Table Of ContentThe International Library of Sociology
VOLUNTARY SOCIAL SERVICES
SINCE 1918
Founded by KARL MANNHEIM
The International Library of Sociology
PUBLIC POLICY,WELFARE
AND SOCIAL WORK
In 18 Volumes
I TheChurchin SocialWork Halletal
II Creative Demobilisation- Part One Gutkind
III Creative Demobilisation- PartTwo Gutkind
IV HigherCivilServants in Britain Kelsall
V HousingNeeds and PlanningPolicy Cullingworth
VI Penelope Hall's SocialServices
ofEnglandand Wales Forder
VII ThePriceofSocialSecurity Williams
VIII TheProfessionalTaskinWelfarePractice Nokes
IX SocialCasework Timms
X SocialPoliciesfor OldAge Shenfield
XI SocialSecurity: Beveridgeand After George
XII SocialServicesin British Industry YOung
XIII SocialServicesofModern Britain Hall
XIV TheSociologyofHousing Morrisetal
XV VoluntarySocialServicessince 1918 Mess
XVI VoluntarySocietiesand SocialPolicy Roo./f
XVII VoluntaryWorkand the WelfareState Morris
XVIII Workingwith CommunityGroups Goetschius
VOLUNTARY SOCIAL SERVICES
SINCE 1918
by
HENRYA. MESS
in collaboration with
CONSTANCEBRAITHWAITE, VIOLETCREECH-JONES,
HILDAJENNINGS, PEARLJEPHCOTT, HAROLD KING,
NORAMILNES, JOHN MORGAN, GERTRUDEWILLIAMS
AND W.E.WILLIAMS
Edited by
GERTRUDEWILLIAMS
Firstpublished in 1948 by
Routledge,Trench,Trubnerand Co., Ltd
Reprinted 1998,2000, 2001 by
Routledge
2 ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon, Oxon, OX144RN
Transferred to Digital Printing 2007
Routledgeisanimprint oftheTaylor &Francis Group
© 1948 HenryA.Mess
© 1948 Introduction, GertrudeWilliams
Allrights reserved. No part ofthis book maybereprinted or reproduced
or utilized in anyform or byany electronic, mechanical, or other means,
nowknown or hereafterinvented, includingphotocopying
and recording, or in anyinformationstorageor retrievalsystem,without
permission inwriting from the publishers.
Thepublishers havemade everyeffortto contact authors/copyrightholders
ofthe worksreprinted in TheInternationalLibraryofSociology.
This hasnot been possiblein everycase,however,and wewould
welcomecorrespondence from those individuals/companies
wehavebeen unable to trace.
BritishLibrary CataloguinginPublicationData
ACIP cataloguerecordfor this book
isavailablefrom the BritishLibrary
VoluntarySocialServicessince 1918
ISBN 0-415-17727-8
Public Policy,Welfareand SocialWork: 18Volumes
ISBN 0-415-17831-2
TheInternationalLibraryofSociology:274Volumes
ISBN 0-415-17838-X
ISBN 978-1-1362-6357-6 (ebk)
Publisher's Note
Thepublisherhas gone to greatlengths to ensure the qualityofthis
reprint butpoints out thatsome imperfections in the original
may be apparent
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION BY GERTRUDE WILLIAMS vii
