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TENTH EDITION
Human Services in Contemporary America

W i l l i a m R . B u r g er
Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203
vi CONTENTS
Questions for Class Discussion or Special Assignment 36

Social Change 36
The Changing American Family 36
Economic and Political Factors 38
Psychological Stress 39
Developmental Crises 42
Food Justice and Health 42
Distribution of Food/Price and Quality of Foods 43
School Food 43
Children, the Food Industry and Fast Food 44
Immigrant Workers 45
Health Care in the United States 45
Medicaid Expansion 47
Patient’s Bill of Rights 47
Young Adult Services 47
Behavioral Health Care 48
Roles of Human Services Workers 49
Canadian National Health Plan: A Model for the United States? 49
Managed Care 50
Summary—52
Additional Reading—52
References—53
Chapter 2
Groups in Need 59
Introduction 60
America’s Poor 60
Who Are the Poor? 61
Welfare 62
Welfare Reform 62
Welfare Reform—Again 64
Other Programs for the Poor 65
Suggested Class Assignment 66
The Unemployed 66
Consequences of Joblessness 67
Unemployment Rates 67
Unemployment Insurance 67
Impact of Unemployment on Human Services 68
Children in Need 68
Children and the Changing American Family 68
Children of Single-Parent Families 69
Abused and Neglected Children 70
Causes of Child Abuse 71
Helping the Abused or Neglected Child 72
Survivors of Domestic Violence 73
Who Are the Victims? 73
Theories 75
Interventions 76
vii
CONTENTS
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Communities 77

Guidelines for Mental Health Practitioners 78
Affirmative Therapy 79
An Important Note about Differences 81
Senior Citizens 81
Social Security 82
Health Care for the Aged 82
Medicaid for Senior Citizens 83
Dementia 83
Community Programs for Senior Citizens 85
Nursing Homes 85
Working with Senior Citizens 86
Current Aging Trends 87
People with Disabilities 87
Mainstreaming People with Disabilities 88
Psychological Barriers against People
with Disabilities 89
The Rehabilitation Process 90
People with Mental Illness 90
Prevalence of Mental Illness 91
Trends in Mental Health Care 91
Deinstitutionalizing Mental Patients 92
Community Care for Mental Patients 92
Current Problems in Mental Health Care 93
What Mental Health Services Are Needed? 94
The New Chronic Patient 95
Is Reinstitutionalization the Answer? 95
Substance Abusers 96
■■ Real Life Human Services work 96
Illegal Drugs 97
Legal Drugs 98
Major Drug Types 99
Narcotics or Opiate Users 99
Opioid Epidemic in the United States 100
Sedative Users 101
Stimulant Users 102
Dissociative Anesthetics and Hallucinogen Users 103
Designer Drug Users 104
People with Co-Occurring Disorders 104
Who Are the People with Co-Occurring Disorders? 105
Obstacles to Treatment 105
Interventions and Possible Solutions 107
Community and Government 108
Criminals 108
Juvenile Offenders 109
Juvenile Correction Programs 110
Adult Offenders 110
Probation 111
viii CONTENTS
Prison and Correctional Programs 111

Alternatives to Incarceration 111
People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities 112
Classifying People with Intellectual Disabilities 113
Factors That Cause or Contribute to Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities 113
The Homeless 116
Why Are People Homeless? 117
Helping the Homeless 117
People Living with HIV/AIDS 119
What Are HIV and AIDS? 119
The HIV/AIDS Pandemic in the United States and Beyond 120
The Global Pandemic 120
The U.S. Epidemic 121
HIV Prevention in the United States 122
The Needs of People Living with HIV 123
Summary—125
References—126
chapter 3
Human Services in Historical Perspective 135
Introduction 136
Prehistoric Civilizations 136
Early Civilizations 137
Middle Ages 139
Renaissance 140
Human Welfare Services since the Renaissance 141
Industrial Revolution 142
Early Reform Movements in the United States 143
The Depression and World War II 144
The 1960s 145
Mental Health Services since the Renaissance 146
Early Mental Asylums 146
Era of Humanitarian Reform 147
Freud’s Influence 148
Trend Toward Deinstitutionalization and Decentralization 149
Community Mental Health Movement 149
Advent of Generalist Human Services Workers 151
■■ Real Life Human Services work 151
Future Trends 153
References—158
ix
CONTENTS
chapter 4
Theoretical Perspectives 159
Introduction 160
Scientific Theory 160
Theories About Human Disorders 161
Three Levels of Observation 161
Biopsychosocial Model 162
Political Implications of Theory 163
Models of Dysfunction 163
Medical Model 163
Medical Procedure 164
Treatment Approaches of the Medical Model 164
Other Medical Treatments 165
Criticisms of the Medical Model 168
Human Services Model 168
Hansell’s Theory 169
Human Services Interventions 169
■■ REAL LIFE HUMAN SERVICES WORK 170
Issues Underlying Conflict Between Models 171
Holistic Trend in Medical Theory 171
Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) 171
Alternative Medicine 172
Schools of Therapy 173
Psychoanalytic Viewpoint 173
Major Freudian Concepts 173
Therapeutic Concepts 174
Free Association 174
Transference 174
Psychoanalytically Oriented Psychotherapy 175
Criticisms of Psychoanalysis 176
Some Useful Applications of Psychoanalytic Concepts 177
Humanistic Perspective 177
Humanistic Approach to Helping 178
Self-Actualization 178
Responsibility 179
The Self-Concept 179
Criticisms of the Humanistic Approach 179
Positive Aspects of the Humanistic Approach 180
Behavioristic Model 180
Classical Conditioning 181
Operant Conditioning 181
John B. Watson and Little Albert 182
Behavioristic View of Abnormal Behavior 182
x CONTENTS
Behavior Assessment 183

Systematic Desensitization 183
Token Economies 184
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) 184
Criticisms of Behavioristic Approaches 185
Positive Aspects of Behavioristic Approaches 185
Which Theory is Best? 185
Alternative Therapies 186
EMDR 186
Systems Theory—188
References—189
chapter 5
The Human Services Worker 192
Introduction 193
Different Styles of Helping Relationships 193
The Relationship in Psychoanalytic Therapy 193
The Relationship in Behavior Therapy 194
The Relationship in Humanistic Therapy 195
■■ Real life Human Services work 195
Characteristics of Effective Helpers 197
Empathy 197
Genuineness 197
Objective/Subjective Balance 198
Self-Awareness 198
Acceptance 199
Desire to Help 200
Patience 200
Basic Helping Skills 200
Listening 201
Communicating 202
Giving Feedback 203
Observing 204
Confronting 205
Clarifying 206
Paraphrasing 206
Highlighting 206
Summarizing 207
Problem Solving 207
Interviewing 208
Report Writing 209
Factors that Influence the Use of Skills 209
Values 209
Professional Codes of Ethics 210
Physical and Emotional Well-Being/Stress and Stress Management 217
xi
CONTENTS
Environmental Factors 218

