Transcript SOC4044 Sociological Theory Jane Addams Dr. Ronald Keith

SOC4044 Sociological
Theory:
Jane Addams
Friday, July 17, 2015
© 2002-2006 by Ronald Keith
Bolender
1
Jane Addams
References
Ashley, D., & Orenstein, D. M. (2001). Sociological theory:
Classical statements (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Deegan, M. J. (1986). Jane Addams and the men of the
Chicago School. Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
Luft, M. (n. d.). About Jane Addams. Hull House
Organization. Retrieved September 23, 2002 from
http://www.hullhouse.org/website/about.asp
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Jane Addams
1860-1935
Grew up in Cedarville,
Illinois
Father was a Quaker
Strong abolitionist
Nobel Peace Prize
Winner
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Jane Addams:
Chicago School of Sociology
While Addams is seldom included in
sociological theory books as a major
theorist (she did develop an excellent
research method), there is NO
QUESTION that she impacted other
theorists and the real world application of
sociological theories and concepts.
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Jane Addams:
Chicago School of Sociology
Addams helped shape American sociology
in a fundamental way. Her early work in
Hull House Maps and Papers set the
intellectual precedent for decades of work
now recognized as "Chicago Sociology."
Her participation in Chicago Sociology was
intrinsic to its agenda, its brilliance, and it
role in American life and politics.
(Deegan, 1986)
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Jane Addams:
Chicago School of Sociology
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Jane Addams:
Chicago School of Sociology
Her two major streams of thought, cultural
feminism and critical pragmatism, provide a
rich heritage for scholars and Americans. She
articulated a view of society based on the
American experience and the social thought of
her age. Patriarchal worldviews prevented an
institutionalization of her work in sociology and
her epistemological leadership was hidden.
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Jane Addams:
Chicago School of Sociology
Despite this historical distortion of her role
as a sociologist, her work with the early
men of the Chicago School was
significant. Three different patterns of
relationships can be discerned.
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Jane Addams:
Chicago School of Sociology
The first network concerns Small, Henderson, Zeublin, and
Vincent. Called here the "religious men," this group worked very
closely with Addams for almost a quarter of a century. Small,
Henderson, and Zeublin were all trained in the ministry and their
use of religious assumptions marks their work in a distinctive
way…Henderson and Zeublin were particularly close to the social
settlement movements and actively turned to Addams for
intellectual and moral leadership. Mapping, education, social
settlements, the economy, and criminal reforms were all topics
central to Addams' sociological contributions and the work done
by these men…they shared a basic core of common interests,
work, and historical context. All four men were actively
associated with Addams, Hull-House, and the study of the city
and its reform.
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Jane Addams:
Chicago School of Sociology
George Herbert Mead and William Isaac Thomas formed with
Addams a significant intellectual force and influence on
American thought. The least sexist of the men, they more
willingly accepted Addams as a colleague and brought their
personal lives and professional careers together. The
considerable overlap in their ideas and work needs to be
examined in greater depth. Mead was most influenced by
Addams' critical pragmatism, particularly supporting her
concepts of democratic change, the need for communication,
and the flexibility of human nature. Thomas, too, shared an
interest in immigrants and juveniles who were undergoing rapid
social change in the new American city. Of all the men, he was
the most influenced by her work with women and thereby
formed a unique relationship to her thought concerning the role
of women in modernizing society.
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Jane Addams:
Chicago School of Sociology
Finally, Robert Ezra Park and Burgess inherited the
wealth of concepts and methodologies generated by
these early sociologists…Park and Burgess had the
most minimal contacts with Addams, but their
intellectual debt to her was great. The most sexist of
the men, the most opposed to social reform, and part
of a new generation of sociological thought, Park and
Burgess signaled the end of Addams' direct influence
on the men of the Chicago School
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Jane Addams:
Chicago School of Sociology
Male
Theorist
Social Reform
Hull House
Hull House
Maps and
Papers
Women
Addams
William
Isaac
Thomas
Vital, but theory
and practice of
division of labor
Frequent visitor
and lecturer,
actively
supported
affiliated
causes
Studied
immigrants
and urban
problem-social
disorganization
Dramatic
change in
ideas from
Social
Darwinist to
egalitarian
Colleague on
topics of women,
esp. prostitution,
immigrants, and
juvenile
delinquency
George
Herbert
Mead
Integral to theory
of self and
society
Frequent visitor
and lecturer,
actively
supported
affiliated
causes
Favored
mapping
methodology
Basically
egalitarian
Colleague, esp. in
reference to
pragmatism and
role of social
reform in everyday
life
Robert
Ezra Park
Mixed, virulently
anti-reform
ideologies
Little or no
contact
sexist
Knew of Addams
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Used mapping
methodology,
studies urban
life
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Jane Addams:
Chicago School of Sociology
 During the classical period of sociological theory
development…most of the recognized theorists white,
bourgeois, European or United States men.