CHAPTER
I. WHAT IS MEANT BY VOLUNTARY SOCIAL.SERVICE?
ByHenry A. Mess
II. THE POSITION OF VOLUNTARY SOCIALSERVICES IN 1918 8
ByNora Milnes
III. VOLUNTARY SOCIAL SERVICES IN URBAN AREAS 28
ByHildaJennings
IV. SOCIAL SERVICE WITH THE UNEMPLOYED 40
ByHenry A. Mess
V. VOLUNTARY CASE-WORK SOCIETIES • 55
By HildaJennings
V~:. COMMUNITY CENTRES AND COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS 69
ByHenry A. Mess and Harold'King
VII. THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE WITH
ApPENDIX ON WORK IN RURAL AREAS 80, 99
ByJohn Morgan
VIII. THE WORK OF VOLUNTARY SOCIAL SERVICES AMONG
CHILDREN BEFORE SCHOOL-LEAVING AGE 106
ByViolet Creech-Jones
IX. WORK AMONG Boys AND GIRLS 129
By Pearl]ephcott
X. ADULT EDUCATION 146
By W. E. Williams
XI. THE GREAT PHILANTHROPIC TRUSTS 172, 183
By Henry A. Mess and Constance Braithwaite
XII. THE FINANCE OF VOLUNTARY SOCIAL SERVICES 188, 195
By Henry A. Mess and Constance Braithwaite'
XIII. THEPLACEOF VOLUNTARYSOCIALSERVICEIN THELIFE
OF THE NATION 204
ByHenry A. Mess
XIV~ THE TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT OF SOCIAL WORKERS 2I4
ByGertrude Williams
INDEX 247
V
CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLUNTARY SOCIAL SERVICES
IN GREAT BRITAIN SINCE 1918
CONSTANCE BRAITHWAITE. Lecturer in Social Studies. Author of
The Voluntary Citizen.
VIOLET CREECH-jONES. Magistrate and Member of Lambeth
Borough Council and ofHome Office Advisory Committee on
theTreatmentofOffenders. Authorofpamphletin theFabian
Research Series, Nurseries andNursery Schools.
HILDA JEN~INGS. Warden of the University Settlement, Bristol.
Author ofBrynmawr, etc.
PEARL jEPHCOTT. Formerly member of the staff of the National
Association of Girls' Clubs and Mixed Clubs. Author ofGirls
Growing Up and Clubsfor Girls.
HAROLD KING. Publications Officer, National Council of Social
Service.
H. A.MESS. Formerly Reader in Sociology, UniversityofLondon.
NORA MILNES. Reader in Social Studies and Head of the Depart
ment of Social Study, University of Edinburgh. Author of
A StudyofIndustrial Edinburgh, etc.
JOHNMORGAN. FormerlyCommunityCentresOfficerandPublica
tions OfficeroftheNationalCouncilofSocialService. Lecturer
andResearchAssociate oftheSchoolofSocialWork. University
ofToronto, Canda.
GERTRUDE WILLIAMS. Lecturer in Economics, Bedford College,
University of London. Author of The Price ofSocial Security,
Women andWork, etc.
W. E. WILLIAMS, C.B.E. Director oftheBureau ofCurrentAffairs,
._ Editor-in-Chief, Penguin Books.
vi
INTRODUCTION
by
GERTRUDE WILLIAMS
A WORD of explanation about this volume is necessary. It
was originally planned by Henry Mess who, in the earlyyears
ofthe war, realized that the developmentofthe statutorysocial
services-one ofthe outstanding features ofthe twentieth cen
tury and quickly gathering speed-would be immensely
accelerated by the urgency of problems thrown up by war
conditions. Feeling convinced that the post-war world would
necessitate some radical reorganization he thought that he
could perform a useful service by settingforth clearly the work
that had been done by the voluntary social services in the
period between the two wars, soas to make clearer the lines of
demarcation between statutory and voluntary methods ofpro
viding for social needs. He was peculiarly fitted for such a
task. The greater part ofhis adult workinglifehad been spent
in social work, includinga very fruitful and constructivedecade
asDirectoroftheTyneside CouncilofSocial Service duringthe
worst part of the inter-war depression; whilst his appoint
ment as Reader in Sociology in the University of London in
.1933 gave him the opportunity to look at the work in perspec
tive, with a greater degree of detachment than is.common to
those faced with day-to-day problems in the practical field.
Unfortunately the pressure of other work prevented Mess from
pushing on with the book as quickly as he had intendedand
death overtook him in 1943 before he had completed more
than a few chapters.