Multicultural Awareness 218
Knowledge, Awareness, and Skills 218
Knowledge 219
Awareness 219
Skills 220
Prior Training 221
Crisis Intervention 221
Recognizing Crisis 221
Types of Crises 221
Crisis Symptoms 223
Crisis Intervention Strategies 223
Crisis Outcomes 224
Human Rights, the Law, and Human Services 224
Voluntary and Involuntary Services 225
The Right to Refuse Services 226
Due Process 226
Least Restrictive Alternative 227
The Worker in Group Settings 227
Definition of a Group 227
Group Leadership Skills 227
Selecting Group Members 228
Establishing Goals 229
Establishing Norms 229
Intervening 229
Promoting Interaction 229
Appraising/Evaluating 229
Terminating the Group 230
The Worker in the Community 230
Advocacy 231
Community Organizing 232
Community Outreach 232
Case Management 233
Providing Information 235
References—236
chapter 6
Careers in Human Services 239
Introduction 240
Generalist Human Services Work 240
Functions 240
Training and Education 244
Physical Therapy 246
Functions 246
xii CONTENTS
Creative Arts Therapy 248

Functions 248
Art 249
Dance 249
Music 250
Occupational Therapy 250
Functions 250
Clinical Psychology 252
Functions 252
Setting A: Psychiatric Hospital 252
Setting B: Public or Private School 254
Setting C: Community Mental Health Center 254
Counseling 256
Functions 256
Rehabilitation Counselor 257
School Counselor 258
Work Settings for Counselors 259
Graduate Training 260
Licenses and Certification 260
Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counseling 261
Functions 261
Treatment Settings 262
Detoxification Centers 262
Residential Rehabilitation Programs 262
Day Treatment Programs 263
Therapeutic Communities 263
Outpatient Counseling Programs 263
Employee Assistance Programs 264
Social Work 265
Functions 265
Psychiatry 268
Functions 268
Professional Organizations—270
References—272
chapter 7
Social Policy 273
Introduction 274
What Is Social Policy? 274
Social Policy in Modern Times 275
xiii
CONTENTS
Purpose and Types of Social Policy 277

The Scope of Social Policy 277
Making Social Policy 278
Identifying Unmet Needs 279
Who Identifies Social Problems? 279
Initiating Social Policy 281
Who Are the Decision Makers? 283
Factors in Establishing Social Policy 283
Research 283
Pressure and Lobbying 285
The Media 287
Opposition 289
Implementation of Social Policy 289
Funding 290
Interpretation of Policy 291
Who Implements Policy? 291
Critical Thinking Activities 292
Recognizing Deceptive Arguments 292
Defining Poverty 293
Evaluating Sources of Information 295
Recognizing Stereotypes 296
References—298
chapter 8
Prevention in Human Services 299
Introduction 300
Defining Prevention and Its Targets 300
Prevention in the Past 301
Ancient Preliterate and Literate Civilizations 301
The Dark Ages and the Renaissance 303
The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries 303
1960s to the Present 304
Levels of Prevention 306
Primary Prevention 307
Secondary Prevention 308
Tertiary Prevention 308
Why an Emphasis on Primary Prevention Is Crucial 309
Primary Prevention Strategies 312
Obstacles to Development of Primary Prevention Programs 313
Professional Issues 314
Political Issues 314
Economic Obstacles 315
xiv CONTENTS
Summary of Primary Prevention Programs 315

References—316
chapter 9
Current Controversies and Issues 317
Introduction 318
Clash of Values in Social Policies 318
Euthanasia 319
Reproductive Choices 322
Target Populations: The Struggle for Support 323
The AIDS Epidemic 324
The Homeless 325
Welfare Recipients 325
Sexual Expression Among Older Adults 327
Professionalism in the Human Services 330
The Role of Human Services Workers 332
Who Do Human Services Workers Serve? 333
A Basic Reading and Thinking Skill 335
Ranking American Values 335
References—336
Glossary 337
Name Index 345
Subject Index 352
Preface
This text was written in the hope of enhancing the student’s ability to help others
with problems in their lives. The ability to help others in a professional context
requires a base of knowledge along with a range of helping skills that can, to a large
extent, be taught and learned. This text is intended to help the beginning student
take the first steps toward acquiring the needed knowledge and skills.
The content provides a general introduction to the field of human services
and is designed for introductory college courses in human services, mental-health
technology, social work, community mental health, and other human services
programs. It is expected that most students who read this text are headed toward
careers that involve direct contact with people. However, the book would also be
useful to those considering administrative work in the human services.
Students in the human services typically begin their training with hopes
of helping other people lead more fulfilling lives. Unfortunately, these hopes are
sometimes dampened by the realities of the outside world. Although humanistic
values do play an important role in present-day America, they must compete with
other motives such as profit, power, and self-aggrandizement. In order to be effective,
the human services worker must be able to face the harsh realities of our complex,
imperfect society even while keeping the ideal society in mind and working toward
it in a realistic way.
In the pages that follow, I have sought a balance between idealism and realism. I
certainly do not intend to discourage idealism in students. However, experience has
shown me that discouragement often attacks those who expect too much of clients,
helping agencies, and themselves. This disillusionment can be avoided if the student
knows what to expect.
This text offers a great deal of valuable information about human services, a
field that has greatly increased in scope and complexity over recent decades. The
material is presented in a provocative manner, raising issues not usually addressed
in introductory texts. The impact of political, economic, and social pressures on
human services is explored.
First the goals, functions, and organization of human services are examined
in the context of contemporary social problems. Next, the groups of people who
receive help from human services are described. A historical survey of human
services follows, providing a background against which current efforts can be
viewed. The major theories that govern helping efforts are covered, along with
techniques and methods. The student is also provided with practical information
about career options in the human services field.
The final chapters are certainly unusual for an introductory text. I feel it is
important for students to know something about how social policies are developed
and about how human services workers might influence policies. These social
policies, which determine who receives what kind of help, have a great impact on
worker and client alike. It is undeniable that today’s student is the policymaker of
tomorrow.
xv
xvi Preface
In the chapter on prevention, I demonstrate a strong bias in favor of programs

