A Profession in Crisis: Charlotte Whitton and Canadian Social Work in the 1930s

JAMES STRUTHERS A Profession in Crisis: Charlotte Whirton and Canadian Social Worh in the93os THE193osproducedan explosion of publicwelfarein Canadaas governments atthefederal,provincial, andmunicipal levelspent more than abillion dollars onthecare oftheunemployed andtheirfamilies. 1 The suddenness and sheermagnitudeof thisexpenditureforced major changesin Canada'ssocialwelfare structure. Before the Depression privatecharities playedadominant rolein caringfor the victims ofjoblessness. By 194o,however, thefederalgovernment had created a national system of unemployment insurance andemploymentoffices andmost oftheprovinces along withthelargermunicipalitieshaddeveloped permanentwelfarebureaucracies withatleastthe rudiments of professional administration. Out of the 'dirtythirties,' then,came abelated acknowledgement thatsocial welfare was amajor responsibility of the state. Perhapsno group benefitedasmuch from this transitionasthe social work profession, one of the few occupations to experience 'practically one hundredpercentemployment' duringthe Depression ? Yetwe know little about the role social workers played during the decade in shaping government policy. It isusually assumed thatthe lack ofanexperienced welfare bureaucracy was largely responsible for the abysmal conditions enduredby thoseon the dole.In thisview, public welfarebecame 'professionalized,' duringthethirties, in order toimprove living standards fortheunemployed andtheirfamilies? I wouldliketothankVeronicaStrong-Boag for herhelpfulcomments onthispaper. • Canada,Report oftheRoyal Commission onDominion-Provincial Relations, BookIX (Ottawa 194o), 18 2 DorothyKing,'Unemployment Aid (DirectRelief),'in L. Richter,ed.,Canada's Unemployment Problem (Toronto •939), 94-5 3 Ibid. Forrecentversions of thisargumentseeLindaGrayson andMichaelBliss, Canadian Historical Review, LXII, II, •98• ooo8-3755/8Uo6oo-o•69 $o•.e5/o¸UniversityofTorontoPress 170 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW However, an examination of the role of Charlotte Whitton, executivedirectorof the CanadianCouncilon Child and FamilyWelfare [ccc & gw], in shapingthe relief policiesof the Bennettand King governments casts serious doubtson thisassumption. In themindof Canada's 'bestknownsocialworker, '4 at least,the interests of the unemployed andof theprofessionals entrusted withtheircarewereby no means identical. Like therestof Canadiansociety, social workerswereunprepared for theDepression. Althoughthe 192oshadbeenformativeyearsfor theprofession, 5for themost partwhatlittleexpertise thecountry possessed inwelfarematters stillexisted withinitsprivatecharities and thisdid not amountto much.There wereonly twoschools of social workin theentirecountryandevenOntario,Canada's wealthiest and most industrialized province, had'practically nosuch thing'asa'corps of trained socialworkers,'accordingto a 193oRoyalCommission report. The professionitself had only organizedits first national associations duringthe 192os andpossessed buta fledgling status on theeveofthe3os. 6 The publicwelfarefield had expandedsignificantly during the preceding decade, butfor themostpartthisoccurred withinpatronageriddenprovincial bur. eaucracies with theresultthatcomplaints about partisanship, inefficiency,and corruption in the administration of mothers' allowances andold agepensions werewidespread throughoutthecountry . 7Consequently, many Canadian social workers shared theirAmerican colleagues' 'longtraditionofdisdain' forstate relief.Its eds.,TheWretched ofCanada: Letters toR.B.Bennett •93o-35 (Toronto•97•), x, xii,xvi,xxi; or H. BlairNeatby,ThePolitics ofChaos: Canada intheThirties (Toronto •972), 25-7 4 The phraseisfrom anarticleonWhittonin Canadian Welfare, X¾II,7,Jan. •942. 5 Particularly through thedevelopment of mothers' allowance andminimum wage commissions andsystematic childwelfaresurveys in the 192os. On these developments sccVcronicaStrong-Boag, 'Wagesfor Housework: Mothers' Allowances andtheBeginnings of Social Security in Canada,' Journal ofCanadian Studies, xIv, •, spring•979,andbythesame author,'TheGirlof theNewDay:Canadian WorkingWomenin the •92o's,'Labour/Le Travailleur, IV,4, •979. 6 Ontario,Report oftheOntario RoyalCommission onPublicWelfare (Toronto•93o), 6. In •929 therewcrc•ooopenings for every3ø graduates fromCanada's two schools of social work.JamesPitsula,'The Emergence of Social Workin Toronto ,' Journal ofCanadian Studies, xIv, •, spring•979,4• 7 Canadian CouncilonSocial Development Papers, Public Archives of Canada [ccso],25,'Retrospects andProspects: Canadian Council onChildandFamily Welfare,•922-•935,' 5-7. SccalsoKennethBrydcn,O/dAgePensions and Policy-Making in Canada, (Montreal•974),84; VcronicaStrong-Boag, 'Wages for Housework,' 27-8; andPeterOliver,G.Howard Ferguson: Ontario Tory(Toronto •977),chaps.• • and •5. WHITTON AND SOCIAL WORK 171 bureaucratic emphasis upon'classification, determination ofeligibility, and routinesurveillance' seemedscarcely relatedto their ownmore 'scientific' skillsof investigative casework and professional counselling ?Canada thus entered intothegreatest crisis ofdependency inits historyarmedwithonlya few well-organized charities in itslarger cities, a municipal reliefstructure builtuponthenineteenth-century poorlaw,andanunderdeveloped social workprofession thatviewed thewholefieldof publicwelfarewithsomeskepticism. As long as governmentofficialsviewed the Depressionas a temporary 'emergency,' thislackof expertise andorganization in the welfarefieldwasnotconsidered alarming.R.B.Bennett, afterall,had beenelected in •93o on a promise that he would'abolish the dole' through stiffhikes inthetariff?Asaresult, hehadlittleinterest in perfecting publicwelfareadministration. Out of the $2o,ooo,ooo provided in hisfirstreliefact,$•6,ooo,ooo wentfor public works and only$4,ooo,ooo was slated fordirectrelief.Notacentofthiswas spent on developingcompetentlocalwelfarebureaucracies. The same patternprevailed the following yeardespite the factthat Ottawa's expenditure ondirect relief almost doubled. •0Adamant thatthecare ofthejobless was primarily amunicipal obligation, Bennett washed his handsof any responsibility for...