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Campaign 2000 - In 1989, there was an all parliamentary resolution passed, which stated a goal to eliminate child poverty in Canada by the year 2000. Since 1989, the child poverty rate has increased.

Canada and Quebec Pension Plan - 1965, a wage-related supplement to Old Age Security. This plan saw 65 years of age as the age to retire, not 70 years.

Canada Assistance Plan - Federal legislation, passed in 1966 and considered by many as a keystone of the Canadian welfare state. The legislation required the federal government to fund half the cost of social programs undertaken by the provinces.

Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST)- Federal legislation which combines federal funding for health, postsecondary education and welfare and transfers a designated amount of money based on population size to each province rather than transferring a percentage of actual costs. It replaced both the Canada Assistance Plan (CAP) and Established Program Financing (EPF).

Canada/Quebec Pension Plan - C/QPP is a national contributory and earnings-related pension program introduced in 1966. It provides benefits in the case of retirement, death and long-term disability.

Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work (CASSW) - a voluntary, national charitable association of university faculties, schools and departments offering professional education in social work at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels.  Established in 1967, CASSW is the successor to the National Committee of Schools of Social Work, which, since 1948, had been the forum for programmes offering professional education in social work. Their web site is at http://www.cassw-acess.ca

Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) - founded in the 1926 to promote the profession of social work in Canada, to monitor employment conditions and to establish standards of practice within the profession. As a federation of the 10 provincial and one territorial social work organizations, the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) provides a national leadership role in strengthening and advancing the social work profession in Canada. Their web site is at http://www.casw-acts.ca/

Capital - Wealth that can be used to generate income (as distinct, say, from a wage that allows someone to subsist). Marxist economics sees capital as accumulated labour, since capitalists gain wealth by purchasing the labour of others and extracting more value from that labour than they pay as a wage.

Capitalism - an economic system in which the means of production, such as land and factories, are privately owned and operated for profit. Usually ownership is concentrated in the hands of a small number of people. Capitalism, which developed during the Industrial Revolution, is associated with free enterprise, although in practice even capitalist societies have government regulations for business, to prevent monopolies and to cushion domestic industries from foreign competition. Opponents of capitalism say that the economy should be organized to serve the public good, not private profit. Supporters say capitalism creates wealth, which creates jobs, which create prosperity for everyone.

Capitalist - Someone who owns means of production, and so can earn capital by exploiting the labour of workers.

Cartier, Jacques - A great French explorer, he is credited with first discovering Canada in 1535. He also discovered and charted the Saint Lawrence River in the same year. 

 Case manager A professional who oversees the provision of a variety of specialized services to ensure that they are delivered in a fashion that represents an effective response to the whole problem.

 Case services Personal social services meant to help those with personal maladjustments, problems, illness, or other difficulties.

 Case study - A detailed description of a particular individual being studied or treated.

CCF (Cooperative Commonwealth Federation) - This Canadian socialist political party was founded in Calgary in 1932 and first met in Regina in 1923. The "Regina Manifesto" included economic planning, central financial control and price stabilization, the extension of public ownership in communications and natural resources, the creation of a welfare state and an emergency relief program. It forced the Liberal Party to place a stronger emphasis on social reforms with such federal legislation as the 1944 Family Allowances Act. In 1961, the party evolved into the New Democratic Party with Tommy Douglas, the CCF Premier of Saskatchewan, as its leader.

Census - a survey, last taken 1996, of all Canadians conducted every five years across Canada by Statistics Canada. Used to determine population characteristics such as number of people, ages, education level attained, employment, unemployment, occupations, earnings, etc.

Census family - is a currently married or common-law couple with or without never-married children, or a single parent with never-married children in the same dwelling.

Charity - Help donated to others by individuals and private organizations.

Charity or friendly visitors - people charged with doing home visits to determine if a person was deserving of charity or relief in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They provided "out-of-door relief" during the 19th century. Those who provided the early forms of relief were known as charity visitors. They were wealthy and it was hoped that the moral rectitude of wealthy would rub off on the needy.

