Social administration and sociology

Abstract

It may be that when the history of social administration as an academic discipline during the 1960s comes to be looked back upon, one of the most significant developments will be seen to have been the growing influence upon it of sociology. As social services have developed in extent and complexity, a descriptive approach to the study of them has appeared ever more inadequate; and with the rapid development of sociology, both new empirical material, new perspectives, and new methods of analysis have become increasingly accessible. Social administration now uses sociological research methods, and draws heavily upon sociological theory. At the same time, both the active interest of ‘committed’ sociologists in the field of social welfare and, specifically, the emergence of the ‘sociology of welfare’ to join other sociological specializations indicate that the tendency for the two disciplines to impinge increasingly upon each other is not one-sided.