Teaching Gender in Social Work - MailChimp

for teaching gender from a historical perspective. Although our case study is
Finnish, the following narrative may also prove useful in other countries, since
in most Western nations social work was begun under the circumstances of
male patriarchy and early capitalism.
The Origins of Task Division by Gender in Social Services: Why Do Men
Make Decisions and Women Deliver Services? 7
The Dawn: Philanthropy and the Poor Law
The beginning of Finnish social work lies in the nineteenth century and is
firmly connected with the social changes in society and the consequences of
the capitalist mode of production. Indicative of the new social order was the
appearance of group of workers who earned their living through paid employment.
There was also an increase in the wealth gap between landowners and
their dependants in the countryside. However, even more important from our
point of view was the change that occurred in the family. The family economy
was replaced by the household, which meant structural and functional changes
in the family as an institution. The patriarchal gender relations of the family
economy, previously based on shared agrarian work by men and women, were
slowly transformed into a relationship of emotions governed by family morals.
A woman’s duty was no longer to be a companion at work; instead, she was
expected to do the housework and take care of the children and her husband.
Women became the soul of the home, which enhanced their relative status and
importance in the family. It should be noted that this change initially affected
only a few upper- and middle-class families.
This new state of affairs served the interests of capitalism, which needed
new skills unknown in traditional society. These skills had much to do with
the new way of life and its moral codes. Proper reproductive behaviour, with
the centrality of the family as the realm controlled by women, was essential.
This explains why the position of women became strategically important to the
newly formed organization of society.
7
This is a slightly edited version of the following article published in English by Satka, Mirja, “Origins of Task Division
by Gender. Why do Men decide and Women deliver Personal Services in Finnish Social Welfare.” Hallinnon
tutkimus 7 (1988): 282−289. In English the name of the journal is Administrative Studies. The original documentary
sources, in Finnish or in Swedish, and references in literature are available in this article.
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