The Emergence of the Statutory Juvenile Court in Illinois and
Professionalization of Social Work
Abstract
The transition of social work from a volunteer pursuit to a professional
one happened rapidly in the early 1900s. This article examines the
motivating forces responsible for the genesis of social work education
within the context of Chicago’s Juvenile Court, and the work of Lucy
Flower, Julia Lathrop, and Graham Taylor. In Chicago, social work grew
and evolved within the professional space created for probation officers
within that Court, institutionalizing practice and education. The
enduring significance of the Court emerges from its direct
interrelationship with and special positioning of social service
workers—the juvenile probation officers. Those probation officers were
among the first groups of state sanctioned, publically funded, and
specially educated social workers.