Charity Organization Society - - Social welfare agencies established in the latter part of the 1800s that utilized a "scientific charity" approach to studying the needs of individuals and families. Originated in London, England in the 1860s by upper and professional men and women because of "urban chaos" and the indiscriminate giving of relief by uncontrolled charities. It differentiated between the deserving and undeserving poor, believing that indiscriminate material relief would cause pauperism.

Charlotte Whitton - as secretary of the Canadian Welfare Council (now the Canadian Council on Social Development), she developed extensive contacts in agencies all over the country, and staff of these agencies were often recommended by her for their posts. She also initiated the social survey as a method of modernizing and professionalising the provision of charity, a task she saw as her mission. She also believed, however, in containing and not expanding the role of the welfare state and opposed the development of state social programs in Canada in the work of Leonard Marsh.

Chicago School of Economics - An influential branch of conservative and libertarian economics, based at the University of Chicago. It is a major ideological defender of free markets and capitalism, with a heavy emphasis on mathematical analysis. Milton Friedman boosted the prestige of the Chicago School in the 1960s, with the development of such theories as monetarism and the natural rate of unemployment.

Child Abuse - The physical, psychological, social, emotional and sexual maltreatment of a child whereby the survival, safety, self-esteem, growth and development of the person are endangered. Separate categories include: physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse and emotional abuse.

Child labour - In the 1870s when factories sprang into existence, children were exploited by way of being forced to work 50 to 60 hours per week in unsafe and unsanitary conditions, and were docked pay for minor infractions, such as laughing.

Child welfare Programs that seek to improve the quality of parenting that children receive.

Child welfare services - an historical phase in which J.J. Kelso, a journalist, began organizing meetings on the problem of street children and the abuse of children in general. He was critical of many of the private charities and orphanages with children under their care.

Childhood Recognized - an historical phase in which the view of children changed. Orphanages and schools were established to remove children from workhouses. Several private charity organizations and child welfare groups began advocating for the welfare of children.

Citizen - a person who is a member of a state or nation, either by birth or naturalization, is entitled to full civil rights.

Class (social class) - A large category or group of people within a system of social stratification who have a similar socio-economic status in relation to other socio-economic segments of the society or community. The Marxian definition of social class is in terms of a class's objective position or relation to the means of production in society.

Classical conditioning - Learning through association, when a neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus) is paired with a stimulus (unconditioned stimulus) that naturally produces an emotional response.  The kind of learning that takes place when a neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus that automatically produces a reflex response; the neutral stimulus comes to elicit the response.

Classical economics - the dominant theory of economics from the eighteenth century until superseded by neoclassical economics in the twentieth century. It is associated with Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776) John Stuart Mill's Principles of Political Economy (1848), and the work of David Ricardo (1772-1823), who were the first to systematically establish a body of economic principles. The basic idea was that the economy functioned most efficiently if everyone was allowed to pursue his or her own self-interest. Classical economics therefore favoured laissez faire; the primary economic law was that of competition.

Claw Back - policy whereby what was once considered universal benefits of the welfare state is taken back at tax time. While all senior citizens receive old age pensions from the government, it is now the case that if total income exceeds a certain amount a portion, or all, of additional old age benefits is taxed back (clawed back) through annual individual income taxation. In the future the Old Age Security pension will be paid to individuals based on their income (or household income for couples).

CLC (Canadian Labour Congress) - This labour organization was established in 1956 with the merger of the Trades and Labour Congress and the Canadian Congress of Labour. The CLC was ready to take political action and in 1961 it united with the CCF (Cooperative Commonwealth Federation) to form the New Democratic Party. In conjunction with the CCF they were responsible for pressuring government for social welfare programs.

Clear Grits - Upper Canadian Reformers who didn't like how conservative their own party was getting. They believed in representation by population, free trade with the United States, and other US political views. They were popular in the west, and after Confederation formed the basis of the Liberal party.

Client - a person, family, group, or community working with a social worker. Is seen by some as a term to be avoided as it denotes a professional relationship of authority over the person the social worker is helping.

