Women in the Creation of the Profession of Social Work

Abstract

Although men exerted predominant authority in developing other professions, in its formative years social work was led by a coalition in which women and men, at every level of practice, played roles of equal power and significance. Ideology regarding appropriate roles for women and men, as providers and consumers of social services, reflected complex perceptions and principles. Social work was moved both to protect and to empower its clients. It justified women's roles in social service as being consistent with the social norm of nurturance, but it also encouraged women to create careers and personal lives that were powerful, liberating, and autonomous.