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9 The English settlements, the Poor Man’s Lawyer and social work, circa 1890–1939

  • Kate Bradley
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The Settlement House Movement Revisited
This chapter is in the book The Settlement House Movement Revisited

Abstract

The settlement movement in England brought about and worked in tandem with other reformist movements: such as the spread of ‘poor man’s lawyer’ services. The provision of these free legal advice clinics was a means of usefully applying the legal skills of residents at male-led settlements, as well as creating a form of social work that was acceptable for upper- and middle-class men to do.  Settlement provision of legal advice also closely intersected with the social work they undertook, from direct interventions in helping needy families, to training social workers in aspects of law, as well as to seeing legal advice as a key element in community development.

Abstract

The settlement movement in England brought about and worked in tandem with other reformist movements: such as the spread of ‘poor man’s lawyer’ services. The provision of these free legal advice clinics was a means of usefully applying the legal skills of residents at male-led settlements, as well as creating a form of social work that was acceptable for upper- and middle-class men to do.  Settlement provision of legal advice also closely intersected with the social work they undertook, from direct interventions in helping needy families, to training social workers in aspects of law, as well as to seeing legal advice as a key element in community development.

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents vii
  3. List of boxes, figures and tables ix
  4. Notes on contributors x
  5. Acknowledgements xiv
  6. Introduction 1
  7. The transnational transfer of the settlement house idea
  8. A brief transnational history of the Settlement House Movement 15
  9. Berlin’s municipal socialism: a transatlantic muse for Mary Simkhovitch and New York City 35
  10. The French maisons sociales, Chicago’s Hull-House scheme and their influence in Portugal 51
  11. Settlement houses and the emergence of social work in Mandatory Palestine 73
  12. The interface between the Settlement House Movement and other social movements
  13. University extension and the settlement idea 91
  14. Between social mission and social reform: the Settlement House Movement in Germany, 1900–30 109
  15. To be an Englishman and a Jew: Basil Henriques and the Bernhard Baron Oxford and St George’s Settlement House 129
  16. The English settlements, the Poor Man’s Lawyer and social work, circa 1890–1939 145
  17. Research in settlement houses and its impact
  18. Putting knowledge into action: a social work perspective on settlement house research 163
  19. Animating objectivity: a Chicago settlement’s use of numeric and aesthetic knowledges to render its immigrant neighbours and neighbourhood knowable 181
  20. Final reflections
  21. ‘The soul of the community’: two practitioners reflect on history, place and community in two community-based practices from 1980 to 1995: St Hilda’s Community Centre in Bethnal Green and Waterloo Action Centre in Waterloo, South London 201
  22. Conclusion 221
  23. Index 231
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