3-12 Summarize the approach to human service advocacy of Presidents George W.
Bush and Barack Obama.
1. Until the Middle Ages, treatment of mental illnesses focused on ridding
2. Hippocrates used the scientific approach to diagnose mental illness.
3. Until the 1500s, the Catholic Church was responsible for providing
4. England’s needy received help from the government; mentally
impaired were categorized “idiots” or “non compos mentis”.
5. Hospitals and insane asylums treated the needy during the Middle
6. The Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601 described the services available and
a. Began the welfare bureaucracy
b. Formally involved the government in human service delivery
1. The following four principles were used to define poor relief:
a. It is a public responsibility.
b. It is based upon legal residency.
2. Almshouses were established in the colonies to meet human needs.
III. The 19th century: A time of change
1. An emphasis on individualism, laissez-faire economics, and Social
Darwinism promoted a limit on human services.
2. Private sector became instrumental in meeting human needs.
1. The concept of “friendly supervision” was an early form of probation.
2. Dr. Benjamin Rush studied mental illness scientifically.
3. Dorothea Dix campaigned to improve the treatment of the mentally ill
and developmentally disabled in jails and almshouses.
4. Children were removed from almshouses and placed in newly created
5. Immigration and migration to urban areas affected services provided
during the latter half of the 19th century. Two responses were as follows:
a. Organized charity movement: developed to eliminate fraud and