 Jane Addams (the only woman of the earliest
sociological theorist to gain a university appointment)
was ultimately forced out of her position in the Sociology
Department at the University of Chicago and placed in
the less prestigious Social Work Department, where—so
it was believed—a woman would be more at home.
(Ashley & Orenstein, 2001, p. 25)
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Jane Addams:
Chicago School of Sociology
Comte’s Influence on Addam
 Like Durkheim, Addams also sought to link social scientific investigation
with the discovery of appropriate moral rules for modern society. On a trip
to England as a young woman, she was influenced by the ideas of a
number of British neo-Comteans. The research she sponsored at Hull
House in Chicago, her focus for an emerging peaceful world order, and her
belief in science as an aid to moral development are reflective of Comtean
themes. Although Addams has been less influential and less cited in
American sociology than have other Chicago sociologists of her era, she is
generally recognized as the foremost founder of professional social work in
the United States.
 Thus, an investigation into the roots of social work ideology
might focus on the persistence of Comtean ideas (via Addams)
about science and social reform, the role of experts, and the
role of government in regulating people’s lives in a capitalist
society.
(Ashley & Orenstein, 2001, p. 72)
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Jane Addams:
Chicago School of Sociology
Addam’s Influcence on George Herbert Mead
 George Herbert Mead, always an advocate of women’s
rights, publicly marched with Addams in a
demonstration for women’s suffrage in the streets of
Chicago.
 Much of Mead’s thought and action was animated by his
conception of an emergent democracy. Through a long
period in which they exchanged ideas, Mead came to
incorporate many of Addam’s views in his image of
American democracy and it potentiality to develop into a
more inclusive and just social order.
(Ashley & Orenstein, 2001, pp. 391, 399-400)
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Jane Addams:
Chicago School of Sociology
Higher Education and Women
Cultural Feminism
Suffrage Movement
Working Women
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Jane Addams:
Hull House (A Settlement House)
Addams attempted to apply sociological
theory and concepts to the real world as a
way to solve social problems.
The Hull House became her most
famous and most enduring testament to
her efforts.
(Luft, n. d.)
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Jane Addams:
Hull House (A Settlement House)
 During her travels to Europe after the completion of her education,
Addams visited and was inspired by the community of residents she
met at Toynbee Hall in London. It was there she first encountered
the concept of a settlement house and observed well educated
university graduates living in a community of working class and
poor people.
 These settlement workers organized clubs, recreation, and
educational programs for people in the neighborhood.
 The distinguishing characteristic of the settlement was its ability to
deliver services without employing "professional social workers" or
welfare agency staff who were often judgmental and punitive in the
way they related to poor people.
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Jane Addams:
Hull House (A Settlement House)
 In 1889, Jane Addams and her lifelong friend, Ellen Gates Starr, had
been given a house by a retired businessman named Charles Hull.
His once beautiful country mansion, which had served as a retreat
from the rigors of city life, had gradually been surrounded by the
encroaching tenements of the rapidly growing city. The house,
located at the corner of Polk and Halsted streets, was referred to by
the people in the neighborhood as "the Hull House."
 It was to this house Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr moved on
September 18, 1889. On that day, they opened their doors,
welcomed their neighbors, and thus began the "great experiment"
that would last for over 100 years.
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Jane Addams:
Hull House (A Settlement House)
 The community of the westside of Chicago was characteristic of the
large, northern, industrial urban areas of the 19th century of
America. Chicago was a center of industry and commerce and
served as a gateway between the manufacturing northeast and the
agricultural midwest. After the civil war, the US push westward to
claim new territories fueled an incredible burst of growth in
transportation, manufacturing, and commerce. This economic
expansion required cheap labor, and thus massive migrations from
Europe were encouraged by the US government. The Halsted street
neighborhood where Jane Addams made her home was a slum
complete with overcrowded tenements, crime, disease, inadequate
schools, inferior hospitals, and insufficient sanitation.
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Jane Addams:
Hull House (A Settlement House)
 The abundance of non-English speaking "new Americans" who had
come from southern and eastern Europe overwhelmed the public
welfare agencies, mutual aid societies, and municipal government.
Newspaper accounts from that era abound with reports and
editorials in which public debate was devoted to fears of
"foreigners, anarchists, and unwashed rabble" who had no
knowledge of American democracy and who were perceived as
having no contribution to make to American culture. There was
great concern expressed as to how quickly the new arrivals
would give up their old world ways, and assimilate into
mainstream America. It was believed that until they gave up
their language, customs, and loyalty to the old countries, the
immigrants were a threat to the political, economic, and social
structures of the day.
