Founder of Social Casework
Mary Ellen Richmond The Founding Mother of Social Casework Mary Richmond was one of the pioneers of Social Work profession and was described as the mother of social casework because of 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. She was an outstanding practitioner, teacher, and theoretician who prepared the first comprehensive statement of principles of direct social work practice. She was born in Belleville, Illinois and she joined the Baltimore Charity Organization as an Assistant Treasurer at the age of 28. Around the period of 1910 , Richmond systematically developed the content and methodology of diagnosis . Her first principle was that care had to focus on the person within their situation. Building on extensive research, she developed what she labelled ‘social diagnosis’ . Her famo...