294 SOCIAL FORCES TENDENCY TO PERSONALIZE Tocquevilles "enfeeblement of the individual, Americans tend to state issues in terms of men by enabling him to make a voluntary choice, or rather than principles. It was Truman against at least to cherish the illusion of choosing, between Dewey, in the last election, not conflicting ideas or many alternatives. At the same time selectiveness social forces. Further in our mass society even the by their offers of individualized hair styles and choice. It is rather like buying in a small dress shop, personalized letter paper. Social work helps to run by a woman of good taste, instead of a great make our culture, which is person-centered in a department store catering to thousands of cus- superficial or spurious sense, person-centered at a tomers. The client is steered between the sense of deeper level of reality. Successful people are re being driven by blind fate and the need to" escape warded by public notice. The unsuccessful are graduated into scientific terminology. It has be. period of time leage t by having the undivided To continue with the Kluckhohn analysi compensated in pa attention of at griping has received a college education and been Social workers are concerned with unique in- ome the cathartic release of repressed hostility dividuals, not with categories of need. The new lings, which isencouragedby thesocialworker, es- social security legislation does pigeonhole millions pecially as it enters into the client's attitude to- of people, but then decrees the employment of ward herself and the work of her agency. Whether social workers to sort over the mass of humanity it is as satisfying a release of tension in and to personalize the services offered. In fact permissive atmosphere might be open to question. the emphasis on the uniqueness of the individual The fact that superficial intimacy is relatively has been such that it blocked for a while the draw asy among Americans may contribute to the g of any generalizations from a series of case spread of social work. That so many people can histories. It stood in the way, too, of the use of enter into a case work relationship is due in part group therapy for clients who would have profited to the relative articulateness in the presence of from it but whom the case workers insisted should strangers, which has been developed in our society. The one-sided intimacy that grows up in such a be treated only as individuals setting is, of course, far from superficial so far as CHANGE A VALUE IN ITSELE the client is concerned The trade-union movement has succeeded in In a sense social work opposes social change It emphasizes adjustment to things as they are removing from American labor the derogatory rather than action to usher in a new world. The label of underdog. Social work is contributing to importation from Europe of psychoanalysis has its removal from other categories of Americans. brought with it the tendency to brand the radical The professional, in order to respect himself, must and often even the liberal, as of unsound mind respect whoever makes use of his expert knowledge This is, of course, only a very partial truth.While and skill. Since most of his clientele are neither social workers preach conformity to their clients, distinguished nor successful, the social worker often they are often themselves in the forefront of social quires a more profound faith than the ordinary movements. izen in the worth of the common man and Social workers, as professionals, tend to translate ability to help himself. Underdog is fast be- change into personal terms. They place high coming a title reserved for aliens to our culture their hierarchy of values the growth of their and society. This change is of significance in American international relations if increasing sensitivity may mean a greater capacity for feeling pain. One of the chief differ 13 This is brought out especially clearly in the case ences between Russia and the United States lies in of the Seaton family, reported in Elizabeth Dixon and the different conception of the place of the individ- Grace Browning (eds ) Social Case Records: Family ual in the scheme of things. In Russia, patterns Welfare (Chicago, 1938),pp. 29-78 of change are devised at the top and imposed on294 SOCIAL FORCES without such help.'3 It thereby prevents De Tocqueville's "enfeeblement of the individual," by enabling him to make a voluntary choice, or at least to cherish the illusion of choosing, between many alternatives. At the same time selectiveness and permissiveness are so combined in the social￾work setting that the client is guided in making his selection and is reassured as to the wisdom of his choice. It is rather like buying in a small dress shop, run by a woman of good taste, instead of a great department store catering to thousands of cus￾tomers. The client is steered between the sense of being driven by blind fate and the need to "escape from freedom." To continue with the Kluckhohn analysis, griping has received a college education and been graduated into scientific terminology. It has be￾come the cathartic release of repressed hostility feelings, which is encouragedbythe socialworker, es￾pecially as it enters into the client's attitude to￾ward herself and the work of her agency. Whether it is as satisfying a release of tension in such a permissive atmosphere might be open to question. The fact that superficial intimacy is relatively easy among Americans may contribute to the spread of social work. That so many people can enter into a case work relationship is due in part to the relative articulateness in the presence of strangers, which has been developed in our society. The one-sided intimacy that grows up in such a setting is, of course, far from superficial so far as the client is concerned. The trade-union movement has succeeded in removing from American labor the derogatory label of underdog. Social work is contributing to its removal from other categories of Americans. The professional, in order to respect himself, must respect whoever makes use of his expert knowledge and skill. Since most of his clientele are neither distinguished nor successful, the social worker often acquires a more profound faith than the ordinary citizen in the worth of the common man and in his ability to help himself. Underdog is fast be￾coming a title reserved for aliens to our culture and society. This change is of significance in American international relations. TENDENCY TO PERSONALIZE Americans tend to state issues in terms of men rather than principles. It was Truman against Dewey, in the last election, not conflicting ideas or social forces. Further, in our mass society even the littlest man wants to stand out as a figure and not a cipher. Commercial interests cater to this desire by their offers of individualized hair styles and personalized letter paper. Social work helps to make our culture, which is person-centered in a superficial or spurious sense, person-centered at a deeper level of reality. Successful people are re￾warded by public notice. The unsuccessful are compensated in part by having the undivided attention of at least one person for an allotted period of time. Social workers are concerned with unique in￾dividuals, not with categories of need. The new social security legislation does pigeonhole millions of people, but then decrees the employment of social workers to sort over the mass of humanity and to personalize the services offered. In fact the emphasis on the uniqueness of the individual has been such that it blocked for a while the draw￾ing of any generalizations from a series of case histories. It stood in the way, too, of the use of group therapy for clients who would have profited from it but whom the case workers insisted should be treated only as individuals. CHANGE A VALUE IN ITSELF In a sense social work opposes social change. It emphasizes adjustment to things as they are, rather than action to usher in a new world. The importation from Europe of psychoanalysis has brought with it the tendency to brand the radical, and often even the liberal, as of unsound mind. This is, of course, only a very partial truth. While social workers preach conformity to their clients, they are often themselves in the forefront of social movements. Social workers, as professionals, tend to translate change into personal terms. They place high in their hierarchy of values the growth of their clients and their increasing individualization, even if increasing sensitivity may mean a greater capacity for feeling pain. One of the chief differ￾ences between Russia and the United States lies in the different conception of the place of the individ￾ual in the scheme of things. In Russia, patterns of change are devised at the top and imposed on 13 This is brought out especially clearly in the case of the Seaton family, reported in Elizabeth Dixon and Grace Browning (eds.), Social Case Records: Family Welfare (Chicago, 1938), pp. 29-78