A Social Work Pioneer John E. Davis knew when he was growing up that he "didn't want to be a teacher or a preacher," but in a way he combined the two when he became a social worker.
He decided on his career path even before he entered Michigan State University, where he earned a bachelor's and a master's degree in social work.
He moved to Dallas in 1959 to work in the mental hygiene clinic at the Veterans Administration Hospital.
Davis Honored by the National Association of Social Workers The National Association of Social Work honored Mr. Davis earlier this year as a pioneer, and recently he was recognized by the group's Dallas branch for having joined the National Association of Social Work when it was formed 50 years ago this year.
"John Davis has been a driving force in helping the social work profession in Texas," said Martha C. Jarmon, chairwoman of the Dallas branch and the family resource specialist at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.
"He helped move social workers through the often difficult process of obtaining first certification and then licensure and has been truly a leader and a true pioneer for the profession in Texas," she said.
Mr. Davis started social work a couple of years before the National Association of Social Work was formed.
"Social work at the time was looked on as government employees doling out charity," said Mr. Davis, whose first job in the field was at an old-age assistance program in Lansing, Mich.
There was a shortage of good mental health professionals then, he said, so the private sector wanted him and other social workers to provide most of the services.
"A diploma on the wall didn't tell it all. Though many psychiatrists and psychologists charged more than a social worker, many social workers were as skilled in dealing with family relationships – and offered the service much cheaper."
Stopping the Pattern - Genetics Can Cause Problems
Most social work problems are within the family, he said, "and within the family, genetics are often the cause of problems – a 16-year-old who gets pregnant like her mother did at that age, an abused child that will become an abusing parent. Our job is to interrupt the pattern."
Mr. Davis worked on a test program in the early 1990s that the Child Guidance Clinic had with the Dallas County Juvenile Department.
"We were making home visits to families with delinquents," he said. "You couldn't get them to come to the office. So on Saturdays, Sundays and at nighttime, we would go to homes."
And though it sounds incongruous, they were not always trying to save the delinquents in the family. Instead, they were trying to save their younger siblings.
Mr. Davis praised the program, which was stopped because of budget limitations. It used rehabilitation instead of punishment, he said, which brought better results.
Battle for Change
In a way, being involved in social work is a never-ending battle to achieve change.
He and others in the profession, for example, spent years lobbying to get insurance for their cases.
"Psychiatrists generally didn't have any trouble getting insurance for their patients because they were medical doctors. Psychologists had some trouble, but social workers had a lot of trouble."
Mr. Davis acknowledges that the most severe cases tend to get picked up by agencies such as Child Protective Services and Adult Protective Services. "They do a lot of the hard work," he said.
"I went to private practice because of the freedom that is not available in agencies.
"I could maintain my own agenda."
Private Practice and More Mr. Davis started private practice after three years at the VA Hospital.
But he found time to work at agencies as well. He taught family and marriage classes at Texas Woman's University and did consultation work at Terrell State Hospital.
"I felt the reason that I was able to make a greater impact here is that Dallas wasn't flooded with social workers, a situation that means a goodly portion of the population was underserved."
If he had his way, Mr. Davis would like to have social service clinics in every community in the city, rich and poor, because there are drug addiction and other mental health problems communitywide.
He also says with candor that "Dallas is still not a place to be poor. If you're in Dallas, to be poor is considered an indication that you have a character flaw."
Sounds a little like a preacher, a little like a teacher, but mostly like a social worker.
Reprinted with permission from The Dallas Morning News |