F
Factories Act - required the use of safety equipment, limited each work day, and restricted employment of children to 12 hours per day.

Factory Acts - required the use of safety equipment, limited the work day, and restricted the employment of children.

False consciousness - an awareness mystified by ideology and unaware of its own basis in relations of oppression; failure to recognise one’s own oppression as a result of internalizing dominant political discourse.

Family - any combination of two or more persons who are bound together over time by ties of mutual consent, birth and/or adoption/placement and who, together, assume responsibilities for variant combinations of some of the following: physical maintenance and care of group members; addition of new members through procreation or adoption; socialization of children; social control of members; production, consumption and distribution of goods and services; and affective nurturance - love. The definition of family in Canadian Family Law is extremely restrictive not recognizing gay and lesbian couples

Family Allowance - Introduced in 1945, a monthly payment given to the mother of every child under age 16 (changed to age 18 in 1973) and who, if of school age, was attending school. The family allowance was also known as the ‘baby bonus’.  It was the result of McKenzie King's fear of increasing popularity of socialist parties to protect the rising generation after the war, and to maintain purchasing power to avoid a post-war slump.

Federal state - refers to three levels of government: the national government, the provincial and territorial governments, and the regional and municipal governments.

Federal Union of Canada - A federal union of Canada was the goal of the Canadian delegates at the Charlottetown Conference. They sought to unite the British North American colonies under one national government.

Federalism - A system of government in which sovereignty is divided between a central government and several provincial or state governments.

Feedback -The process of conveying information between client and helper.

Feminism - The belief that society is disadvantageous to women, systematically depriving them of individual choice, political power, economic opportunity and intellectual recognition.

Feminization of poverty - The number of women in poverty is increasing faster than that of men.

Fenians - A group of Irish Americans formed in 1857 to help Ireland become independent. The group split in two, one intent on taking over Canada. In 1866 they landed in New Brunswick. They were defeated easily, but helped push the Maritimes in favour of Confederation.

Feudalism - A system of economic and social organization founded on a web of military obligations between powerful overlords and their vassals. Vassals, who were usually landlords of knightly rank, owed duties of military service in return for grants of land (fiefs) from the overlord.  The serfs were required to work the central manorial farm and to provide the lord with produce and money payments in return for their own rights to land use. The lord was obligated to provide for the peasants social welfare, however minimal that may have been. Landowners had an obligation to ensure that everyone on their land had food and shelter. This meant that people lived on the land and were supported by the produce of the land.

Field experiment - An experiment conducted in natural, real-life settings, outside the laboratory.

Fils de la Liberté - An association of 700-800 young French patriots founded in Montreal in 1837, who were inspired by the American Revolution. They believed in the right to choose their own government and to become independent. The group developed a violent wing and fought in the Rebellions of 1837. The group died out as the Revolution was put down.

First Nations - A term of current usage referring to persons registered as status Indians. First Nations are also the communities of status Indians, also known as reserves. It is also becoming a generic term of convenience.

Food Bank – Provides emergency food rations. In March 2000, there were over 700 food banks in Canada and emergency food was provided to 726,902 people in that month alone. This is almost double the number of people who used food banks in March of 1989.

Food security  - means that all people in the community have access to good nutritious food at all times.

Formal helping - An organized response to anticipated need that is provided by people who have had some type of training in the provision of helping services.

For-profit private agencies - Agencies that seek to make a profit from the delivery of services by maximizing income and reducing expenditures.

Foster care - Interim care for children whose parents cannot currently provide it themselves.

Foundation knowledge - comprises theories about individual behaviour and interactions and society in general.  Practice theory draws from the foundation theory and is concerned with how planned intervention will occur. For example the foundation knowledge could be drawn from psychology, sociology, economics, political science, and the allied health professions, to name a few. 

Four directions - The most basic teaching of the Medicine wheel common to most First Nations is the four sacred directions: North, South, East and West. Each represents part of the way we live. For social work practice they represent the aspects of life that must be considered when looking at a social problem.

Free association - A technique used in psychoanalytic therapy in which the client is asked to speak freely, saying whatever comes to mind without concern about the effect on the listener.

Free public education - began in 1880s as a solution to juvenile delinquency.

Free Trade - Trade between nations that is conducted on free market principles, without tariffs, import quotas or other restrictive regulations.  In 1993, Canada, the United States and Mexico entered into a trilateral free trade agreement: the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Frictional unemployment - a structural factor impacting on unemployment, is due to movement between jobs.

Frictional unemployment - caused by workers moving between jobs to look for more suitable work.

Friendly visitors - The workers (initially untrained) who did investigations for the Charity Organization Societies.

Full employment - anyone who wants to work should have an opportunity to do so, at a job that matches that person's skills and provides a "decent" standard of living.  The government committed to intervene in the economy to create jobs and control job losses. This resulted from recognition that government could affect unemployment by directly generating economic activity or assisting the private sector. 

Functional approach - Attitude theories that emphasize that people develop and change their attitudes based on the degree to which they satisfy different psychological needs. To change an attitude, one must understand the underlying function that attitude serves.