Client Centred Therapy - This approach was developed during the 1940s as a nondirective reaction against psychoanalysis. Based on a subjective view of human experiencing, it places faith in and gives responsibility to the client in dealing with problems. The client has the capacity for resolving life problems effectively without interpretation and direction from an expert therapist. This approach focuses on fully experiencing the present moment, learning to accept oneself, and deciding on ways to change.

Client-Worker Power - an element of the structural social work approach, acting to share decision-making power with clients and to demystify professional techniques; no records hidden from the client.

Clinical ego-psychology approach - an approach in which the client is viewed as having the problem and needs assistance with adaptation

Clinical psychology - The branch of psychology that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional disorders.

Code of Ethics - A profession's set of standards concerning the ethical behavior of its members.  All members are expected to be guided by this code in their professional activities. The CASW has a code of ethics, which is a set of principles to guide a social worker as he or she deals with issues arising in the workplace.

Cognitive errors - In cognitive therapy, the client's misconceptions and faulty assumptions. (Examples include arbitrary inference, selective abstraction, overgeneralization, magnification, polarized thinking, and personalization.)

Cognitive restructuring - A process of actively altering maladaptive thought patterns and replacing them with constructive thoughts and beliefs.

Cognitive structure - The organizing aspect of thinking, which monitors and directs the choice of thoughts; implies an "executive processor," one that determines when to continue, interrupt, or change thinking patterns.

Cognitive therapy - An approach and set of procedures that attempts to change feelings and behaviour by modifying faulty thinking and believing.

Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy  - rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) and the other cognitive-behavioural approaches stress the role of action and practice in combating irrational, self-indoctrinated ideas. It focuses on the role of thinking and belief systems as the roots of personal problems. Beck's CT shares with REBT the active, directive, time-limited, present-centered, structured approach used to treat various disorders such as depression, anxiety, and phobias. It is an insight-focused therapy that emphasizes recognizing and changing negative thoughts and maladaptive beliefs.    

Collaborative empiricism - A strategy of viewing the client as a scientist who is able to make objective interpretations.

Collective Consciousness -an element of the structural social work approach, respecting the client's individuality while raising consciousness about the group or social movement whose members share similar structural locations with clients; joining such groups and movements.

Colonialism - Political domination of one nation over another that is institutionalized in direct political administration by the colonial power, control of all economic relationships and a systematic attempt to transform the culture of the subject nation.

Colonization - The subjugation of one people by another through destruction and/or weakening of basic institutions of the subjugated culture and replacing them with those of the dominant culture. Colonization is created and perpetuated by the structural power to determine the institutions of the colonized and the normative control to influence how the colonizers are viewed by the colonized.

Common human needs - Needs shared by ail human beings that are basic to human survival and development.

Common Law- the body of law developed as a result of custom and judicial decisions, as distinct from the law laid down by legislative assemblies.

Communism - A social and economic system in which all (or nearly all) property is public, not private. That is, everyone shares resources. Not to be confused for socialism, which only grants ownership of the means of production to workers.

Community - a group of people having common ties or interests and/or living in the same locality or district. It may be a geographic community or a group of people with similar interests or problems.

Community organization - a social work method practised with communities. It involves six steps: entry, data collection and analysis, goal setting, action planning, action taking and termination.

Comprehensiveness - Each provincial plan must cover insured services provided by hospitals, private medical practitioners and other related health care services provided on the request of a physician. This varies from province to province according to what services are listed as essential.

Conflict perspective - sees society as constantly experiencing struggle among opposing groups with varying interests at stake. From the conflict perspective, society is held together by the use of control of resources by groups who maintain varying levels of political power over groups who hold less power.

Confluence - A disturbance in which the sense of the boundary between self and environment is lost.

Confrontation - The process of presenting various information/feedback to the client for his or her personal benefit; often viewed as a challenge.

Congruence - A characteristic of genuineness that refers to behavior in which a person s words and behavior seem to match.

