The Making of a Good White - E-thesis - Helsinki.fi

“I did not drink, so I would not know where to get it, but my brothers
knew exactly where to get drink. If they wanted, they just went out and
they came back in two minutes with bottles of brandy.” (F., 55, grew
up in EGV.)
The archival findings show that despite the social pressures on female
behaviour, many women in the suburb struggled with an addiction to
alcohol. In 1953 the uplifters’ concern about alcoholism grew, and the
Company launched a campaign. The social workers from all the housing
schemes prepared special reports on all the families that were known to
have or who had in the past had difficulties with alcoholism. They found
over fifty families, most of whom came from Epping Garden Village.
These families were taken under special observation, and underwent intensive
rehabilitative measures. Despite all the work and effort, alcoholism
never ceased to occur as one of the main causes of divorces, poverty
and evictions in the social workers’ reports.
The social workers battled to make people’s free time productive. For
years the Company strove to get the residents to become more active in
their own rehabilitation. Social workers tried to get the people to attend
clubs, showed them free movies and invited lecturers to educate them.
But something was wrong. People were not keen, and despite all the efforts,
they rarely became more enthusiastic. They would rather evade
these social situations, keeping to their own, away from social relations
that could be competitive or even destructive for them.
“It has been found, however, that clubs such as a Women’s Union,
Young People’s Guild, have not proved as successful as they might be.
Members show enthusiasm for a very short time and then their interest
disappears. While collecting information from tenants the social
workers questioned tenants regarding their attitude to fellow tenants.
The great majority stated – ”I have discovered that it is better not to
have any friends. I don’t associate with other tenants beyond greeting
them in the street.” The social workers wish to organise more specifi c
groups such as a sewing club in the hope of gaining more response.”
(CHL, SWR: 1950, author’s emphasis.)
At the end of 1953 the social workers reported on their attempts to get the
residents to use their free time constructively. There were social clubs for
the aged, and also clubs for children, adolescent boys and adult women.
Children between 9 and 12 had their own groups. These groups were
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