Evolution of social work

Social work as a profession engaged in rendering services intended to aid disadvantaged, distressed or vulnerable persons or groups appeared in the 19^th century. But before that there were different public officials who helped distressed people.

The first officers responsible for distributing alms to the poor were almoners usually connected with a religious house or other institution. It is considered that almoners appeared in France in the 13^th century. In England such officers began to supervise charitable works later. And they still exist as part of Queens Household. The high almoner, usually a bishop or other prelate, distributes the royal alms on Maundy Thursday.

In modern times the term almoner has also been used in Britain for a trained social worker, usually a woman, qualified to work in a medical setting. In this sense «almoner» was superseded in 1964 by the title «medical social worker». Now the term is used in Britain as well as in the United States.

Other officers who helped distressed people before appearance of social workers were overseers of the poor, people who in 16^th- and 17^th-century England and Colonial America were appointed as public officials to help collect local taxes and use these funds to provide relief for the destitute and, primarily, jobs for the able-bodied unemployed. Overseers of the poor were established in the Henrician Poor Law of 1536 and served as local officials for the government and for churches. The term «overseer of the poor» has two synonyms «guardian of the poor» and «guardian». Some social welfare historians trace the evolution of the modern social work profession to the overseers of the poor.