Child placement process with minority peoples

172 Pages·09.213 MB·English

by  Weaver, Audrey Lee

CHIU) PLACEMENT PROCESS WITH
MINORITY PEOPLES
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the School of Social Work
The University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Social Work
*ar
Audrey L. Weaver
May, 1950
UMI Number: EP66371
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This thesis, written under the direction of the
candidate’s Faculty Committee and approved
by all its members, has been presented to and
accepted by the Faculty of the Graduate School
of Social W ork in partial fulfilment of the re­
quirements for the degree of
MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK
Dean
Date_
Thesis
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TABUS OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. GENERAL INTRODUCTION...................... 1
Statement of the problem................ 1
History and significance ♦ . . .........• • 1
Organization of the study............... 5
Definition of terms.................... 5
Data.................................. 7
Method ............. • • • • • • • • • • • 9
II. NEGRO CASES........... 11
Introduction......................... . • 11
Williams case .................... 15
Harris c a s e ........................... 26
Johnson case........................... 56
Summary ........... 45
III. JAPANESE CASES......... 50
Introduction ....................... . ♦ 50
Sato c a s e ............................. 58
Ichikawa ease . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 70
Mori c a s e ............................. * 86
Summary............ 104
IV. MEXICAN CASES . ........................ 110
Introduction . . . . . . 110
Garcia c a s e ........................... 119
iii
CHAPTER PAGE
Moreno case......................... 132
Lopez c a s e ......................... 141
Sunjmary .................... 153
Y. CONCLUSIONS.......................... 158
BIBLIOGRAPHY............................... 162
CHAPTER I
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
I* STATEMENT OP THE PROBLEM
The purpose of this study is to determine If minority
status affects the child placement process* The exploratory
analysis of nine case records will seek to answer such ques­
tions as these: How is the child placement service used by
members of minority groups? Do ethnic factors appear in the
case recordings? If so, how were they introduced and used in
the process? Are there general implications in child place­
ment which may be used for improving services to minority
groups?
The study will not attempt a resume of research related
to the problems of minority groups* The ethnic material to be
considered is indicated by the documents analysed* No evalua­
tion of professional skill will be included, as it is beyond
the scope of this project to prove that a different handling
of the ethnic factors would have improved the placement process*
II. HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE
The definition of the placement process is so recent
a development that little has been done in examining the use
of placement by different communities* Though not previously
considered in regard to this specific function, meeting the
needs of minority groups has been a continuing concern in social
work. The National Conference of Social Work, as early as 1929,
showed Interest in numerous ethnic groups. This problem then,
has interest for all parts of the profession working with minor­
ity peoples.
The earlier material dealing with minorities, such as
the articles on Mexicans and Negroes in the Social Work Year­
books of 1933 and 1939, was largely limited to classifying
types of problems and informing the public in an effort to
establish more welfare services. Assembling information re­
garding contacts with various groups of clients has continued
to the present time, contributing to the general understanding
of ethnic differences for social work and other professions.
In 1942, the relocation of the Japanese offered an opportunity
for the War Belocation Authority to study this group in an
unique situation. In order to handle the problems created by
the upheaval, it was necessary to compile information about
Japanese culture.
Gradually the profession has become increasingly aware
of the need to help individuals with problems which involve
their group relationships. Members of various minority groups
were trained as workers to interpret American culture to their
people. Using agency services as a medium of help with internal
conflicts which are related to the realities of difference from
the majority, is a more recent development. This followed
3
further refinements in the meaning of the ease work relation­
ship. Thelma Duvinage's study of the effect of Negro accommoda­
tion behavior in ease work is an early recognition of the
importance of race to whatever problem necessitates the seeking
of help.^ The present study is similar to this type of ap­
proach. It is an examination of the effect of ethnic difference
upon the use of agency service, rather than a study of requests
for help with ethnic problems.
This reconsideration of the significance of group to the
behavior of individuals is also evident in related fields, in
psychology the individual and his family constellation have
been studied in relation to larger social groups. Psychiatry
has become increasingly aware of the inseparability of the
individual from his social situation. These trends are part
of a general tendency to reexamine the definition of normalcy
from a broader perspective. Particularly the new thinking in
anthropology has been important. Buth Benedict wrote:
Early anthropologists tried to arrange all traits of
different cultures in an evolutionary sequence from
the earliest forms to their final development in
Western civilization. . . . Since we are forced to
believe that the race of man is one species, it
follows that man everywhere has an equally long his­
tory behind him.2
Thelma Duvinage, "Accommodation Attitudes of Negroes
to White Case Workers and Their Influence on Case Work,”
Smith College Studies, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 264-303.
2 Buth Benedict, Patterns of Culture (Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Company, 1934), p. id*
4
The direction of scientific inquiry comes from the
practical problems felt throuthout the world* The second
world war brought a new awareness of the interrelatedness of
different peoples and their societies. The possibility of
international social work became a real challenge • The new
broad problems in turn produce a need to reexamine old areas
of concern* The position of the United States in international
affairs brings the Inadequacies of the adjustment of our minor­
ities into new relief* Recent social conflicts have demanded
the attention of scientists* As the possibilities of the
atomic bomb have changed the responsibilities in physical
research, the need for world planning makes it necessary for
those concerned with individuals to consider them in relation
to group living* The political necessity to compromise the
unlike, to include the right to differ in our philosophy,
becomes increasingly more urgent* Menningerfs statement that:
"Number one among all of the social neuroses in America today
is the widespread prejudice and discrimination against persons
because of race, color, or religion,"3 places the majority of
Americans among the abnormal and shows the international
implications of what is also an individual, a community, and
a national problem*
3
William C. Manninger, "Psychiatry Today," The
Atlantic Monthly. 181:65, January, 1948.
5
IH. QBGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
Following the conpletion of the general description
of the project, the ease records will he presented according
to ethnic groups in Chapters II through IV, beginning with
the Negro group. Preceding the presentation of individual
case records will he an introduction of general information
regarding the ethnic group. And following each set of records
will be a summary of the ethnic aspects of placement brought
out in the cases handled in the chapter. Chapter V will con­
tain a discussion of the general conclusions. For convenience,
footnotes will be cited by chapter and the Bibliography ar­
ranged according to the groups considered in the study.
IV. DEFINITION OF TERMS
Child placement in this thesis refers to either foster
home or institutional placement. The particular definition
of this service is that of the Children’s Bureau of Los
Angeles, which is described later.
It is recognized that the term minority is not exact
in meaning and has highly emotional connotations.4 It does,
however, include all the groups considered in the study, and
it is used to designate their relationship to the dominant
groups, or social in-groups. Colored minorities, though a
4
Buth D. Tuck, Not With the Fist (New York: Harcourt,
Brace and Company, 1946T7~£tttroduViion> P* six.