aimed at preventing problems and dysfunctions from developing in the first place.
Frankly, I try to persuade students, instructors, and human services agencies that
prevention programs should play a major role in the future of human services.
The text concludes with a sampling of current controversies affecting human
services. This section is offered with the intent of fostering a realistic understanding
of conflicts and issues that confront a services workers. In addition, I also discuss
the issues of the various titles by which human services workers are identified.
The introductory course in human services is perhaps the most important a
student will take. It is here that the student’s attitudes and philosophy are developed.
I believe that a humanistic perspective, combined with a realistic awareness of
societal problems, provides the best foundation for creative and effective helping.
MindTap
MindTap®, a digital teaching and learning solution, helps students be more
successful and confident in the course—and in their work with clients. MindTap
guides students through the course by combining the complete textbook with
interactive multimedia, activities, assessments, and learning tools. Readings
and activities engage students in learning core concepts, practicing needed skills,
reflecting on their attitudes and opinions, and applying what they learn. Videos of
client sessions illustrate skills and concepts in action, while case studies ask students
to make decisions and think critically about the types of situations they’ll encounter
on the job. Helper Studio activities put students in the role of the helper, allowing
them to build and practice skills in a nonthreatening environment by responding via
video to a virtual client. Instructors can rearrange and add content to personalize
their MindTap course, and easily track students’ progress with real-time analytics.
And, MindTap integrates seamlessly with any learning management system.
New to the Tenth Edition

In each new edition of this text, I seek to examine and reflect the ongoing changes
in our contemporary culture and its influence upon our ever-evolving system of
human services. While focusing on the nature and scope of human services here
in the United States it becomes essential to stress the interconnectedness of events,
which occur throughout the world as they influence change in this culture. The cost
of gasoline for our cars or oil to heat our homes, the cost and availability of certain
food and clothing, and the competition and availability of jobs are few examples
of areas, which can be significantly impacted by events occurring in different parts
of the world. Historically, these changes more significantly affect groups that are
already disproportionate in need. Consequently, the human services system must
continue to adapt and change as necessary in order to be responsive to a dynamic
cultural landscape.
During the passage of time since the previous edition of this text, our culture
has experienced an acceleration of violence in the form of acts of terrorism, mass
shootings and widespread gun violence. The 2016 U.S. Presidential Election has
xvii
Preface
been one of the most unusual polarizing and divisive events in recent history. Each
candidate had espoused a radically different political agenda and vision for the
future of the country. Throughout the world, large numbers of displaced people
seek refuge and asylum in other countries having escaped from their war-ravaged
homelands.
As I continue to believe, to be effective on every level of our human services
system, it is valuable for workers to understand the social, economic, and political
landscape in which human services will operate. In order to keep pace with the
number of events and changes occurring over the past several years, this tenth edition
has a number of new sections and topics as well as currently expanded and updated
material throughout the text. The new sections include a review of human services
during the 2008–2016 Obama Administration, the emerging concept of behavioral
health, multicultural counseling and working with diverse populations, emerging
human services target populations, current NOHS Ethical Guidelines, a view of
the new administration of President Donald Trump, and current controversies. In
addition, there is completely revised and updated material on drugs, drug abuse and
the opioid epidemic, additional new examples of Real Life Human Services work,
updated material on AIDS, and a more current look at the American family.
On a personal note, I continue to thank all of you who value this text. I am
pleased to see more material written in this field and an increase in worthwhile texts
as well. There is still and always a lot more work to do. I believe this tenth edition
will provide the reader with a continued realistic and comprehensive framework to
view our contemporary human servicces system.
W.R.B.
Acknowledgments
In this tenth edition, I was very fortunate to work with a group of individuals who
significantly added to the quality and scope of this text. I wish to acknowledge the
scholarly contributions of Dr. Joseph Verdino, Dr. Michael Barnhart, Dr. Lourdes
Follins, Dr. Monica Joseph, Dr. Joan Standora and Professor Arlene Lehman, all of
whom are faculty within the Behavioral Sciences and Human Services Department
of Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York.
I must thank Mary Gifford for the number of never-ending hours and days she
spent entering my words into the computer and offering numerous suggestions. I
must acknowledge my friend and former colleague, Dr. Edward Martin for once
again offering his considerable technological expertise to this project. I am thankful
to Ms. Beryl Skog, Ms. Kim Gifford, Ms. Jenise Lucey, and Ms. Hayley Sumner
for their contributions to the Real Life Human Services Work section. I thank Mr.
Neil Brander and Ms. Julie McCarthy for their photographic contributions. I thank
Kate Gibbs at the front desk of the Berkshire South Community Center for always
asking me if I am going home next to work on my text. I would like to thank
Julie Martinez and the Cengage team with special thanks to Alexander Hancock for
his responsiveness, skill, and consistent effort. Finally, I would like to thank all the
individuals involved with the National Organization of Human Services. You do
great work.
William R. Burger
1
Human
Services in
the United
States Today
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
LO1 Understand the nature and scope of human

services in the United States today
LO2 Identify the role of primary social supports in
meeting human needs
LO3 Examine the role of human services workers
and the kinds of help provided
LO4 Explore the diversity of Real Life Human
Services Work
LO5 Understand the nature of political
ontroversy (liberal vs. conservative) and
c
the impact on human services
LO6 Review human services under the 2008–
2016 Obama administration
LO7 Explore the 2016 election: President
Donald Trump and the road ahead
LO8 Understand the impact of contemporary

problems on human needs including:
• Natural/human caused disasters
• Terrorism
• Poverty
• Prejudice and discrimination
• Social change
1
2 Chapter 1
• Economic and political factors

• Psychological stress and developmental crises
LO9 Learn about food justice and health
LO10 Examine the nature of health care in the United States
Introduction
Over the years, human services in the United States have evolved into a network of
programs and agencies that provide an array of services to millions of Americans.
The one feature shared by all of these services is that they are designed to meet
human needs. Thus, this chapter begins with a consideration of the full range of
human needs and the kinds of services that seek to meet them.
Some service agencies are devoted mainly to helping people meet basic survival
needs such as food and shelter, whereas some are concerned with helping clients
achieve more satisfying relationships or attain other kinds of personal fulfillment.
Primary social supports, such as family and friends, also play a role in meeting
human needs, and that role will be examined in this first chapter.
There is controversy about just what needs should be met by agencies sup-
ported by public or private funds. There is, in fact, a great deal of controversy about
questions involving the scope and quality of human services. This chapter provides
an overview of human services that addresses some of these questions.
Critics argue that human services are wasteful and inefficient, whereas support-
ers are convinced that more should be done to meet people’s needs. Some social
planners want to cut funds for services, but others demand increased funding.
Because these conflicts are fought out primarily in the political arena, it is vital
to grasp the liberal and conservative positions that underlie the countless debates
about specific programs. Both positions are outlined here.
This chapter also includes a survey of some contemporary problems that may
affect the ability of Americans to meet their own needs. For example, a person
involved in a natural disaster such as a hurricane or earthquake is very likely to
need help from human services on an emergency basis. Social problems such as
discrimination, poverty, and unemployment may also reduce a person’s ability to be
self-supporting. Victims of these problems may need help only temporarily or for an
extended period.
So this chapter introduces some of the topics basic to a study of contemporary
human services. At first glance, they may appear to be simple topics, but closer
examination shows them to be very complex—so much so that the brief prelimi-
nary information given in this introductory chapter is elaborated on throughout
the book.
Human Needs: Focus of Human Services

