 North concursin this opinion:

The church was the original agency forsocial work. Before the state or voluntaryassociations labored for the needy, the churchwas engaged in its missions of mercy."These two writers are typical of cur-

rent social work opinion on this subject.In the major historical experiments in

social work, individual ministers haveplayed stellar roles. The Charity Or-

14. For an excellent statement of the changingpoint of view regarding public relief andmethods of administering it, see a recentpamphlet by Homer Folks, Making ReliefRespectable, S.C.A.A. Publication No. 212,State Charities Aid Association, 105 E. 22dStreet, New York, March, 1934.

15. Jesse F. Steiner, op.cit.16. C. C. North, The Community and Social

Welfare. Chap. IV. In this he is voicingan opinion, similar to that seen in his SocialWork in the Light of History.

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ganization Society of London, the or-ganization which "taught casework to theworld," and became a model for the char-ity movement in the United States, waslaunched chiefly at the instigation of aUnitarian minister of London, HenrySally. Sally read a series of papers whichresulted in the precipitation of opinionand eventually the formation of the Char-ity Organization Society in 1869.

In the organization of the charitymovement in the United States, ministersof various denominations made significantcontributions. Such persons as JosephTuckerman and William Ellery Channingwere, according to Watson, "a centuryahead of their time."" It was their think-ing, particularly that of Joseph Tucker-man, which laid the foundation for theAssociated Charities of Boston which wasorganized 25 years later. It was Tucker-man who pointed out the inadequacy ofwages, the influx of immigration andperiodic unemployment, as the majorcauses of poverty. Tuckerman and oth-ers were precursors of the theory of pre-ventive social work.

Through the creation of characterbuilding agencies such as settlements andschool community centers, ministers haveplayed commendable parts in preventivesocial work. Steiner has stated that "thesocial settlement movement in its earlybeginning was essentially a missionaryenterprise.1* Its first outstanding leaderwas the Rev. Mr. Barnett, vicar at St.Jude's in White Chapel, one of the poor-est parishes in London, but a place madefamous by the creative mind and intelli-gent consecration of this minister. It wasout of this experiment that Toynbee HallSettlement was established in 1884.

The school community center move-ment inaugurated in Rochester in 1907,is another example. Edward J. Ward, aminister, was the first director of thissignificant experiment."

17. For a detailed statement see: Frank D.Watson, The Chanty Organisation Move-ment in the United States, Macmillan 1922,p. 70 ff.

18. Jesse F. Steiner, opxit., p. 112.

Discerning religious leaders are be-coming convinced that, although thechurch initialed many original experi-ments in the relief of destitution, suchservice requires not only good impulsesbut a scientific attitude and technicalskills. Professor Mead has succinctly putit, "the bare impulse to help is on thesame level with the dog that licked thesores of Lazarus' body."20 Dean Math-ews, as a churchman, represented a similarpoint of view in the following assertion:

The ethical discussions of the church lead-ers of the past have recognized the dangerthat lies in promiscuous charity and have ad-vised the refusal to give aid when such assist-ance would tend to pauperize those whom itsought to help, but only after charity passedinto non-ecclesiastical hands did scientific in-terest in its administration develop.21

N E W F R O N T I E R S : COOPERATION AND C O -

ORDINATION OF E F F O R T

It has not been the purpose of thissurvey to discuss techniques and devices.To indicate trends and to point out theirpossible implications for the Protestantminister, has been the aim. A brief sum-mary of the preceeding discussion may beuseful, therefore, as a basis for indicatingchanges in point of view and the directionof action.

Public agencies will probably continueto administer the bulk of relief funds.With the abandonment of traditionaltheories, the development of a new vo-cabulary, and more democratic theories,those formerly designated simply as thepoor will be classified on the basis ofproblems involved. Assistance will in-creasingly be given under such classifica-tions as pensions for widows, blind, agedor other forms such as social insuranceor workmen's compensation. This willincreasingly be public assistance, and willbe respectable and accepted by those inneed in the same spirit as public educa-tion. There will be continued emphasison trained professional workers and ingrowth of social work as a profession.

19. Jesse F. Steiner, opxit., p. 112.20. Intelligent Philanthropy, essay by George

Herbert Mead, p. 133.21. Ibid., Essay by Shailer Mathews, p. 121.

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The lady bountiful theory, together withother notions of the poor as being de-fective in character, will give way to amore democratic view.

Private secular agencies will continueas pace-setters for the public agencies.Sectarian agencies will continue to playan important factor, especially in cooper-ative work. The proposal of the FederalCouncil of Churches that a coordinator(a person qualified both in field of re-ligion and professional social work) beappointed in the larger cities to bringabout a closer relation between religioussocial work and the secular agencies,seems to have possibilities. Ministers willbe confronted with many opportunitiesfor important service. The lines oftendrawn between group work and casework will perhaps be obliterated. Thetask will essentially be a cooperative one.The belief that public assistance need becold or bureaucratic, and that the reliefof destitution is a local responsibility, willprobably be abandoned.

