Social Work Education in Andalusia (Southern Spain): Granada as a Case Study

Abstract

This chapter documents and gives value to the History of Social Work in Andalusia through its academic and professional development. Since 1932, when the first School of Social Workers was opened, several factors have conditioned these Studies: First of all, Social Work constitutes a feminized activity of low professional prestige; secondly, prior to becoming part of the University, Social Work Schools were associated to those who promoted it, such as the Catholic Church, and the organization Female Section of Spanish Falange (women’s wing of the Party); last but not least, lacking historical research on these issues hides relevant contributions of Social Work not only to Spanish Democracy (1978 onwards) but also to the Welfare State system. In fact, Social Assistance has allowed women to get out of the “domestic realm” to reach public spaces, thus accumulating knowledge and experiences that further contributed to personal female empowerment, and to advancement of certain disadvantaged groups. The School of Social Studies for Women, founded in Barcelona in 1932, trained a small number of bourgeois female students for the so-called Social Assistance by then. Students of Andalusian Schools of Málaga (1959), Sevilla (1960), Huelva (1966), and Granada (1962) usually came from the middle and working classes. We shall introduce Social Service in Spain to "make known this profession of Social Worker, both in terms of principles, and methods, that constitute its contents, and applicability to work carried out in various fields of action” (Vázquez 1971, 56). The expansion of Social Assistance Schools gained pace by the Francoist Economic and Social Development Plan (1964-1967), which hinted "the urgency of training four thousand social workers for development purposes” . Since 1981, already as part of college curricula, social workers have challenged its identity as a feminine and feminized professional activity, and contributed to the Public Social Welfare System, since an important number of professionals were employed there. The discipline of Social Work was established then, and have since been transformed into a profession committed to principles of Equality, Dignity, and Freedom.