LO1 A number of theories have been proposed for conceptualizing human needs.
Although at first glance his theories appear dated, Maslow’s work (1968) is
still referred to and considered by many current authors in the field (Ivey, Ivey,
Human Services in the United States Today 3
Need for self-actualization

Ability to direct one’s own life,
a sense of meaning and fulfillment
Esteem needs
Self-esteem, esteem of others,
achievement, recognition, dignity
Belongingness and love needs

Love, affection, belongingness;
need for family and friends
Safety needs
Security, stability, freedom from anxiety
and chaos; need for structure and order
Physiological needs
Homeostasis; specific hungers; food,
water, air, shelter, and general survival
FIGURE 1.1 ■ Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
& Zalaquett, 2016; Neukrug, 2017; Schiff, 2015; Woodside & McClam, 2015), to
be a benchmark for understanding the concept of human needs. He conceived of
needs as existing in a kind of pyramid, or hierarchy, as shown in Figure 1.1.
At the base of the pyramid are the basic physiological needs such as hunger,
thirst, and the need for oxygen. These are matters of life and death. It is only when
such survival needs are satisfied that the individual focuses on safety needs, which
are met by a stable, predictable, and secure environment. Clearly, this type of envi-
ronment requires decent housing in a safe neighborhood.
Once safety needs have been mostly satisfied, the need for belonging, or belong-
ingness, and love begins to emerge, expressed by a desire for affectionate relations
with others—one’s family, lover, or some larger group. After the first three levels
of needs—physiological, safety, and love/belonging—have been largely satisfied,
esteem needs come to the fore, such as the need to be respected as a competent or
even a superior person. Most of us desire the recognition and appreciation of others.
The highest need, that for self-actualization, has to do with fulfilling one’s
innate tendencies and potentials. This need involves expressing one’s inner nature
and talents. For one person, the path to self-actualization might be artistic creativity;
for another, it might be studying Eastern religions. This highest level of motivation
generally becomes prominent in later life. Young adults are generally preoccupied
with making a living and winning the love and approval of others. Maslow (1970)
estimated that the average American adult has satisfied about 85% of physiological
needs and that the percentage of needs satisfied declines at each step up the hierar-
chy. At the top step, only 10% have attained satisfaction of self-actualization needs.
Maslow (2011) believed that needs arrange themselves in a hierarchy in terms
of potency—that is, physiological needs are stronger than safety needs, which in
turn are stronger than love needs, and so on. The higher the need, the less impera-
tive its fulfillment is for sheer survival and the longer gratification can be postponed.
4 Chapter 1
Deprivation of higher needs does not produce the kind of desperate emergency reac-
tion triggered by deprivation of lower needs. For example, needs for belonging are a
luxury when food or safety is denied.
Maslow (1987) also pointed out that for higher needs to be satisfied, environ-
mental conditions must be favorable. By this he meant that a person must have a
supportive family, a decent income, opportunities for a good education, and so on.
People without these kinds of advantages face an uphill struggle to attain the higher
levels of need satisfaction. In general, Maslow stated, counseling and psychother-
apy are more appropriate and effective in helping people achieve higher needs than
lower needs. At the lowest need levels, psychotherapy is not much use at all. People
who are struggling for basic survival are too worried and preoccupied to give much
thought to higher needs. Social planners agree that society must offer tangible kinds
of help like food and shelter and medical care to the truly disadvantaged.
Some human services devote themselves to safety needs. The criminal justice
system, which includes law enforcement and corrections, is designed to meet safety
needs. Citizens want to live in secure communities and go about their daily activi-
ties without fear of being threatened, robbed, or assaulted. To this end, the public
spends millions for police, courts, and corrections. Chapter 2 discusses some reasons
for the partial failure of the criminal justice system to create a safe environment.
One of the most consistent findings of social research is that the risk of phys-
ical or mental illness is greatest when the individual cannot find a place in the
social order. Persons who have been deprived of meaningful social contact for
any of a number of reasons are at relatively greater risk of developing tuberculo-
sis, alcoholism, accident proneness, severe mental illness, and suicidal tendencies
Abraham Maslow
(Cassel, 1990). Accordingly, some human services are designed to help people feel
that they belong and are valued members of a group. It is expected that such
membership may help keep a person out of an institution and, therefore, serve
an important preventive purpose. For example, some agencies set up senior clubs
for elderly people who would otherwise be living a lonely, isolated life. Another
example is the establishment of psychiatric residences for former mental patients
who have no family.
Some human services agencies are primarily concerned with meeting the higher
needs for esteem and self-actualization. Others help meet these higher needs indi-
rectly by fulfilling basic needs, thus allowing individuals to pursue higher needs on
their own initiative. Education, particularly at the higher levels, is attuned to help-
ing students attain fulfillment and satisfaction through pursuit of a career.
In general, human services workers encourage people to function at their high-
est possible level. More tangible kinds of help are provided in the form of scholar-
ships and grants offered by a number of governmental and private agencies.
■■ Criticisms of Maslow’s Theory

The idea that our lower needs must be satisfied before moving to the next higher
ones is contradicted by several kinds of evidence. In some societies, for example,
people periodically go hungry but, at the same time, exhibit strong social ties and
a strong sense of self. In fact, a certain degree of hardship in meeting basic needs
can bring people together and give them a sense of purpose in working together
to overcome adversity (Neher, 1991; Schiff, 2015). Similarly, many couples in
our own society report that a strong bond was formed during a period of early
struggles that was weakened by later affluence. Contrary to Maslow’s theory, these
examples suggest that deprivation of basic physiological needs may sometimes
facilitate satisfaction of higher needs, such as the need for intimacy. Aside from
anecdotal evidence, there are a number of research studies that have attempted to
test Maslow’s concepts. The results been mixed: some support and others refute
various hypotheses.
In general, the research conducted in work settings has not supported Maslow’s
theory. For example, Wahba and Bridwell (1976) asked workers to list their needs
in order of importance and found that the rankings did not fit Maslow’s hierarchy.
Other investigators have suggested that more than one need may be operating at
a time (Mullainathan, 2015). In other words, a person may be striving to fulfill
simultaneously both basic and growth needs. Still other studies have suggested that
moderate levels of deprivation stimulate creative potential, ward off boredom, and
enhance a sense of competence. This idea runs counter to Maslow’s notion that
higher needs emerge only after fairly complete satisfaction of lower needs. It may be
that some need deprivation is experienced as a challenge and, ultimately, is growth
enhancing.
Role of Primary Social Supports in Meeting Needs

