Re: Protective Service for Children history

[Raelene Ruth Freitag <freitag@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The book Professor Hauser refers to is "Heroes of their Own Lives: The 
Politics and History of Family Violence (1988). The private agencies 
flourished outside of Boston and New York as well...in fact, by the turn 
of the century, there were hundreds of societies throughout the country. 
See Roswell McCrea, "The Humane Movement: A Descriptive Survey. New York: 
Columbia University Press, 1910. I recently completed a dissertation on 
the history of the child protective work of the Wisconsin Humane Society 
from 1879-1920, and would be glad to correspond with any interested 
persons directly. It is good to see this interest in the historical roots 
of child protection!

Raelene Freitag
414-277-8993
freitag@csd.uwm.edu
snail mail: Child Protection Center
P.O. Box 1997 MS 746
Milwaukee, WI 53219

On Tue, 20 May 1997, Adrienne A Haeuser wrote:

> Hi Tom!
> 
> One reason social workers rather than police have been foremost in 
> protective services for children is that long before we had the battered 
> child syndrome identified and subsequent reporting laws, we had private 
> agencies, particularly the Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
> Children, providing protective services.  These groups flourished in 
> large urban areas such as Boston and New York because community leaders 
> supported them and the public believed in "private charity."  There is an 
> excellent book describing the history of the Boston Society written by 
> Linda Gordon.  Unfortunately I cannot recall the title but it was 
> probably published about five years ago -- worth finding for anyone 
> interested.  In short, part of the answer to the query is simply history 
> and public attitudes about the role  -- or lack of role -- for government 
> intervention.  Incidentally, the Gordon book gives some examples of the 
> Society's workers interacting with the police in given situations.
> 
> Hope all is well with you.  I am enjoying retirement!  --  Alex Haeuser
> 
> 
> 
> Adrienne ("Alex") Ahlgren Haeuser             Voice: (414) 963 9966
> Professor Emerita		              FAX:   (414) 229 5311
> School of Social Welfare                      EMail  alexh@csd.uwm.edu
> University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
> 
>