From Charity to Enterprise: The Development of American Social Work in a Market Economy

by Stanley Wenocur, Michael Reisch

How did social work evolve as a profession in the United States? Stanley Wenocur and Michael Reisch examine the history of social work and provide a theoretical model of professionalization for analyzing its development. They offer a provocative view of American social work as an enterprise seeking exclusive control over the definition, production, and distribution of an essential commodition.
 
Now in paperback for the first time, From Charity to Enterprise sets the professionalization of social work into a dynamic social context. The explicit political and economic framework of Wenocur and Reisch's model enables the authors to examine how various subgroups within social work lost or gained control of the professional enterprise at various points.
 

344 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1989

Reviews

[Marie Clare]

this is less of an "I finished this book" update - I am finished with this book.

[Faith · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to read this for school. This is the least interesting and hard to read book I have ever had a displeasure to read. Glad to be done with it lol.

[Caroline]

This book provides an overview of how social work came to exist as a profession in the United States. Born of necessity, compassion, capitalism, and more, this text examines the difficult and beneficial aspects of the professionalization of social work.