LO2 Most people seek gratification of needs through a network of social relationships.
For example, family, friends, and peer groups can meet needs for nurturance and
intimacy. Religious and social groups help meet needs for belonging, esteem, and
6 Chapter 1
spiritual enrichment. A job satisfies crucial economic needs and also provides a
setting for social interaction with coworkers. Additional support may come from
informal social contacts, like bartenders and hairdressers, well known for listening
sympathetically to the problems of their customers. This network of relationships,
which makes up the primary social support system, is the traditional source of need
satisfaction in our culture. One important feature of this support system is that
usually some sense of mutual obligation underlies the transactions. In other words,
a person is expected to give something, to meet certain needs of others, in exchange
for what is received. Sometimes it is enough to simply let others know that one is
ready to help if the need arises.
Too many people in this country are still sadly lacking in primary social sup-
ports. They may have no friends, no family, no job, and therefore no way to meet
important needs. In some cases, a person may have family and friends who would
be willing to help but who lack the means to do so. The national community-based,
nonprofit organization, Mental Health America, released its 2016 annual assess-
ment of Americans with mental illness report. This report focuses upon the treat-
ment individuals receive throughout the United States. Their findings conclude that
23% of adults (43.7 million people) have a mental health condition and more than
half of them do not receive treatment (Nutt, 2016). As detailed in Chapter 3, certain
human services came into being to meet the needs of people who have nowhere to
turn for help. Over the years, human services have expanded greatly and now go far
beyond helping the poor, sick, and disabled. Gradually, they have taken over some
of the functions of primary social supports. For example, the task of caring for poor
elderly persons, once assumed by the family, is increasingly being accepted by gov-
ernment human services agencies.
■■ Self-Help Groups
Self-help groups are basically mutual-help groups made up of people who have sim-
ilar problems. They occupy a position somewhere between traditional social sup-
ports and formal agencies that provide services. The increasing popularity of these
groups may be due partly to the decline of the extended family and other tradi-
tional sources of support in our society (Gladding, 2012). Whatever the cause, these
groups have experienced tremendous grown over the past 40–50 years.
Riesman (2000) points out that “more Americans try to change their health
behaviors through self-help groups than through all other forms of professional
programs combined” (p. 47). What distinguishes these groups from formal service
organizations is that they operate without professional leadership. Many profes-
sional therapists view self-help groups as useful adjuncts to treatment and urge cli-
ents to participate in them (Ambrosino, Ambrosino, Heffernan, & Shuttlesworth,
2016; Comer, 1996; Gladding, 2012).
A wide variety of problems or disorders may be the focus of a self-help group.
Alcoholism, drug abuse, compulsive gambling, bereavement, overeating, phobias,
rape victimization, unemployment, and physical illnesses (e.g., heart disease, dia-
betes, and cancer) are some examples of issues that may be addressed in support
groups. Two advantages of self-help groups are that they are less expensive and,
because they offer support from other people who share the same problem, less
intimidating than a professionally led group. A number of self-help groups are
mentioned or described in various sections of this book.
■■ Effects of Social Programs on Primary

Supports
During the 1960s, there was a vigorous expansion of social programs designed to
eliminate poverty, remove slums, and improve the health and education of poor
people. By the end of the decade, some social planners had come to realize that
(1) the programs were not always having the desired effect and (2) new problems
were being created. For example, it appeared that welfare programs were having
the unintended effect of breaking up families and sometimes leading to family non-
formation. The programs were administered in such a way that a mother with lim-
ited income received not only cash but also a package of other benefits including
medical insurance, food stamps, and rent subsidies. If a father was present, he was
usually a low-paid worker at risk of being laid off. He could jeopardize the entire
benefits package if he attempted to support the family alone. If he left, little effort
was made by the welfare program to require him to support the family in any way.
In fact, the family was more economically secure without him.
Clearly, the system provided little incentive for the family unit to stay together.
The lesson to be drawn from this part of our national experience is that programs
designed to help, however well intended, may have perverse or unexpected conse-
quences. When these programs weaken the family and the neighborhood, there is
good reason to be concerned. The strength of the primary supports of family and
neighborhood is essential if individuals are to cope with a complex society. They are
the basic linkages of one person to another. Butler and Kondratas (1987) maintain
that America has a strong public interest in government programs that strengthen
families. When the family is fragmented, what often follows is poor education, poor
skills, and poor performance. This in turn causes the perpetuation of poverty, and
the vicious cycle continues.
Overview of Human Services

“What are human services, anyway?” is one of the questions students most fre-
quently ask. It would be helpful to provide an “official” or generally accepted
definition, but there is no such thing. Actually, ideas about human services have
changed over the course of time. As discussed in Chapter 3, early approaches to
human services were centered on the hazards of illness, disability, and economic
dependence. Programs were designed to help people who were unable to take care
of their own needs. It was recognized that people with little or no income in increas-
ingly complex industrial societies were at risk of starvation or serious distress. This
view, which equates human services with providing services only to the economi-
cally dependent, now seems rather narrow.
Another approach is to define human services in terms of the activities of mod-
ern society that enhance the well-being of its citizens. Martin (2011), for example,
suggests that “human service agencies come into the picture when people find them-
selves confronting barriers to getting their needs met and their own resources for
overcoming these obstacles are insufficient.” (p. 5). This is a broad definition that
might include a wide spectrum of services, ranging from job creation to maintain-
ing a clean, safe, and pleasant environment, all aimed at helping people achieve the
highest possible level of self-sufficiency. Another more succinct definition of human
8 Chapter 1
services is offered by Alle-Corliss and Alle-Corliss (1998) viewing human services as

“encompassing professional services provided to those in need.” Still another per-
spective is offered by Kanel (2008) who observes “human services uses a multidisci-
plinary, holistic, and eclectic approach to helping people with various needs.”
Experts do not agree on the range or type of helping activities that should be
included in human services. A definition that falls between the very narrow and the
very broad ones just discussed is preferable. Human services are organized activi-
ties that help people in the areas of health care; mental health, including care for
persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities and the physically handi-
capped; social welfare; child care; criminal justice; housing; recreation; and educa-
tion. Another type of service that might be included is income maintenance, a term
that refers to programs like unemployment insurance and social security, which pro-
vide income to people who are unemployed or retired.
It should be noted that human services do not include the help given by family,
friends, or other primary supports. To be considered human services, the help must
be provided by some type of formal organization, be it a clinic, hospital, nursing
home, agency, bureau, or other service institution.
Obviously, human services cover a lot of ground, having increased greatly in
size and scope during recent decades in the United States. Currently included in
social welfare are expenses for social security, welfare, veterans’ programs, educa-
tion, housing, and other public programs.
The federal government is the major provider of social welfare benefits. In fact,
most of the huge federal budget, approximately 90%, goes for social programs of
one kind or another. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconcili-
ation Act of 1996—better known as The Welfare Reform Act of 1996—has had a
significant impact on the cost of social welfare programs, the exact magnitude of
which is still to be determined. By any standard, the human services industry is one
of the largest industries in the United States. The Bureau of the Census lists many
occupations that may be included under the heading of human services. The follow-
ing chart highlights the projected percentage change between 2005 and 2015 of the
fastest-growing occupations (Statistical Abstracts of the United States 2011, Bureau
of the Census). The 2015–2025 Census Bureau figures indicate a continued growth
pattern in these occupational areas.
Home health aides 145%

