Is the profession of social work exonerated from “occasional evils’
because social workers were simply acting on the sensibilities of the day?
In Colonial Welfare Laws and Practices: Coping Without an English Poor Law in Upper Canada, Russell
Smandych (1996) describes the distinctions made between the deserving and the undeserving poor (p. 241).
Based on this week’s reading and the resources provided below, how did these distinguishing factors help
and/or harm vulnerable individuals at the time? How do we see these distinguishing factors play a role in
modern-day social services?