To assume that "all the Protestantchurch has left is to feed the poor" isopen to serious question. To say thechurch has no role to play is equally mis-leading. The minister is, however, con-fronted with the problem of re-thinkinghis theory and techniques in his workwith the destitute. The following briefdiscussion is an attempt to indicate thegeneral direction the re-orientation shouldtake, especially with reference to a co-operative approach.

(1) Interim tasks. There is a seriesof what, for a better term, might be desig-nated as interim tasks. What these areand the methods of performing them willdepend on the size and complexity of thecommunity. In the larger cities whererelief organizations have been perfectedunder competent leadership, where thereare ample resources and a trained pro-fessional staff, the minister will likelyplace the- responsibility for social investi-gation and the giving of relief on thesepublic and private secular agencies. Inthe smaller communities where both

theory and organization are less advanced,the minister may conduct activities whichwill, as soon as public opinion has beendeveloped, be transferred to secularagencies.

(2) Building morale. The building ofmorale is fundamental both for those whoadminister and those who receive relief."Religion at its best functions essentiallyin building morale. As Dewey has signi-ficantly pointed out:

Genuine communication involves contagion;its name should not be taken in vain byterming communication that which producesno community of thought and purpose."The professional social worker should

find in the intelligent minister a guide inachieving perspective in his profession; inenvisioning his work in terms of the moreinclusive need of the community, in de-veloping a world view and a goal.

The church may function also in de-veloping morale by affording rich andmeaningful group relationships. In thisrespect a most vital contribution may bemade to the mental health of the partici-pant. The inspiration to carry on in spiteof insuperable odds and the desire toattain significant ideals and to enlist inconstructive and educationally productivecauses fail of realization in conduct unlesssustained by satisfying group relation-ships. By discovering significant groups,a unique contribution may be made tothe case worker, or other specialists, thesuccess of whose therapy depends uponsuch cooperative efforts.

(3) Adult education—interpretation ofsocial work. The benefits which mayaccrue to society through constructivesocial work may never be realized unlessthe wider implications of social work anda more adequate conception of its func-tions are intelligently interpreted to thecommunity that pays the bill.

22. Porter R. Lee "Social Case Work" TheFamily, Nov., 1934, pp. 200-201. See similarview of Frank J. Bruno, "Social Work Ob-jectives in the New Era" Proc. of the Nat.Conf. of Social Work, June 11-17, 1933. U.of C. Press, 1933, p. 7 ff.

23. John Dewey, How We Think, Heath, 1931,p. 292.

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The English Law of 1601, transplantedwith slight modification, to the UnitedStates, is still the basis for most legalformulae and much unfortunate currentthinking and practice with reference tothe destitute. In 14 states the recipientsof public relief are designated as paupersand disenfranchised." The theory that allgroups irrespective of race, creed, wealth,or prestige have an inalienable right tominimum standard of care and protection,although implicit in religious literature,is an idea foreign to much conventionalthinking. "The vice of the social leader. . ." Dewey wisely points out, "is to seekends which promote the social welfare inways which fail to engage the active in-terest and cooperation of others."85 Ifthis attitude is valid, much of the workdone in the name of charity is a formof spiritual selfishness.

It is sufficient that the minister be ac-quainted with the generally accepted prin-ciples of modern social welfare to the ex-tent of enabling him to be a discerningco-worker with other leaders in the com-munity. This requires a broad experi-ence, an experimental point of view, andsome knowledge of the social sciences."

Those ecclesiastical organizations whichcontinue to maintain extensive social workprograms would perhaps profit by a care-ful survey of their present programs anda greater emphasis upon leadership ac-credited in social work circles. A funda-mental revision of much that now passes

24. This is only a sample of outgrown legalconceptions which not only fail to expressmodern needs, but actually thwart progressivesocial reform at every point. There is a lackof philosophy of law to correspond with mod-em humanitarian social work. For a discus-sion of this point see Sophonisba P. Breckin-ridge, Social Work and the Courts: (Selectstatutes and judicial decisions); U. of C.Press, 1934, especially essay by RoscoePound, "The Lack of a Philosophy of Law,"p. 157 ff.

25. John Dewey and James H. Tufts, Ethics,Henry Holt, 1908, p. 303 ff.

26. For an excellent statement of attitudes andqualities of leadership needed in modern socialreform, see A. T. Mason, Brandeis: Lawyerand Judge in the Modern State, PrincetonPress, 1934, Chap. I, II.

as social work among the Protestantchurches would be required. Experimen-tation with new activities and new devicesis sorely needed, especially in areas servedby neighborhood houses or institutionalchurches.