Human services workers 150%
Personal and home care aides 135%
Computer engineers and scientists 125%
Systems analysts 135%
Physical and corrective therapy aides 95%
Physical therapists 92%
Occupational therapy assistants and aides 81%
Teachers and special education 77%
Correction officers 81%
Child care 77%
Occupational therapists 75%
Psychologists 53%
■■Human Services Workers

The personnel at human services agencies can be divided into four general catego-
LO3 ries: (1) those who provide help to recipients, (2) supervisory personnel, (3) admin-
istrators who determine the policies of the agency, and (4) support personnel who
do clerical, maintenance, and security work. In addition, some settings, such as hos-
pitals and nursing homes, require kitchen, housekeeping, and other support work-
ers. In smaller agencies, workers sometimes have to do work in several of these
categories.
A great many job titles, positions, and professions are included under the gen-
eral heading of human services worker. These range from positions that require rela-
tively little formal training, such as mental hospital aide and teacher assistant, to
those that require extensive formal training and education. Clinical and counseling
psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and nurses are included in the latter cat-
egory. Chapter 6 goes into detail about a wide range of career options in the field.
There is considerable variation in the extent to which different professionals
identify themselves as human services workers. Social workers, for example, have
generally been more accepting of the term than have psychologists or psychiatrists.
The term human services worker is more than a way of identifying workers in a
particular field; it carries with it a certain attitude or philosophy about the field. The
underlying idea is that the separate disciplines should emphasize what they have in
common—serving people’s needs—rather than emphasize their differences.
Some activists would like to phase out specialty training in favor of generalist
training in human services. However, there is considerable resistance to this idea
from professionals who wish to preserve separate identities as psychologists, social
workers, psychiatrists, and so on. Apologies are offered if all this sounds confusing;
it is confusing because the field of human services is undergoing rapid change. It is
not possible to know for certain how human services workers of the future will be
trained or what their job titles will be.
■■ Kinds of Help Provided

Human services provide many kinds of aid and services. Perhaps the most basic
kind of direct aid consists of tangible items such as food, clothing, shelter, tools, and
other useful articles. Victims of natural disasters and homeless poor persons may
be in dire need of this kind of help. The Salvation Army and the Red Cross are well
known for providing hot meals and shelter to homeless people.
In most situations, cash transfers can readily be exchanged for needed goods
and services. Social security, welfare, and unemployment insurance are among the
most important benefits of this kind because millions depend on them for economic
survival. These cash benefits can be used in any way the recipient sees fit. This free-
dom worries some politicians, who fear that the money will be used for nonessen-
tial or even destructive items. Consequently, some benefits are offered with strings
attached—in other words, the benefits can be used only for some specified purpose.
Food stamps, for example, are given to eligible poor persons but can be used only to
buy food. Another example is a housing subsidy paid directly to the landlord for a
welfare recipient’s rent.
In addition to these forms of aid, some services are designed to increase clients’
capacities to gain satisfaction of needs by their own efforts. The next few paragraphs
10 Chapter 1
Real Life Human Services Work
Construct, Inc. is a community-based nonprofit organiza- the very generous south Berkshire community, particu- LO4
tion serving the housing needs of south Berkshire county, larly by the interfaith community.
MA. It was formed more than 40 years ago, just after the I came to this agency 20 years ago to find out
assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., when a group of about housing and homelessness and am still here.
citizens gathered for conversations to address poverty Another economic crisis (similar to the one in the 80’s
issues in the 15 towns that comprise South Berkshire. In which gave rise to social concern about homelessness
its early days, Construct built or rehabilitated 65 homes across America) has brought scores of new households
and sold them to low income first-time home-buyers. to our door, seeking assistance with joblessness, fore-
Since that time and until 1990, Construct also spon- closure, or eviction. The agency is small enough that I
sored low-income housing projects. From its inception it am able to do much of the direct service work in addi-
has been the mission of Construct to provide affordable tion to the administrative work. On a given day I may do
housing and housing/homeless supportive services to 15 a little of everything from bookkeeping, to grant writing,
towns in south Berkshire County. to staff supervision, to casework, plus unclog a toilet,
I came to Construct, Inc. as a volunteer in 1989. I or unload groceries from the Food Bank into the shel-
was in my third year of seminary and was very con- ter pantry. I try to meet each person who is brought to
cerned about the lack of affordable housing in south our door, whether he is a chronically homeless man who
Berkshire and the rising numbers of homeless, not only has abused alcohol his whole life, a young teen addicted
locally, but statewide and across the nation. Today, 20 to heroin and carrying an “attitude,” or a single mother
years later, with the help of a strong and active Board with three children recently let go from a nursing position
of Directors, a small staff, and a fleet of volunteers from struggling to find new employment, where he or she is, in
the community, Construct, Inc. has developed 53 units a spirit of compassion and nonjudgment, and we begin
of affordable housing, 10 single rooms for homeless men to build from there. Although I had clinical training when
and women, 7 supportive housing units, and manages I was in seminary, over the years my best teachers have
another 10 units of affordable housing for the Community been the clients and residents themselves. I feel blessed
Development Corporation of South Berkshire. In addi- by this job and the people I meet each day, and I hope
tion, we have an adult homeless education program that that the work we do here together is a blessing in their
serves an average of 35 adult learners each year and our lives as well.
homeless prevention program that serves an average of
Cara Davis, BA., M.DIV.
500 households annually. We are largely supported by
give brief preliminary definitions of some of the major kinds of services offered by
human services workers.
Primary prevention refers to services designed to prevent people from develop-
ing an illness or psychological problem. These services are usually offered to healthy
or relatively well functioning individuals and often have an educational, or informa-
tive, component. A school program designed to inform teenagers of the hazards of
alcohol abuse is an example of primary prevention.
Counseling helps people consider their choices and options in life. Counseling
may focus on career choice, budgeting, legal matters, or marital problems. Career
counseling, for example, may help a client select a suitable occupation, whereas mar-
ital counseling may focus on a decision about continuing a marriage. Some forms
of counseling become involved in helping a client deal with personal problems and,
therefore, overlap with psychotherapy.
Johannes Kroemer/Getty Images