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Jane Addams:
Hull House (A Settlement House)
 Not surprisingly, the new immigrants self-perception was quite
different from the one expressed in the mainstream press. Many
arrived with little more than the clothes on their backs and their
heads filled with tales of "streets of gold". While the merchants
and factory owners of this bustling "city of the big shoulders" were
all too eager to hire immigrants, most were unwilling to pay a
decent wage or accept any responsibility for creating the conditions
which perpetuated the slums. Local politicians were easily corrupted
by moneyed interests, and city services (garbage removal, building
safety codes, and police and fire protection) were woefully
inadequate.
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Jane Addams:
Hull House (A Settlement House)
 Economic conditions required parents to work long hours, leaving
small children unsupervised and forcing older children to scrounge
for themselves. Schooling was inadequate, and teachers
unaccustomed to the ethnic diversity were scornful of children who
could not speak English. Recreational facilities were non-existent so
that juvenile delinquency, prostitution, and petty street crime
became major threats to the safety of everyone living in the
tenements.
 Forced to work in appalling conditions, unwelcomed by the
community leaders who exploited their labor but ignored their
needs, the immigrants of Chicago's westside were without hope or
means of escape.
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Jane Addams:
Hull House (A Settlement House)
 It was here that Jane Addams brought herself, her belongings, her
political ideals, and her determination to live by a set of principles.
She was a student and an advocate of the progressive political
movement which espoused such ideas as political reform,
women's suffrage, pacifism, cultural pluralism, dignity of labor,
social justice, rights of children, the need for public health and
safety rules, and the duty of government to protect the vulnerable.
She believed that civic, religious, and philanthropic organizations
needed to join into partnership with community residents and
government to solve the problems which created ghetto life.
Addams believed that the "new immigrants" would enrich
American culture if given ample opportunity to participate
in it.
 Prophetic words!
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Jane Addams:
Hull House (A Settlement House)
Addams established her residency in Hull
House based upon several basic principles.
First, Addams wished to live in the community as an
equal participant in the local issues of the day. Unlike
the social workers and society matrons who visited
the poor and then returned to their middle class
homes every evening, Addams and her colleagues
lived where they worked. The "settlement" concept
was central to the success of the Hull House
community, and the practice of "neighbors helping
neighbors" became a cornerstone of the Hull House
philosophy.
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Jane Addams:
Hull House (A Settlement House)
Second, the Hull House community believed in the
fundamental dignity of all individuals and accorded
every person whom they encountered with equal
respect while learning about their ethnic origins,
cultures, and customs.
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Jane Addams:
Hull House (A Settlement House)
Third, the Hull House community believed that poverty and the
lack of opportunity bred the problems of the ghetto.
Ignorance, disease, and crime were the result of
economic desperation and not the result of some moral
flaw in the character of the new immigrants. Addams
promoted the idea that if afforded a decent education, adequate
living conditions, and reliable income, any person could
overcome the obstacles of the ghetto, and furthermore if
allowed to develop his skills, that person could not only make a
better life for himself but contribute to the community as a
whole. Access to opportunity was the key to successful
participation in a democratic, self governing society. The
greatest challenge and achievement of the settlement was to
"help people help themselves".
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Jane Addams:
Hull House (A Settlement House)
 Implementing these principles was no small task, and
Addams gathered around her a community of young
men and women, who were well educated, and willing
to sacrifice personal comfort, to risk living in a hostile
community, and to experiment actively in seeking
solutions to the challenge of ghetto life at the turn of
the century.
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Jane Addams:
Hull House (A Settlement House)
 The activities of Hull House included:
 citizenship and literacy classes
 adult education
 sports and hobby clubs
 theatre and dance programs
 cooking, sewing, and homemaking classes
 public baths
 day nurseries
 health clinics and visiting nurses
 immunization programs
 art appreciation
 lending libraries
 political discussion groups
 lectures on educational and workplace reforms
 loaned meeting spaces for labor meetings, mutual aid societies, and
social clubs.
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Jane Addams:
Hull House (A Settlement House)
Most importantly, Hull House created a forum for
public debate on policy and legislative issues in
municipal, state, and national arenas.
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Jane Addams:
Hull House (A Settlement House)
 The achievements of the Hull House community are too numerous to list,
but the impact was incalculable. This group of idealistic young people made
Hull House the most famous settlement house in the USA and generated
ideas, proposals, and policy reforms still felt 100 years later. The following
movements can all trace their origins, at least in part, to the work of the
Hull House settlement.
 civil rights
 women's suffrage
 international peace
 juvenile protection
 labor relations
 court reform
 public health
 public housing
 civic watchdog
 urban planning
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Jane Addams:
Hull House (A Settlement House)
By the time of her death in 1935, Jane
Addams had won the Nobel Peace Prize
and changed forever the profile of
Chicago. After her death, the residents of
Hull House carried on the work begun by
Jane Addams and the other founders.
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