with disabilities. It is also a model for reinvigorating the "social"
in social work.
Coffeeshops like Bill's were a part of many early centers of social
work, including Hull House in Chicago. Jane Addams, a founding mother
of social work, called for an integrated social work practice which
was committed to strengthening neighborhoods as well as strengthening
individuals.
This model of social work was a "holistic rather than specialization
approach, advocating for social reform while giving services," writes
Rolland F. Smith in an essay for the Encyclopedia of Social Work. This
approach has "an orientation to family and neighborhood strengths
rather than to individual pathologies."
Addams' idea of social work was a radical notion when she first
proposed it in the late 19th century. It's at least as radical today
in a society which is based in many ways on an exaggerated notion of
individualism. Modern society has been built around segmenting the
lives of people in many different ways.
First, there is the separation between work and home. This is
compounded by the increasing distances between on and the other.
Second, there is the separation at work itself. Many jobs have become
very specialized. From construction to social work, from education to
manufacturing, jobs have been moving away from general skills and
towards specialist skills.
Finally, there is the growing separation of neighborhoods by income.
The growth of the suburbs (and urban renewal in the cities) has fueled
this phenomenon, resulting in economic isolation for so many families
and individuals.
Bill's Coffeeshop (and its cousin Uptown Bill's) are antidotes to this
separation. These two coffee shops, and others like them, are working
to restore the "social." They not only offer an alternative to the
separation in our communities, they also offer an alternative model
for social work.
Coffeeshops offer three distinct advantages to traditional settings
for social work:
1. A less formal setting than regular social work agencies
2. An environment with the potential of being shaped by the "client"
as well as the social worker.
3. An experience of community at the same time individual needs are
getting attention.
Coffeeshops fit with the idea of "a reconstructed social work"
outlined by Harry Wasserman and Holly Danforth in their book, "The
human bond: Support groups and mutual aid." This kind of social work
"envisions a theory and practice in which the individual, family,
small group and community constitute an interdependent quartet. This
requires...an internally consistent set of concepts and...a web of
human connections."
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4 comments:
You can see that there is a separation between work and home. Although, I do feel that sometimes work is brought home depending on your mood. You can see a lot of separation between low income housing and the nice house. Nobody wants to build a new business in a low income neighborhood. I don't know if it's a safety concern or that they think people will not come in if they build there. You can feel that separation in Sioux Falls. The city is expanding, but they are not building in the middle of the town. They are going to the newer parts and building there. Kelli Wagner
I think that you can see the separation between work and home. But sometimes the workers are tied up in it that it affects their home too! And there is obviously a separation between the high-income and low-income neighborhoods. The high-income neighborhoods are building their homes outside of town and making their own plantations. The low-income neighborhoods stay in the town and try to make it as best as they can!
~Kristi S.~
There is a seperation between work and home. Workers obviously work to late and it could affect the home itself...with the family. High-income families tend to build their houses out of town and have more money to buy what they need to build their house. They also have nice things around their houses. They have nice garages that they build to connect to their houses. As well as low-income families they don't really have the money to build houses out of town. They stay around the city or town to make it as possible as they can. Low-income families tend to have money but they also need to survive amd get things around their house.
J. Cavanaugh
I cannot define this to well. I would say that most suffer in our neighborhood because we need a coffee shop to share and be in social setting. Most just go to the bars for social setting. This environment is not all that healthy. It breaks up families and it kills the spirit. The veterans have their little social setting and they all meet and visit. Parents that are working, and would like to be in a social setting to visit and vent or release, there no place like that around our neighborhood. There was an internet cafe one time and it did not last that long. I think if these coffee shops were established in different areas of the social setting it would be good for everyone.
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