Consciousness-raising - The process by which an individual or group comes to be aware of and understand that other people share with them common experiences, that others too are restricted and damaged by certain practices, patterns of relations, beliefs, stereotypes, myths, expectations, and social structures. It is the process by which people begin to understand the relationships between their own biographies, other people's biographies, history, and the social infrastructure.

Conservatism - A political ideology generally characterized by a belief in individualism and minimal government intervention in the economy and society; also a belief in the virtue of the status quo and general acceptance of traditional morality. Similar to liberalism, this ideology believes in the following social values: freedom, individualism and inequality.

Constituents - People who select or elect others to represent or serve them in some manner.

Constitution - A document describing the governing principles of a nation or organization, as well as the rights and responsibilities of individuals. The difference between the constitution and law is only one of degree; the constitution describes very general principles, rights and responsibilities; the law describes highly specific ones.

Constitution - The fundamental rules and principles by which a state is organized.

Constructivism - A recent development in cognitive therapy that emphasizes the subjective framework and interpretations of the client, rather than looking to the objective bases of faulty beliefs.

Contingency - A future event which influences present behaviour; an action which is dependent on an uncertain or unforeseen event. The contingencies which social welfare seeks to address can be grouped into three interrelated categories: contingencies which threaten economic survival, contingencies, which threaten the integrity of the person, and contingencies, which affect the family.

Contracting Out - The practice of hiring private agencies to implement specified public social welfare activities and deliver certain services in return for payment from public funds.

Contradictions - the conflict between existing forms of social interaction and new social relations generated by changes in the mode of production.

Convention Refugee - Someone who has been found to fear persecution in his or her country or origin because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion. In Canada, the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) Convention Refugee Determination Division (CRDD) decides who is a Convention refugee.


Convention Refugee Seeking Resettlement -
Someone who has a well founded fear of persecution in his or her country of origin because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group or political opinion. The visa officer abroad determines who is a Convention refugee seeking resettlement.

Conventional approach -an approach to social work which tends to focus on the relation between people and their environments, enhancing coping and problem solving capacities of people, linking them with resources, promoting human services and contributing to better social policy.

Conventional approach to international development - an approach that believes that the effects of economic growth will trickle down to the poorest in society.

Coping-skills program - A behavioural procedure for helping clients deal effectively with stressful situations by learning to rnodify their thinking patterns.

Correlation coefficient - A statistical measure of the direction and strength of the linear relationship between two variables, which can range from -1.00 to +1.00.

Creative arts therapy - The use of creative activities such as music, art, dance to facilitate personal insight, self-expression, and social awareness.

Crime - An act committed in violation of a law.

Crisis intervention - A type of help designed to meet the needs of a person faced with an unusually difficult life situation.

Critical Theory - A sociology developed by the Frankfurt school that is influenced by divergent intellectual ideas, including Marxism and psychoanalysis. It starts from two principles: opposition to the status quo and the idea that history can be potentially progressive.

Cross-cultural Social Work- any social work interaction or relationship in which at least two of the participants are from different cultural backgrounds.

Cultural Colonialism - Involves normative control of a minority group's culture in order to legitimize external control.

Cultural Competency – This model means that the workers develop the ability to acknowledge different perceptions and experiences and  incorporate this into practice applications.  In other words, the worker must take this knowledge of the ‘other’ culture, and combine it with an analysis of how one’s own culture affects their social work interventions.

Cultural Literacy - This model emphasizes the need for social workers to gain a deep understanding of the worldview or ‘cultural frame of reference’ of the client. This means that the worker must study the history, background language and characteristic of the diverse cultural groups. Many social work textbooks take this approach and present general overviews of a variety of ethno-cultural groups.

Culture - The generally shared knowledge, beliefs and values of members of society. Culture is conveyed from generation to generation through the process of socialization.

Cycle of counseling - Specific ways of creating a positive climate in which counselling can occur. The proper environment is based on personal involvement and specific procedures aim at change.

Cycle of violence theory - explains what happens in individual relationships in a three-step process.