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Call for Papers. Special Number “Comparative Public Policies: Innovations and Challenges in a Global Context Under Strain”.
Submissions in Spanish and English are accepted until October 30, 2025, for publication in Issue 11 of the journal on April 30, 2026. Read more
The Origin of Social Work in Latin America: The Case of Chile and its Choice between European Influence and the U.S. Model (to 1925)
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Abstract
This article aims to provide a critical historical-comparative analysis of the
foundational models of social work in Chile and the United States (US) up
to 1925. This key year marks the creation of the first Latin American school
of the discipline in Santiago, contrasting with the already diversified
training network in the U.S. The central conceptual problem investigates
the sociopolitical, cultural, and institutional factors explaining why Chile
favored a European influence (the Belgian health-oriented model of René
Sand) over the consolidated US models—Charity Organization Societies
(COS) and Settlement Houses—despite the latter’s relevance. Additionally,
it explores the causes for the asynchronous institutionalization and
differing disciplinary development of social work between both regions
by that date, considering contexts with comparable critical social issues.
Propuestas Críticas en Trabajo Social - Critical Proposals in Social Work
28
Octubre 2025. Vol. 5, Num. 10, 26-44. ISSN 2735-6620, DOI: 10.5354/2735-6620.2025.79148
ARTÍCULO
The fundamental thesis posits that the Chilean choice responded to a complex
constellation of contextual, ideological, and strategic factors. The argumentative
development reconstructs U.S. professionalization (detailing its COS branch, focused on
casework, and Settlements, oriented toward community reform); analyzes the inaugural
Chilean model marked by its technical-sanitary orientation; and explores the determining
factors for Chile’s option, such as the state hygienist project, the influence of Europeanized
elites, and the coloniality of knowledge that prioritized European knowledge.
It is concluded that these divergent foundational choices generated profoundly
differentiated professional trajectories: a pluralistic one linked to social reform in the
United States, versus a technical, state-led one oriented towards social control in Chile.
These differences had lasting implications for the professional identity, disciplinary
autonomy, and emancipatory potential of Latin American social work—legacies and
tensions that continue to be subjects of critical debate and reflection within the regional
discipline.
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