Homeless shelter
Psychotherapy has the general goal of changing a client’s behavior or emotional

responses to improve psychological well-being. Typical goals are to reduce anxi-
ety, to improve social relationships, and to control undesirable behavior patterns.
Hence, such therapy carries an implication that the client suffers from some degree
of psychological impairment.
Crisis intervention is a special form of help designed to meet the needs of a per-
son faced with an unusually difficult life situation. The word crisis implies that the
person’s usual coping mechanisms may not be enough to handle the situation. There
is a risk of severe emotional upset or even disorganization.
Situations that might trigger a crisis include loss of a loved one or being the
victim of rape, assault, serious accident, or large-scale disaster. The helper provides
support and suggests effective ways of coping with the crisis. The goal is not to
change the person’s personality but to restore the client to the precrisis level of func-
tioning. Crisis intervention may be done in the context of face-to-face meetings or
by means of a hotline. The latter is a telephone service that allows the caller to
get in touch with a counselor at any time of the night or day. The most familiar
hotlines are designed to help suicidal individuals. Hotline services are also available
12 Chapter 1
to battered women, to rape victims, and to people actively struggling with alco-
holism or other chemical dependence. A closer examination of crisis intervention
follows in Chapter 5.
Rehabilitation is designed to help people with disabilities achieve the highest
possible level of productive functioning. Some experts make a distinction between
habilitative and rehabilitative programs: the former aim to help those who have
never been productive, whereas the latter focus on restoring skills to those who
were once capable. In either case, the emphasis tends to be on practical skills such
as those involved in self-care and earning a living. The type of disability may be
physical, emotional, or developmental.
Social support may be offered in various forms to those who can benefit from
a strengthening of social ties. An example is a club for senior citizens that enables
them to get together with peers once or twice a week. Other familiar examples
are the athletic and social programs for teens provided by many Ys and commu-
nity centers. In addition, many self-help programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous
emphasize social support in their therapeutic approach.
Community organizing represents another indirect form of support for those
in need. The general idea is that the human services worker works with commu-
nity leaders to provide some program needed by an unserved population in the
community. For example, the worker may help the community set up a training
school for persons with delayed intellectual development.
Many human services agencies provide a mix of aid and services to clients. Both
mental hospitals and prisons, for example, provide aid in the form of food and shel-
ter and may also provide counseling, therapy, or rehabilitation.
The employment services of some states link direct cash benefits to job and
career counseling. At the other end of the scale are smaller programs that offer only
one service or a limited range of services to clients.
■■ Sponsors of Human Services

Human services organizations may be sponsored—that is, organized and funded—
by private citizens, by religious and other groups, or by government. Private agen-
cies may be operated on either a profit-making or nonprofit basis. Nursing homes,
rehabilitation hospitals, and agencies providing home nursing care are often pri-
vate profit-making corporations that are run in basically the same way as other
businesses. This means that management is under pressure by owners to keep costs
down and to show a profit at the end of the year.
Many other private agencies are organized on a not-for-profit basis. Youth
employment and child care agencies are sometimes nonprofit. The Red Cross and
the Salvation Army are examples of large nationwide private human services agen-
cies operated on a nonprofit basis. Typically, such agencies are controlled by a board
of directors that lays down general policies and selects the administrative officers
who are responsible for the day-to-day operation of the agency. These agencies raise
money by appealing to the general public for donations. An important advantage of
nonprofit status is that it exempts the agency from certain taxes, which, in effect,
allows more of the income to be used for helping consumers of the service.
Religious and other groups also sponsor nonprofit helping agencies. The Fed-
eration of Jewish Philanthropies, Catholic Charities, and the Lutheran Brotherhood
are supported by major organized religions. In addition, unions, fraternal organiza-
tions, and ethnic groups sponsor countless helping agencies all across the country.
The necessary funds are raised by appealing to parishioners and members for dona-
tions. Increasingly, both private and religious agencies are making use of profes-
sional fund raisers, who are paid on the basis of a percentage of the income they
raise.
There has been an increase in voluntary giving in recent years due in part to the
increase in natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Hurricane Sandy in
2012, and Hurricane Matthew in 2016. For example, Americans contributed $212
billion in 2001 in spite of the weakening economy and a shattering act of terrorism.
This trend of voluntary giving has continued to 2016 as other acts of terror and
national disasters have continued. According to the survey of the American Associa-
tion of Fund-Raising Counsel Trust for Philanthropy, there is a continued increase
in giving to human services agencies.
Who receives this money? Religion gets the largest share, with the remain-
ing funds divided by education, health, human services, the arts, and other causes.
Not all of this private giving goes to help poor people. Much of the money goes to
groups active in environmental issues, civil liberties, women’s rights, pro- and anti-
abortion issues, museums, and symphony orchestras.
Although private and religious human services agencies are important, govern-
ments (local, state, and federal) have become the major providers of direct and indi-
rect aid to those in need. The scope and purpose of huge federal programs such as
social security will be discussed in the next chapter. State governments play a major
role in education, administer unemployment insurance, and manage most of the
nation’s mental hospitals. Local governments are responsible for actual administra-
tion of welfare programs, and they also provide many other kinds of help, such as
programs for seniors and teens.
■■ Studying Human Services Firsthand

One of the best ways to learn about human services is to identify and study the dif-
ferent agencies and facilities within your geographic area. This kind of study readily
lends itself to a team approach because students can divide the work and share infor-
mation with one another. The information can come from many sources, including
literature available at agencies, on-site visits, and meetings with staff members.
Your class might list all of the human services agencies, programs, and facilities
in your area and provide answers to the following questions:
• What are the stated goals of the agency?
• What needs does the agency attempt to meet?
• What population is served? Roughly how many people does the organization
serve? Hundreds? Thousands?
• What does the service cost the consumers? What are the eligibility criteria?
• Where does the money come from? If several sources are involved, list them in
order of contribution.
• How many and what kinds of human services workers are employed by the
human services agency?
Individuals may also share their subjective impressions of the agencies they vis-
ited. Did they feel welcome? Did the service seem to be well organized? How were
clients treated by staff?
14 Chapter 1
■■ Human Services Workers and Bureaucracy

