Bertha Reynolds

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Bertha Capen Reynolds, born in Stoughton, Massachusetts,^[1] was an American Social Worker who was influential in the creation of Strength Based Practice, Radical social work and Critical social work, among others.

[edit] Life

Reynolds' father died while she was a young child, and she moved with her mother to Boston to work as a teacher. Her aunt paid for her to attend Smith College, where she graduated in 1908 with a Bachelor of Social Work. She suffered from an unknown illness during this time, and later attended Simmons College for two years, graduating in 1914 with a second Social Work degree. At this time, she described her professional goals as "...a desire to help poor people and the Negro and to be able to earn her living" ^[1]. After her graduation, she worked for a short time at the North End Health Clinic. In 1917 Smith College began running a psychiatric social work degree, and she enrolled. After graduating, she stayed on and taught the subject, working as an Associate Dean between 1925 and 1938. During this period she used Marxist analysis as an element of the course, and attempted to unionise college employees. This was not well received by the Dean, who terminated her position in 1938. She then worked for a time with the Maritime Union but funding was scare. She retired and became a full time writer. A later biographer described her three guiding philosophies where Marxism, Christianity and Freudian/psychodynamic theories. This was not well received by many American social workers and for decades her writings were sidelined in favour of more psychoanalytic approaches.^[2]

[edit] Published Works

• An Experiment in Short-contact Interviewing - 1932
• Learning and Teaching in the Practice of Social Work - 1942
• Re-thinking Social Case Work - 1943
• Social Work and Social Living: Explorations in Philosophy and Practice - 1951
• An Uncharted Journey: Fifty Years of Growth in Social Work - 1963
• Between Client and Community: A Study in Responsibility in Social Case Work - 1973

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} [National Association of Social Workers]. NASW Social Work Pioneers - Bertha Reynolds. Retrieved on 2008-04-29. “"...a progressive educator, creative and original thinker, clinician and community worker who strove to broaden and deepen social work practice"”
2. ^ Healy, Karen (2005). Social Work Theories in Context. Hampshire: Palgrave McMillan. 

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Persondata
NAME	Reynolds, Bertha
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American social worker & intellectual
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH	Stoughton, Massachusetts, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH