A historical perspective of the social work profession

The author traces the beginning of social work profession to the rise of the middle class in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Social work, as a profession, worked on behalf of the society or the establishment. It adopted social action as a programme in the sixties. When professional social work was set up in India by an American missionary, its interests followed the launching of programmes by the government. Dialogue between the Gandhian workers and graduates of professional schools were held but did not lead to any new initiatives for common action. The article concludes with trends in and limitations of social action as a new area of work.