The settlement house tradition: current trends and future concerns

Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, June, 2003 by Beverly Koerin

Instrument

The author developed a 25-item instrument that included questions in three areas: (1) services provided, demographics of populations served, service delivery arrangements, and recent changes in services or populations served; (2) current and future unmet needs in the service area, as well as national trends or policies contributing to and responding to these needs; and (3) center's background (when established, region of the country), budget and revenue sources, and information about the administrator completing the questionnaire. The questionnaire was critiqued by several colleagues, pre-tested by the associate director of a local settlement house, and modified based on the feedback.

Data Collection and Analysis

Questionnaires were mailed to the Executive Directors of UNCA member agencies in August, 1999, with a cover letter explaining the purpose of the study and a self-addressed postage-paid envelope. A follow-up letter was mailed several weeks later, including another questionnaire and return envelope. Eighty-three centers (N = 83) completed the questionnaire for a response rate of 49%. Descriptive univariate statistics were used to analyze quantitative data, and valid percentages are reported in the following discussion of results. Content analysis was used to identify themes in responses to open-ended questions.

Results

Characteristics of Respondents and Sample

Questionnaires were completed by neighborhood center administrators; 82% (n = 68) held positions of Executive Director or President. Other respondents were assistant/associate directors and various program directors (e.g., youth and family services, community development). These administrators had experience in their current management roles (M = 9.77 years, SD 8.36) and in neighborhood center/settlement house work in general (M = 17.21 years, SD = 12.10). Of the 74 administrators who responded to questions concerning education and experience, 74.3% (n = 55) held graduate degrees, including the MSW degree (37%, n = 27) and doctoral degrees (9.1%, n = 7).

Reflecting the heyday of settlement growth, 25.3% (n = 21) were established between 1876 and 1900, and another 31.3% (n = 26) between 1901 to 1925. Three centers (3.6%) were established between 1850 and 1875, 14.5%, (n = 12) between 1926 and 1950, and 20.5% (n = 17) between during 1951-1975. During the last 25 years, only 4 centers (4.8%) were established. While 73.5% (n = 61) reported their centers had been established as settlement houses, 93.9% (n = 77) indicated their mission was consistent with the settlement house tradition.

The neighborhood centers in the sample mirrored early patterns of the settlement movement, with fully 90.1% located in the northeast (n = 36) and central/midwest United States (n = 37), and a handful in the south and west (9.9%, n = 8). This distribution paralleled the location of UNCA member agencies in some ways; 8% of member agencies were located in the south and west and 92% in the north and central/midwest, but 35% were in the northeast and 57% in central/midwest.