SOCIOLOGY, SOCIAL ADMINISTRATION, AND SOCIAL WORK

SOCIOLOGY, SOCIAL ADMINISTRATION, AND SOCIAL WORKAuthor(s): T. S. SimeySource: Caribbean Quarterly, Vol. 8, No. 4 (DECEMBER, 1962), pp. 37-41Published by: University of the West Indies and Caribbean QuarterlyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40652832 .

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SOCIOLOGY, SOCIAL ADMINISTRATION, AND SOCIAL WORK

Professor T. S. Simey Professor of bocial Science, Liverpool University

NOTE: This article was based on a lecture given by Professor Simey at the University of the West Indies, in August 1962.

At the end of World War II, it appeared probable that the social services could make a valuable contribution to the practice of social administration and social work, without undue difficulty. Much had been done in the course of the war to add to the war effort by relying on the social services, as for instance in the utilization of manpower, and in particular by removing potential psychiatric casualties from combat units, in officer selection, in the organization of the labour force in munitions industries, and in other ways. Over the years, moreover, the work of social scientists had had an important influence on the shaping of social policy. The surveys carried out by Booth, Rowntree and others had demonstrated that poverty was the outcome, not only of the moral failings of individuals, but - and this was much more important - from social causes such as old age and illness, and defects in the industrial struc- ture such as unemployment and employment at low wages in the 'sweated' trades. Out of this grew the social services and the legislation which has created the so-called 'welfare state*.

In particular, the old-age pensions service, largely the creation of Booth who produced the arguments which showed the necessity for it in his survey, marked a turning point in British social policy. This, and other similar services, was based on the principle that a transfer of wealth from rich to poor was required as a common incident of citizenship rather than as an act of charity, when it could be shown that adequate opportunities for good living, and the maintenance of an adequate mini- mum of economic and social life, could only be obtained by common or co-operative action rather than individual self-reliance and initiative. It was the task of the social sciences to show that this situation had arisen in a number of instances, and to point the way towards the re- shaping of our society, by the creation of social services available to the many rather than to the few, and to produce with some degree of pre- cision the planning whereby this could be done.

Moreover, the social services had made important contributions to social policy in more indirect ways. The intelligence testing that was developed before the first World War showed that individual differences in performance were less wide than had been expected. This line of research was applied twenty years later to differences between the so- called 'races' in the United States, with the result that it was shown that though on the average 'whites' did better than 'Negroes', Negroes in the towns did much better than Negroes in the country, and the same

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happened as between Negroes in the North and the South. As the same phenomenan occurred with the whites, a large overlap was shown to exist between the performance of Negroes and Whites, and this could

only be attributed to social rather than genetic causes. This has a pro- found effect on public opinion, since it came to be accepted that a belief in the superiority of Whites was due to ignorance; this, as Gunnar Myrdal pointed out in his great survey, The American Dilemma, led to epoch-making changes in policy, the origin of which was to be found in the researches of the social psychologists.

Some seventeen years ago, then, we were in an optimistic mood, expecting that we were on the eve of great advances that would result from the application of the social services to social administration and social work. But the task proved to be very much more difficult than we had expected. Opposition was encountered from two unexpected quarters, and, like a bad general, I found myself fighting on two fronts at once. First of all a so-called 'scientific' school of thought developed and had to be dealt with; this denied that social scientists were entitled (still less obliged) to make value judgments in their work. An inordinate amount of importance was attached to statistical operations, and it was assumed that the work of the researcher could be carried to a successful conclu- sion by a process of statistical analysis of data, which might relate to anything under the sun. This attitude of mind was clearly related to die neo- positiv ist position, and it has led ultimately into the same blind alley as positivism itself.

Secondly, there were the social workers, who quite properly attached the greatest importance to the making of constructive relations between the individual worker and her client. These relationships became in- fluenced by Freudian theories, however, and an intellectual muddle developed which has undermined the efficiency of the work that has been carried out. I may refer here to Mr. T„ W. Marshall's lecture on 'The Natural and Social Sciences9, published in Volume 8, No. 1 of The Carib- bean Quarterly. What is lacking in the work of the so-called 'scientists' is the formulation of really significant hypotheses such as those discussed in this article. Where the social workers went wrong, as Mr. Marshall pointed out, was in accepting an explanation of their functions which was 'positively opposed to the intrusion of science'. The 'Scien- tists' thought that theories would emerge from blind analysis of data; the social workers thought that a priori theory would explain everything, and that empirical research was superfluous.

What has been lacking in this kind of work is, then, an awareness that research must incorporate a synthesis of fact and value if an under- standing is to be arrived at of any aspect of man's behaviour; for man, as we know him and as we ourselves are, is both rational and responsible. We have attempted to develop our own work in Liverpool along these lines; we call our researches 'problem centred', and we regard our study as lying within the field of 'empirical sociology'. The phrase 'problem centred' is intended to imply that we select subjects for research which are recognised as embodying problems of substantial importance from the point of view both of public policy and of scientific theory; Empirical

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sociology9 is interpreted by us as covering researches which are 'scientific' in Mr. Marshall's sense, in so far as they are so designed as to test hypotheses in the light of the relevant evidence. Studies of this kind, of interest to West Indians as they deal with issues or situations of common concern, have included Dr. John May's 'Growing up in the City', 'On the Threshold of Delinquency', and 'Education and the Urban Child'. The underlying theory is also discussed in the joint work of my wife and myself, Charles. Booth, Social Scientist.

