What did Mary Richmond do for Social Work?
Introduction: A cornerstone of building the social work profession, Mary Richmond was known for her ability to organize communities, her development of casework practice, as well as her ability to teach and speak intelligently on a wide array of subjects.
Who is Mary E Richmond?
Richmond, Mary E. (1861–1928) American founder of professional social work who pioneered the casework methodology and helped to establish training programs for social workers.
What is Mary Richmond's philosophy of the human being?
Richmond in his book handles concepts based on the philosophy of the human being, affirming that human beings are not domestic and dependent animals, but beings with logical reasoning. Mary Richmond, Wikipedia in English, (n.d.).
What did Mary Richmond do for social work?
With her book Social Diagnosis (1917), Mary Richmond constructed the foundations for the scientific methodology development of professional social work. She searched for the causes of poverty and social exclusion in the interaction between an individual and his or her environment.
What is Mary Ellen Richmond known for?
Mary Ellen Richmond was an outstanding practitioner, teacher, and theoretician who formulated the first comprehensive statement of principles of direct social work practice. Born in Belleville, Illinois, she joined the Baltimore Charity Organization as an Assistant Treasurer at the age of 28.
What is case work according to Mary Richmond?
Mary Richmond (1917) “Social case work may be defined as the art of doing different things for and with different people by cooperating with them to achieve at one and the same time their own and society's betterment.”
Who is the mother of social work in the Philippines?
Josefa Jara-MartinezPhilippine Commission on Women Today, January 21, marks the birth anniversary of Josefa Jara-Martinez, known as the first Filipino social worker. Born in 1894, Josefa became a teacher and a principal in a public school before she was sent to New York in 1919.
Who was Mary Richmond?
For the New Zealand community leader, teacher and writer, see Mary Richmond (teacher). Mary Ellen Richmond (1861–1928) was an American social work pioneer. She is regarded as the mother of professional social work along with Jane Addams. She founded social case work, the first method of social work and was herself a Caseworker .
What was Mary Richmond's role in the organization of charity?
In 1900, she became general secretary of the Philadelphia Society of Organizing Charity .
What high school did Mary Richmond attend?
She graduated in 1878 from Baltimore Eastern Female High School, at the age of sixteen. She then went to live with one of her aunts in New York City.
What did Mary Richmond's grandmother teach?
Her grandmother taught the important topics of inequality, suffrage, racial problems, spiritualism, and a variety of liberal, social, and political beliefs. Richmond was home schooled until the age of eleven, and then entered a public school.
What are some of the ideas of Mary Richmond?
Some books she published with her ideas: Friendly Visiting among the Poor, Social Diagnosis and What is Social Case Work. Within these books she demonstrated her understanding of social casework. She believed in the relationship between people and their social environment as the major factor of their life situation or status. Her ideas were based on social theory and that social problems for a family or individual should be looked at by first looking at the individual or family, then including their closest social ties such as families, schools, churches, jobs, etc. After looking at these factors the community and government should be looked at. This will dictate the norms for the person to help determine how to help the person make adjustments to improve their situation. Richmond focused on the strengths of the person rather than blaming them for the bad. Her focus was mostly on children, medical social work, and families. All of her ideas are now the basis for social work education today.
What happened to Mary Richmond's parents?
Her parents died when Mary was 3, along with all three of her siblings due to Tuberculosis, which forced her to live with her grandmother and aunts in Baltimore, Maryland. She was the second oldest daughter of Henry Richmond, a carriage blacksmith, and Lavinia Harris Richmond, the daughter of a prominent Baltimore, Maryland, ...
What was Mary's contribution to social work?
This organization was in several cities, and was the first organization to develop a structured social work profession which provided services to the poor, disabled, and needy. Her involvement in this organization led to her contributions in social work. Mary was active in social work until her death in September 1928.
Who is Mary Ellen Richmond?
American founder of professional social work who pioneered the casework methodology and helped to establish training programs for social workers. Born Mary Ellen Richmond on August 5, 1861, in Belleville, Illinois; died on September 12, 1928, in New York City; daughter of Henry Richmond (a carriage blacksmith) and Lavinia (Harris) Richmond; never married; no children.
What was the responsibility of charity organizations?
They were given the responsibility of determining whether or not individuals were among the "worthy poor" and, if so, what type of assistance would be most useful . Charity organizations reasoned that only careful, efficient, and informed assistance would truly help the needy.