Both the editor and publisher ofthe series were anxious that
theplanshouldnotbe abandonedandinvitedme togettogether
a group of contributors who between them might cover the
various topics that should be included in a survey ofvoluntary
work. By the time, however, that these arrangements were
made it became evident that some alteration of the original
plan was essentialfor the inter-waryears no longer represented
a clearly marked period of development as they had seemed
todowhentheschemewasfirstdesigned. Theproblemsthrown
vii .
viii INTRODUCTION
up by the war were a challenge to voluntary effort as well as
to statutory provision and not only did the existing social
agencies undergo considerable changes in their response but
alsocompletelynew organisations had to be established to deal
with unprecedented situations. I came to the conclusion that
no good purpose could be served by breaking off in mid-story
and that, to' be really valuable, the history of the voluntary
social servicesmust include some account ofwar time develop
ments. Ofthe chapters that Mess had already written, one
What is meant by Voluntary Social Service?-is concerned
solely with definitions and a second-Social Service with the
Unemployed-dealt with one particular period, so that this
change of plan did not here introduce any serious difficulty ;
as regards the, others, Miss Constance Braithwaite agreed to
expand and bring up to date the chapters on Philanthropic
Trusts and the Finance of Voluntary Social Services, where
the retention of 1939 as the end date might have forced this
part of the volume out of line with the remainder and Mr.
Harold King largely rewrote the chapter on Community
Centres.
Abookwrittenby anumberofpersonscannothope, ofcourse,
to have the same underlying unity as one which has a single
author ;' nor is it possible' to prevent altogether some slight
amountofoverlapping. Thereis,onthe otherhand, compensa
tion tobefound in the wide field ofexperience and knowledge'
that can thus be utilised and, in dealing with problems many
ofwhich are stillhighly controversial, itis often ofvalue to have
light thrown from many different angles.
Noattempthas been made in thesechapterstogiveadetailed
factual account of the history ofthe different social organisa
tions; the aim has rather been to try and discover the main
lines of development in the' various fields of voluntary effort
since the end of the first world war. During this period two
outstanding factors have played a decisive part. In the,first
place, the growthofstatutorysocialserviees-s-healthandunem
ployment insurance, widows and orphans pensions, unemploy
mentallowances, old agepensionswiththe possibilityofsupple-
.mentation and so on-has made routine provision for an im
menseproportion of the casesof povertythat would otherwise
, have come for 'help to the charitable bodies and one might
justly ask the question, "Have the voluntary social services
INTRODUCTION IX
outlived their usefulness?" There is always a danger of a
social institution going on when the purpose for which it
originallycameinto beingisbeingserved by some othermeans,
and, in such circumstances, its existence means nothing less
than a waste of effort, time, and money that could better be
devoted to otherends. Has this position been reached with the
voluntary agencies or is there still a field which can best be
cultivated by them?
The second important factor that has played a part during
the .last thirty years is the deepening understanding of the
natureofsociety. Untiltheendofthefirstworldwarorganised
social effortwas concerned primarilyto help the social casualty
-theindividualwho, for one reason or another, proved unable
to maintain himselfon the minimum standards demanded by
thecommunity. Since then, more and moreattentionhas come
to be paid to the normal, rather than the abnormal, and a
wealth of effort is now directed towards helping the ordinary
member of society to live as rich, full, and satisfying.a life as
he is capable of.
These essays are intended, then, as a form ofstocktaking of
the present position. From one side the scope of voluntary
effort has been greatly narrowed, from another, it has been
immensely widened. How have the voluntary agencies re
sponded to the changing circumstances? What changes are
discernible in their outlook and methods? Is it possible to see
in which direction they can most usefully expand? Is there,
indeed, a permanent place for them at all or is it merely a
matter of time before statutory agencies take over all their
functions? These are some ofthe questions that the authors
ofthe following chapters have set themselves to answer.
A*
