<P> Professional social work originated in 19th century England, and had its roots in the social and economic upheaval wrought by the Industrial Revolution, in particular the societal struggle to deal with the resultant mass urban - based poverty and its related problems . Because poverty was the main focus of early social work, it was intricately linked with the idea of charity work . (Today, it is common for social workers to find themselves dealing with consequences arising from other social problems such as racism, sexism, homophobia, and discrimination based on age or on physical or mental disability .) </P> <P> With the decline of feudalism in 16th century England, the indigent poor came to be seen as a more direct threat to the social order . As they were often not associated to a particular feudal manor, the government moved towards the formation of an organized poverty relief system to care for them . </P> <P> The origins of the English Poor Law system can be traced as far back as late medieval statutes dealing with beggars and vagrancy but it was only during the Tudor period that the Poor Law system became codified . Monasteries, the primary source of poor relief, were dissolved by the Tudors Reformation causing poor relief to move from a largely voluntary basis to a compulsory tax that was collected at a parish level . Early legislation was concerned with vagrants and making the able - bodied work, especially while labour was in short supply following the Black Death . </P> <P> The first complete code of poor relief was made in the Act for the Relief of the Poor 1597 and some provision for the "deserving poor" was eventually made in the Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601 . It created a system administered at parish level, paid for by levying local rates on rate payers . Relief for those too ill or old to work, the so - called' impotent poor', was in the form of a payment or items of food (' the parish loaf') or clothing also known as outdoor relief . Some aged people might be accommodated in parish alms houses, though these were usually private charitable institutions . Meanwhile, able - bodied beggars who had refused work were often placed in Houses of Correction or even subjected to beatings to mend their attitudes . </P>

Who is the founding father of social work