BY LLOYD E. OHLIN

Conformity in American Society Today

PERSONS OF LIBERAL persuasion in America sures toward ideological conformity in thetoday are expressing increasing concern increasing professionaliiation o service oc-about the growing pressures toward ideo- cupations in American society. Professionallogical conformity evident in all areas of persons are expected to internalize an ap-our social life. There is genuine fear that propriate set of values and beliefs whichwe are less free than formerly to think and will insure that the services provided arebelieve as we choose. One of the most consistent with the goals and interests ofwidely endorsed values in American society the community and the clients who supportholds that we are free to think and believe or require those services. In the field ofwhatever we wish and even to express our social work the curriculum of training andconvictions without fear of reprisal so long education is permeated with those valuesas our behavior does not violate the legiti- held to be appropriate for the successfulmately invested interests and rights of pursuit of the profession. Recruitment toothers. We have always recognized that the profession and promotional rewardour behavior should conform to accepved within the profession place great weightrules and standards of conduct which pro- on ethical and philosophical convictions,tect the lawful person, property, and privi- Thotigh this same kind of interest is in-leges of others but have persistently main- creasingly evident in other professions andtained an ideology which certifies freedom in business and industry, it is especially im-of thought and belief. Though this doc- portant in social work since social work serv-trine has been repeatedly challenged and ices are generally directed toward personsoften violated in the past, there is a growing who in some fashion or other have failed toconviction that never before have we faced fulfill their expected roles in society. Conse-sucli steady and consistent pressure toward quently, social workers acquire a specialideological conformity not only in the areas sensitivity to the problem of values and theof political beliefs, but in nearly all phases part which they play in inducing conform-of our social and economic lives as well. ing or deviant behavior.

There exists clear evidence of the pres- This paper will not deal with why a par-________^^^^____^^^^^__^__^___^__^ ticular individual acts in a conforming or aLIOYD E. OHim, Ph.D., is professor o, sociology at ' ' ' T " ' '"^'"."- ^ " ' f "; ' ' . '= " " " rnedthe Ne^ York School of Social Wort, Columkia '"l answering the toUowtng question:University. This paper s delivered ,U the annual Why are pressures toward ideological con.meeting of the Croup Work Section of NASW at fomiity increasing in our society?" Im-the National Conference an Social Welfare in May plicitly the answer will consider a corollaryJ957. question, "Why do these pressures converge

58 Social Work

Conformity in American Societywith unequal force on different persons and ingly cohesive and integrated power elitegroups in our society?" on the upper decision-making levels of

We shall point to the effects of two major American society.^ On the middle levels oftrends which appear to account for the in- power he notes the continued formation ofcreasing concern with pressures toward decisions through organizational competi-conformity and deviance in our time: one tion and interest group conflict. Yet it isis the trend toward increasing size, com- clear that he sees these conflicts always re-plexity, and integration of organizational lated in a direct and controlled way toarrangements in our society; the second values and interests which dominate upper-relates to the trend toward more rapid social level decision making.change. Following a consideration of the The social work profession also showseffects of these two basic trends, certain evidence of this movement toward integra-current devices will be examined which ap- tion. The struggle toward federation onpear to be used increasingly to preserve the part of social welfare associations in tlieappropriate conditions for personal de- National Association of Social Workersvelopment, creativity, and social growth. provides recent evidence of the increasing

co-ordination and integration of welfareORGANIZATIONAL INTEGRATION services. The Council on Social Work Edu-

