Situational approaches to direct practice: origin, decline, and re-emergence

During the 1890s and the first three decades of the 20th century, social work in the United States developed a community-based direct practice approach to family assistance and social reform. The basis for this method was a situational view of social life that emphasized the use of interpersonal and transactional methods to achieve social and individual change. This article highlights important aspects of the genesis and development of this approach, emphasizing especially the contributions of its foremost exponents: Jane Addams, Mary Richmond, Ada Sheffield, Eduard Lindeman, and Mary Parker Follett. Also included are comments about current attempts in social work to revive this perspective for use by contemporary practitioners.