(4) The use of the case work approach.The case work and clinical procedure inthe diagnosis and treatment of individualmaladjustment reverses the traditionalmethod of promiscuous giving either ofunsolicited advice or solicited materialgoods. It makes the giving of such adviceor goods a means of developing initiativeand self-reliance. The case work and theclinical procedure of helping the indivi-dual get out of his difficulties and stayout, it might be argued, is essentiallymore human, more personal, and morereligious and ethical, than the older theo-logical approach. It presupposes a sharedrelationship between the giver and therecipient, a relationship which offsets thedangers of "doing good." Attention isfocussed on a "case" presenting specificand concrete problems. It is a coopera-tive enterprise enlisting the aid of a num-ber of specialists and the utilization ofvaried community resources."

Case work possibilities cease when theclient assumes an attitude of utter de-pendence or embraces a philosophy offutility. The minister may aid the clientin developing a philosophy of life. Forhis task he will need to rely on contri-butions from psychology, psychiatry,mental hygiene and related fields. Hisefforts cannot be constructive unless car-ried forward cooperatively. Whateverspiritual lessons he seeks to inculcate inthe client must not, of course, violatecommon sense and tested scientific factsabout the nature of human conduct.

(5) Furtherance of social legislation.Social legislation as a crystalization ofpublic opinion into legal formulae andof interpreting the social value of theseformulae in practical living, is also a co-

27. See Lawson G. Lowrey, A Child GuidanceClinic, Its Purposes and Methods. NationalCommittee of Mental Hygiene, 1924, p. 4.

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operative, community enterprise. Onlyto the extent that the prophetic ire,aroused by what the ministers believe tobe social injustice, the shameful conditionof the poor, the indecency of the motionpictures, and all the rest, is directedthrough cooperative channels, will it likelyamount to more than innocuous out-bursts and exposes.

Legislation also requires motivationand effective propaganda. The ministermay contribute significantly to this pro-cess. The present economic crisis pre-sents an opportunity for reformulation oftheory and change in antiquated legisla-tion such as had not been effected sincethe panics of 1873.™ Most of the forwardlooking steps in the history of the charitymovement in the United States have re-sulted from the intelligent use of socialcrises. To the extent that the minister iswilling to reflect upon the significance ofsocial trends, to acquaint himself with thevalid body of principles developed, andto spend his energies in a cooperativeenterprise, will his efforts be sociallyfruitful. This would require a change inemphasis from a negative attitude withreference to prohibition and the sponsor-ing of legislation which enemies haveoften called blue laws, to a constructive,dynamic policy of prevention. Such anapproach would undercut the principalcriticisms of his opponents.

(6) Cooperation: a common faith anda common task. The organization of thecommunity for the relief of destitutionis integrally related to the inclusive needsof all the people. Experience and the re-sults of social researches have led to a

28. Grace Abbott, formerly of the Children'sBureau, considers social reform the most im-portant challenge in social work. In an ad-dress to incoming students at the Universityof Chicago, Oct. 18, 1934, she declared, "Iam much more interested in the social work-er's contribution to social reform than I amin the directing of administration. I thinkthat both are fundamental, but we have gotto go ahead with our social reform program.We have got to supply the leadership forthat social reform." In this assertion sherepresented the consensus of opinion amongsocial workers.

conviction that the task of the case work-er dealing with a particular client orfamily cannot successfully be divorcedfrom the task of the settlement worker,for example, who is specializing in groupwork.2* The individual and the group aredifferent espects of the same process. Itmight further be insisted that the nextstep in theory should be the eliminationof the line often drawn between the se-cular and religious.30

The minister should no longer lookwith suspicion on secular agencies whicharise in response to new needs. Ht willno longer desire to be an individualistattempting to make capital for his groupout of every activity in which he partici-pates, but a cooperative agent in a demo-cratic process. The social worker will dowell to cultivate the minister, to divesthis mind of the belief that ministers areto be avoided when dealing with casework problems or matters of delicatepersonal or community adjustment. Inlike manner ministers, through a newtype of training and more experience withreality, need to divest their minds of theuncritical assumption that to make casework and community organization scien-tific and democratic is to make it cold,inhuman, impersonal, and ungodly. Thepresent economic depression and the largenumber of younger ministers who havereceived training in schools of social workand practical experience in the field maydo much to re-orient the sectarian groupsin more scientific programs of social wel-fare."

29. For brief discussion see "Group WorkAgencies," an article by Edwin Eels, SocialService Year Book, Chicago, 1933, pp. 56-63.

30. John Dewey. A Common Faith. YalePress, 1934. Chapter I. "Religion VersusReligious." See Also Antoinette Cannon,"Recent Change in the Philosophy of SocialWorkers," Proc. of the Nat. Conf. Soc.Work, June, 1933, U. of C. Press, pp. 597-607.

31. For an elaboration of this point of view seeJesse A. Jacobs, "The Minister in the Chang-ing- Community" Religious Education, 1927,p. 193 f. Also The Education of AmericanMinisters, Vols. I, II, III, IV, Institute ofSocial and Religious Research, 1934, espe-cially Vol. II The Profession of the Ministry.

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