Glossary M

Manic-Depressive Syndrome - A psychological disorder characterized by extreme mood swings of elation and depression, sometimes accompanied by disorders of perception and belief.

Manifest functions of social welfare - The visible and intended purpose of social welfare programs.

Maritime Provinces of Canada - The Maritime Provinces of Canada include the provinces of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

Marx, Karl - (1818 -1883) Philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, revolutionary. Born in the city of Trier, Rhenish Prussia, gained law doctorate from Berlin University in 1841. Marx lived most of his life in exile in London. Along with Frederick Engels, he was the founder of Scientific Socialism and leader of the First International.

Marxism - the philosophical and sociological approach of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and their followers. History is seen as basically a series of class struggles, with classes being defined in terms of their relation to the means of production. He viewed the struggle of workers as a continuation of historical forces that would one day lead to communism. This would occur in three stages. The first stage was capitalism, in which the proletariat (workers) are exploited by capitalists (business owners). The second stage would be socialism, or a "dictatorship of the proletariat." Marx envisioned that this stage would be brief. In the final stage -- communism -- society would become so classless and collectivist that the formal state would wither away, and society could spontaneously operate as a collective whole without government.

Mary Richmond - promoted scientific casework and wrote a text in 1914 called Social Diagnosis, which set the standard for early social work training.

Maternal feminism - a woman's special role as mother implies that she has an obligation a right to participate in the public sphere. The notion that women could play a public role similar to that in the family. In many ways social work continues as a profession to represent maternal feminism.

Mean (Average): The Arithmetic Mean, the sum of the data divided by the number of data.

Means of production - The raw materials, lands, and resources that are used in production. In a capitalist society, these are owned and controlled by the bourgeoisie.

Means Test – used in selective income security programs to determine eligibility based on the income of the prospective recipient. The benefit is reduced according the income level, and there is always a level at which no benefit is granted.

Median - a measure of central tendency, which appears in the middle of an ordered sequence of values. eg. the median wage is the point at which half made more and half made less. If you place the series in ascending or descending order, the median is the number that divides the series into two parts each containing the same number of data. When there is an even number of data, determine the two central values and take the arithmetic mean.

Mediator - One who resolves or settles differences by acting as an intermediary between two conflicting parties.

Medical model - The view that behavioral and emotional problems are analogous to physical diseases.

Medical model theory of disability - has its roots in the field of rehabilitation medicine and the focus of intervention and change is predominantly on the individual.

Medicare - a public insurance system, which ensures the patient against the costs of personal private care.

Medicine wheel - There are different medicine wheels and different interpretation of the components of the Medicine Wheel depending on the First Nation, and each will illuminate a variation on social work practice. Traditionally, many Aboriginal people have used some form of Medicine wheels to underpin their approach to healing. The four directions of the wheel can help the social worker see what aspects of the problem being presented to look at.

Mental illness - A general term referring to psychological, emotional, or behavioral disorders as well to the view that these disorders are diseases of the mind.

Meta-analysis - A statistical technique to combine information from many empirical studies on a topic to objectively estimate the reliability and overall size of the effect.

Métis - The term may refer to anyone of mixed Indian/non-Indian blood and to people who can trace their ancestry to the Red River Métis who lived a distinct lifestyle in the early 1800's, and who identifies with Métis history and culture. The Métis were excluded from the Constitution Act, 1867, and the Canadian government signed no treaties and made no provision for the Métis under the Indian Act.

Minimum income - Social assistance is a minimum income program. It provide the bare minimum needed to survive.

Minimum wage laws - Wage and hour standards for workers established by law.

Mode - the most typical or commonly observed value in a set of data i.e. It is the value of the variable corresponding to the maximum frequency.

Models of practice - the different ways of thinking about social work and practising social work.

Monetarism - believes that social spending stimulates inflation, undermines labour market flexibility and productivity, and distorts the work leisure trade-off.

Moral and Social Reform League of Canada - (1907), the banding together of the social welfare departments of the five major protestant churches to form this. This was the first "advocacy" organization in the country. Its purpose was to advocate for social reform. This league was the fore-runner of the Social Service Council of Canada, founded in 1914.

Mother's Allowances - legislation which emerged due to the effects of industrialization disrupting the informal social security system of rural life and the extended family, thereby increasing support for assistance to one-parent families. Several factors contributed to this legislation: 1) existence of many widows and orphans after the war; 2) increased concern for children after the large loss of life after the war and the 1918 epidemic; 3) women had recently won the right to vote.

Motive - A specific need or desire, such as hunger or achievement, that energizes and directs behavior.

Multinational or transnational corporations - a business organization, having divisions in several nations which possess and control the means of production or services outside the country in which they were established. Ninety percent of these are headquartered in the advanced industrial countries and control 70% of world trade.