History of Human Services

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History Today Week 1 Assignment HHS 201 Introduction to Human Services 11/10/2013 History of Human Services This assignment will address how human services helped in the past and changed for the future by following the western culture. The history of human services is over 150 years old or longer. Human services deals with many things like helping the poor, aiding the sick, and assisting those less fortunate. In the past the western culture has influenced the way things are run for the present and the future of the Human Services Field. In the past these services were based on a person’s age, ability to work, health status, and the availability of work. As the time went further people started using workhouses and for much less money as they do today. By the late 1800s and early 1900s, churches and hospitals began opening asylums, halfway houses, mental institutions. They also opened boys and girls homes. These institutes were used to help orphaned children, the disabled, and the elderly. According to our text, “Society expects from its citizens and the way it organizes its important institutions-the family, the system of governance and control-can either nurture or stunt people’s impulses to give help to relatives, friends, and needy strangers”(Mandell& Schram,2012, p. 28). Changing Nature of Helping Reciprocity is considered as a strong determining factor of human behavior. Positive reciprocal actions will bring a positive response. For example giving something for nothing is a perfect example of reciprocity. People would rather give you a favor than make up contracts with another person. Reciprocity works because from a young age people are taught to return favors. Some social psychologists use the social exchange theory to explain why people help others. They argue that people help each other because they
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