First Advisor

Arthur Emlen

Term of Graduation

Spring 1970

Date of Publication

6-1970

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Social Work (MSW)

Department

Social Work

Language

English

Subjects

Edgefield Lodge (Troutdale Or.), St. Mary's Home (Beaverton Or.)

DOI

10.15760/etd.933

Physical Description

1 online resource (iv, 42 pages)

Abstract

For over two centuries, child-caring institutions in the United States have helped families care for their children, and have been solicitous as well for the dependent, neglected, and retarded children. Since the founding of the first orphanage in the United States in 1737 by the Ursuline Sisters, after the ravage of an Indian massacre, child care has developed slowly from simple custodial care to institutions giving specialized care in some one single area. This change was a result not only of the need of children for specialized care but also of the advances in the nation's social, economic, and medical services. For example, the passage of the Social Security Act in 1935 gave a little more economic security to one-parent families by allowing them to keep at home children who otherwise would have been sent to an institution. On the other hand, a factor which tends to separate the family is our advanced technology which, for some families, means both parents working and possibly also increased mobility for the entire family. In addition to these considerations, there are the advancing research discoveries pointing up possible emotional damage to infants and preschool children reared in hospitals and institutions should environmental stimulation be lacking. In fact, it was this factor that started the slow decline of the population in the orphanages beginning shortly after the tum of the century. The cottage plan of living, the services of a psychiatrist, and group living were among the changes that were to be forerunners of what child care would become.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the census revealed a decrease in the population of the orphanage type center, a period in which the child population itself increased. The intensified use of foster homes, child clinics and other mental health facilities as well as specialized residential care for more disturbed or delinquent youngsters, availability of State and Federal funds for both private and public institutions, greater use of diagnostic centers, all have contributed to availability as well as improvement in child care in this country.

In order to learn how changes came about in two Portland Metropolitan area institutions for children, the writer studied St. Mary's Home for Boys in Beaverton and Edgefield Lodge in Troutdale. Both are residential centers: the former is a private, Catholic sponsored institution for emotionally disturbed boys ages 8-16; the latter is a public treatment center for children of both sexes, ages 6-12. The writer proposed, to look into the beginnings, growth, and changes in these agencies that have occurred since their foundation dates, and by comparing two institutions with widely contrasting histories, to explore the influence of tradition on the process of organizational change.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Comments

A project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work.

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this dissertation or thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to pdxscholar@pdx.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/9108

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