Hull House By Jane Addams: An Analysis

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Twenty Years at Hull House by Jane Addams modeled a method in social work that existed in contrast to the Charitable Organization Societies (COS). Addams chose to live among the disadvantaged and immigrant populations, seeking a reciprocal relationship that would encourage a symbiotic existence between social classes (p. 59). Where Hull House did not attempt to decide the fate of the poor, COS existed solely to facilitate “friendly visitors” to enter the homes of the poor and use the data they gathered during those visits to decide who was worthy and what sort of services they essentially deserved (Wenocur & Reisch, 1989, p. 31). Jane Addams' vision of a Settlement House influenced the emerging profession of social work by providing services within her community to encourage such symbiosis and by promoting social justice issues to improve people's lives …show more content…
True to the ethical nature of Addam's ideology, she understood that she needed to learn about labor practices and to change them for the better. She wrote “That a Settlement is drawn into the labor issues of its city can seem remote to its purpose only to those who fail to realize that … a Settlement is committed to an effort to understand and, as far as possible, to alleviate it” (Addams, 1910, p. 150). She and other residents of Hull House became involved, first forming grassroots lobby groups and later joining much larger forces to work for shorter work days for adults and children alike. Though they began at a micro level, they quickly found themselves in committees to push labor laws through at the macro level in the Capitol when they worked as ardent promoters of the Sulzer Bill(Addams, 1910, p. 139). With this and other efforts, Addams committed Hull House to the needs of all people by acknowledging the responsibility of all people to attend to the needs of the

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