Students beginning their training in human services rarely express the ambition to
become bureaucrats. Nevertheless, the great majority of them will eventually find
themselves working in the type of organization called a bureau or a bureaucracy.
The fact is that welfare agencies, hospitals, employment services, nursing homes,
and psychiatric clinics are all examples of this kind of organization.
Bureaucracies, which may be small or large, public or private, are defined by
certain formal arrangements including some form of central control and a clear
division of labor among administrators, supervisors, workers, and clerical staff. The
employees are usually arranged in a hierarchy from higher to lower, and exchanges
between the lower and upper levels without “going through channels” are often
discouraged (Macht & Ashford, 1990, p. 227). One of the frustrating features of the
large bureaucracy is that it can make workers feel that their contributions are rela-
tively insignificant. Each person may feel like a small cog in a big machine. Never-
theless, despite the shortcomings of these kinds of organizations, they have adapted
and survived because no one has developed a more efficient means of providing
services on a large scale.
Educators often fail to prepare students to become effective bureaucrats.
When bureaucracy is discussed in class, it is often in terms of the potential con-
flict between agency goals on the one hand and client or worker goals on the
other. Or the discussion may focus on the organization as a cause of low morale
among workers. It is all too easy to lose sight of the fact that specialization of
workers, clear lines of command, and other features of the bureaucracy enable
it to deliver services on a large scale and in an efficient manner. Rather than
focus on the negative aspects, it is more productive to help students develop the
knowledge and skills to work effectively within the bureaucracy. To this end,
the student should be acquainted with the patterns of organization in human
services organizations.
In fact, a course in human services organizations might more appropriately be
taught at the undergraduate college level than at the graduate level. Some of the
topics explored in such a course would be the use of power, funding sources, spe-
cialization, and delivery of services. Particularly important would be a consideration
of how to bring about constructive changes in a large organization.
■■ The Trend Toward Privatization

The process of arranging for private companies to do certain jobs formerly done
by government is called privatizing or privatization. Recent decades have seen
an increase in the trend to privatize government services along with an increas-
ing role for profit-making companies. The push to privatize is, in the opinion of
one observer, a reaction against “the fact that much of government has become
entangled in its own power, stifling creativity and productivity. Government
agencies responsible for serving the people have become muscle bound, almost to
the point of paralysis, when it comes to considering more effective performance”
(Linowes, 1995, p. 86). Linowes adds that government agencies are trying to
solve social problems with outmoded designs and solutions. Clearly, this investi-
gator is giving voice to the dislike of government bureaucracies shared by many
conservatives.
Opposition to the trend to privatize has come from government employees,

including many human services workers. Perhaps the best-organized resistance has
come from the nation’s unions of public employees. Although industrial unions have
declined in influence since the end of World War II, unions of government employ-
ees have increased in size and power. By the end of 1992, and for the first time in
American history, more people were employed by governments than in manufactur-
ing (Peterson, 1994, p. 190). This continues to be the case in 2016. Many govern-
ment workers are organized into civil service employee unions. Like other special
interest groups, these unions lobby state and local legislators contribute to cam-
paign funds, and may deliver a sizable block of votes in elections. The purpose of
this lobbying is, of course, to secure the kinds of benefits unions have always sought
for their members: decent pay, job security, and fringe benefits such as pensions and
medical insurance. During recent years, an increasing number of taxpayers have
begun to resent the favorable contracts won by these unions. By contracting with
private companies to do certain jobs, it has been possible to cut costs while weaken-
ing the power of the unions. How are private companies able to achieve significant
savings? They hire nonunion workers at salaries lower than those of union workers,
and they typically provide limited (or no) fringe benefits.
It is of great importance to the reader for the obvious reason that government
provides most human services. Here is a list of some of the services that have been
privatized in some communities:
• Housekeeping, laundry, and food services for hospitals and prisons
• Transportation services to and from schools and other facilities
• Shelters and housing for the homeless
• Computer services for various human services agencies
• Jails for illegal immigrants
• Halfway houses and day hospitals for persons with mental illness
• Halfway houses for released prisoners
• Recovery homes for alcoholics and drug addicts
• Fire protection
These examples show that parts of larger operations may be privatized by gov-
ernment. More ambitious efforts to privatize may involve entire programs and facil-
ities. For example, Brown County, Wisconsin, has turned over its welfare program
to an outside private organization, and Corrections Corporation of America has
more than $100 million in contracts for prisons and detention centers in nine states
(Linowes, 1995).
There are potential dangers involved in either government-run or privatized
services. Programs run by government are at risk of becoming job programs for
union employees and political appointees. The needs of the workers may take prece-
dence over the needs of recipients. The danger of privatization, on the other hand, is
that the profit motive may come to dominate all other considerations. For example,
one firm providing halfway houses for prisoners was charged with hiring low-paid,
untrained employees and with allowing living conditions in the facility to deterio-
rate markedly. There are even serious discussions today regarding the privatization
of the social security system in spite of the possible problems and dangers to future
recipients.
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DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI
Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least

the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)
The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,

some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.
NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR

MAHUTA
I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.
MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]
MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY
With no small pride first one householder and then a second

showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
“We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of iron-
working. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
THE MAKONDE
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
BRAZIER
Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I

came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT
SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB
CUTTING THE EDGE

FINISHING THE BOTTOM
LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE

BURNING
FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE

LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE
TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL
NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI

Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightly-
built, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
MAKUA WOMAN closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKING A POT. of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boiling-
point—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK
DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG
REMOVING THE OUTER BARK

BEATING THE BARK
WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT

SOFT
MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA

To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN

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Human Services in Contemporary

America 10th Edition, (Ebook PDF)

Human Services in Contemporary America

Questions for Class Discussion or Special Assignment 36

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Communities 77

Prison and Correctional Programs 111

Behavior Assessment 183

Environmental Factors 218

Creative Arts Therapy 248

Purpose and Types of Social Policy 277

Summary of Primary Prevention Programs 315

In the chapter on prevention, I demonstrate a strong bias in favor of programs

New to the Tenth Edition

LO1 Understand the nature and scope of human

• Economic and political factors

Human Needs: Focus of Human Services

Need for self-actualization

Belongingness and love needs

FIGURE 1.1 ■ Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

■■ Criticisms of Maslow’s Theory

Role of Primary Social Supports in Meeting Needs

■■ Effects of Social Programs on Primary

Overview of Human Services

services is offered by Alle-Corliss and Alle-Corliss (1998) viewing human services as

Home health aides 145%

■■Human Services Workers

■■ Kinds of Help Provided

Real Life Human Services Work

Johannes Kroemer/Getty Images

Psychotherapy has the general goal of changing a client’s behavior or emotional

■■ Sponsors of Human Services

■■ Studying Human Services Firsthand

■■ Human Services Workers and Bureaucracy

■■ The Trend Toward Privatization

Opposition to the trend to privatize has come from government employees,

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,

NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR

MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY

With no small pride first one householder and then a second

Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I

SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB

CUTTING THE EDGE

LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE

FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE

TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL

NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI

DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG

REMOVING THE OUTER BARK

WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT

MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA

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LO1 Understand the nature and scope of human