Early years
Mary Ellen Richmond was born on August 5, 1861 in Belleville, United States. She was the second daughter of Henry Richmond, a carriage blacksmith, and Lavinia Harris Richmond, the daughter of a major real estate broker.
Society for Charity Organization
In 1889 she began working as an assistant treasurer in the Society for Charitable Organization, also known by its acronym in English "COS". From there, she became the first woman to hold a position that was traditionally held by men.
Contributions as a social worker
In 1897, he presented his ideas at the National Conference of Charitable Institutions. He had the intention of reforming social work to professionalize all those interested in improving the quality of life of those in need. I wanted to achieve this through the application of a strategic methodological plan.
Professionalize social workers
Much of his life was devoted to field research; He explained how to gather information, as well as developed interview methodologies, established contacts, and conducted conversations.
Correct attitude towards the disabled
Mary Richmond was able to train social work professionals in order to give them tools to know how to treat the poor or disabled, in such a way that they can help them emotionally out of poverty.
Handbook for charity workers
In 1899, Mary Richmond published her first work, which consisted of a small manual for charity workers. With this first work, he expressed his desire to train professionals in the area of social work.
The social diagnosis
In 1917, at the age of fifty-six, he reflected in a work the fifteen years of research and the 2,800 cases that he worked on in his first book dedicated to the techniques and methods of social work, entitled The social diagnosis.
Abstract
Mary Richmond is generally considered the founder of social casework in America.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Where did Mary Richmond start her career?
She started her career with the Charity Organisation Society (COS) in Baltimore, a US branch of the organisation Octavia Hill established in the UK. Richmond’s capacities didn’t remain unnoticed and soon she was offered leading position in COS in Baltimore and Philadelphia.
Who was Mary Ellen Richmond?
The founding mother of social casework. With her book Social Diagnosis from 1917, Mary Ellen Richmond (1861-1928) constructed the foundations for the scientific methodology development of professional social work. She searched for the causes of poverty and social exclusion in the interaction between an individual and his or her environment.
Who wrote Mary Richmond?
There are few countries where current social work has not been influenced by her work and thinking. This text was written by Jan Steyaert, based on the Dutch version by Maarten van der Linde. Date of first publication: 02-2010.
Who developed the concept of social diagnosis?
It was Richmond who systematically developed the content and methodology of diagnosis in the period around 1910. Her first principle was that care had to focus on the person within her or his situation. Building on extensive research, she developed what she labelled ‘social diagnosis’.
Where was Mary Richmond born?
Richmond was born on August 5, 1861 in Belleville, Illinois. She was the only surviving child of Henry and Lavinia Richmond. At the age of three, Richmond's mother became ill and died, and was then sent to live with her grandmother and two aunts in Baltimore (Richmond,1974). Richmond then attended Baltimore Eastern Female High School, ...
What did Mary Ellen Richmond do after her aunt died?
Soon after her aunt's death, Richmond began working for the Baltimore Charity Organization Society. By 1897, she became serious in advocating the establishment of professional schools for the study of case work and began to stress the need for a formal social work education. This was the beginning of Mary Ellen Richmond's long career as ...
What is the Richmond handbook?
One very important writing by Richmond includes a small handbook, Friendly Visiting Among the Poor. This is a handbook intended to point out various aspects which are important in doing charitable work in the homes of the poor. The different aspects include health, children, church, and saving and spending money.

Overview
Contributions to Social Work
Mary Richmond increased the public's awareness of the Charity Organization Society and the philanthropic opportunities to support social work. She was trained to be a "friendly visitor," which was the initial term for a caseworker. She visited the homes of people in need and tried to help them improve their life situation. She began to develop many ideas of how casework could best be conducted to help those in need. During the time Richmond was connected to the Charity Org…
Early life
She was born on August 5, 1861 in Belleville, Illinois. Her parents died when Mary was 3, along with all three of her siblings due to Tuberculosis, which forced her to live with her grandmother and aunts in Baltimore, Maryland. She was the second oldest daughter of Henry Richmond, a carriage blacksmith, and Lavinia Harris Richmond, the daughter of a prominent Baltimore, Maryland, jeweler and real estate broker.
Publications
Some books she published with her ideas: Friendly Visiting among the Poor, Social Diagnosis and What is Social Case Work. Within these books she demonstrated her understanding of social casework. She believed in the relationship between people and their social environment as the major factor of their life situation or status. Her ideas were based on social theory and that social problems for a family or individual should be looked at by first looking at the individual or family, …
External links
• Works by Mary Ellen Richmond at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Mary Richmond at Internet Archive