In general, the next phase in the development of empirical sociology requires a frontal attack on the problem of social change. Our own works relate to this, directly or indirectly, but nearly everything still remains to be done to develop adequate hypotheses to explain the ways in which change occurs, and to test them. Sociology as it has grown up in the past, has attempted in the main to describe and explain the organization of static or unchanging societies. The chief characteristic of the societies of the modern world, however, is that of rapid change, and this is more and more of the kind that is deliberately introduced so as to attain ends of social or public policy. For instance, at a recent inter- American seminar conducted under the auspices of the Social Sciences Research Council, on 'The Social Sciences: Parochial or Cosmopolitan', a general impression appeared to prevail that North American sociologists' 'seemed to think that a society which is changing is destroying itself. Was it necessary, it was asked, for the latter to disengage themselves from efforts to improve social welfare or to promote social or economic changes in order to preserve their objectivity and the scientific character of their work and to avoid compromising their students? It was, indeed, asserted at this seminar that what is now called for is a new kind of sociology, 'associated with planning for development, as distinct from, and broader than, economic development'. The main obstacle to be overcome was 'the absence of systematic theories of social change'.

There are, obviously, unlimited opportunities for carrying out researches of this kind in the West Indies. Not only is the fact of change so obvious as to override any other features of the social scene, but the problems of individual change have assumed critical importance in this region. Nobody is contented with things as they are; all Governments, Departments and Administrative agencies, both public and voluntary - not forgetting the churches - all are striving might and main to carry out radical improvements in social welfare and economic organization. I have, however, encountered only one study of the process of change which gives a really penetrating account of the factors involved in it. This is Dr. David Edwards' Economic Study of Small Farming in Jamaica. This research has been carried out in a wide framework of reference, and throws much light on both the economic and the social aspects of the life and work of small farmers. Many useful lessons can be drawn from it by those who are responsible for the formulation of agricultural policy and the operation of the extension services, and by all who have interests of the country people of Jamaica at heart. It points the way, moreover, to the carrying out of related studies in the social life of the country people, and into specific problems such as housing, communications

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between Government and people, (and vice versa), and problems of public health and sanitation.

May I give two examples of what might be done in this way« First of all, there is I believe an urgent need for the carrying out of inquiries into the reasons for the relative inaffectiveness of the literacy campaign. This would be of the greatest importance to the social sciences, as the campaign itself is nothing more nor less than an attempt to change the attitudes and behaviour of a substantial proportion of the population. Issues both of value and of fact (or techniques and their success or failure) are involved. A successful research in this field might make a significant contribution to the theory of social change, the absence of which has been commented on above. Its importance in regard to public policy is obvious, and need not be explained. I believe, indeed, that research of this kind is a necessary prerequisite for the successful administration of the social services in the West Indies, as further advances will be virtually impossible without detailed and accurate knowledge of the situations with which they are confronted. Moreover, I believe that studies of this kind might often, as has been the case with a substantial proportion of the empirical researches carried out in my own Department, lead of themselves to changes in the situation that is the subject of investigation, of a constructive kind. Accurate knowledge of the facts, and of the factors which make them what they are, is often a sufficient motivating force to require changes in behaviour, and ultimately leads to changes in the facts themselves.

Secondly, I feel convinced that further advances in administration require reliable information as to the way in which the social services are operating. What, I would like to ask, is their impact on the ordinary citizen? How many people benefit from them, in what degree? To what extent are the objectives of the services being achieved, or are they misfiring in the sense that what is being recommended is often misunder- stood, or fails to make any impact at all? Conversely, I would like to know how far the services are efficiently planned so as to relate to the real needs of the people, and to give opportunities for the expression of the point of view of the ordinary man, and to stimulate and make use of his energies.

All this might be accomplished in a series of detailed studies of typical districts, along the same lines and using much the same methods as were employed by Dr. Edwards. Investigations of this kind might take the often -re pea ted remark that Jamaica, for instance, is a 'labora- tory of peaceful change9 seriously, and use it as such. There will, I feel sure be general agreement with the view that everything should be done to ensure the success of the political and social experiments now being carried out in the West Indies. The possibilities of failure are only too serious and too obvious. If social research carried out by ex- isting agencies can reduce these possibilities to only a small degree, then there is an unanswerable case for carrying it out with the least possible delay, and with all the resources which can be assembled for the purpose. Finally, the very important consideration must not be for- gotten that successful research of this kind will bring the West Indies

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still further into the intellectual and political community of nations. Social research does not require the expenditure of large sums of money or the use of expensive apparatus: clear vision, intellectual courage, a due sense of responsibility and a willingness to devote one's life to the task are all that is required, and these are moral and social qualities rather than material. The opportunities to undertake research are there- fore open to West Indian scholars, and if ways and means of associating them with their colleagues in other parts of the world in this task can be found, then so much the better for everybody.

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SOCIOLOGY, SOCIAL ADMINISTRATION, AND SOCIAL WORK