cation plays a significant integrating roleThere is clear-cut evidence throughout all in the clarification of minimum standardsareas of our social life that we are moving for the achievement of a professional socialsteadily in the direction of increasing organ- work education. Occupational associationsizational integration of our society. This and national standard-setting agencies intrend is clearly apparent in business and the various fields of social welfare servicesindustry where the growth of large corpora- are playing an increasingly important andtions exerts tremendously far-reaching con- effective role in raising the level of servicestrol over vast areas of the social and eco- throughout the country and aiding in thenomic life of the country. This integration development of more uniform and acceptedis taking place in two ways. In the first forms of welfare practice. Throughout theplace it is proceeding through the develop- social welfare field both public and privatement of increasingly large organizations service organizations are becoming increas-with greater potentiality for monopoly ingly integrated and dependent on othercontrol over particular areas of interest, business, labor, industrial, educational, re-Secondly, integration is proceeding by much ligious, and governmental organizations incloser co-ordination and sharing of control connection with the development of policy,between different organizations. The tend- the formation and implementation of de-ency toward larger associations of business cisions, and the carrying out of routineand industrial interests is paralleled in con- operations.siderable measure by the increasing unifica- The sources of this trend toward greatertion of labor and the tremendous growth organizational size and integration may beof governmental bureaucracies for regula- found in the increasing size and density oftion and service. Educational, religious, tiie population which the organizationand professional associations have shared serves and the increasing demand for goodsin a similar growth. Among all of these and services arising from this population,increasingly large, formal organizations This condition leads to a more intensivechere is apparent a growing integration of division of labor in which sj^ecialized rolespolicy and sharing of decisions, influence, are worked out to promote the efficiencyand power. C. Wright Mills has recently i The Power Elite (New York: Oxford Universitypointed to the development of an increas- press, 1956).

APRIL 1958 59

and effectiveness of the operation.^ How-ever, when tasks become more specializedand finely differentiated in an organization,the problem of co-ordinating and integrat-ing the work o all members of the organ-ization with one another becomes bothmore important and more difficult. Unlessthis co-ordination takes place, the goals ofthe organization will not be achieved. Yetpeople who work at quite different taskshave less common ground for understand-ing and communicating with one another.Furthermore, they are liable to try to meettheir own specialized responsibilities with-out regard to possible interference with thework of other units or without an eye to theeffect of their limited objectives on the totalorganizational task.

Increased division of labor within an or-ganization generates a need for greaterclarity and predictability in the expecta-tions and relationships of the roles whichorganizational members perform. Eachunit must be able to count on what otherunits are doing in order that an integratedwork product may emerge. A conditionis created in which all members of tlie or-ganization become increasingly dependenton one another for the achievement of per-sonal and organizational success. In sucha situation a high premium will be placedon close conformity to the appropriate rolemodels which make up the organizationstructure. The reliance which organizationmembers must place on one another to getthe job done successfully provides a kind ofpersonal vulnerability by means of whichconformity can be induced and controlled.

To summarize these points, the greatertlie division ot labor or the specialization oEroles within or between organizations thegreater will be the pressure on group mem-bers to act in predictable, reliable, and con-forming ways. In addition, the greater the

^ For a classic distussion of the sources and func-tional significance of the division of labor in organ-ized life, see Emite Durkheim. The Division ofLabor in Society {Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press,1947).

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dependence on one another for the achieve-ment of personal or group goals the morevulnerable the organization and its person-nel will be to the pressures which control orproduce conformity.

Let us consider briefly some other in-herent consequences of increased organiza-tional size and specialization of organiza-tional functions. Work activities tend toget spread out over a wider area in units ofvarying size and complexity. To keep thetotal organization functioning properly re-quires an increasingly clear-cut hierarchicalarrangement of authority. It requires in-creasingly formal definition of the ruleswhich members must observe, the roles theymust play, the objectives to be achieved,the values and standards that must guidetheir work performance. How is one tosecure observance of these new require-ments when the direct face-to-face su-pervision, evaluation, and observationcharacteristic of simpler organizational ar-rangements are no longer possible? Oneway to secure the necessary level of con-formity to minimum expectations is to pro-liferate rules, directives, and manuals ofstandards which must be observed in doiagthe work. Proper co-ordination of clearlyspecified work performance with closesupervision and surveillance of activity willordinarily serve to insure the nainimuralevel of behavioral conformity required oforganizational personnel. This has disad-vantages, of course, for it is likely to pro-duce a ritualistic and compulsive adherenceto detailed rules and regulations which isso characteristic of the bureaucratic organ-ization and its dominant personality types.^

Another alternative when work activitiesare dispersed and difficult to obseire di-rectly and closely is to try to maximize theamount of ideological or value conformityof organizational personnel. If by selec-tion, training, or other inducement they

3 Robcvl K.. Merlon, "Bmeuviciaiic Siructuve andPersonality," in Merton et. al., eds.. Reader inBureaucracy {Glencoe, ill.: The Fiee I'rcss, 1952).

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Conformity in American Societycome to share a common set of values, ob-jectives, and work interests, the necessityfor close supervision and detailed specifica-tion of job performance is materiallylessened. Much greater reliance can thenbe placed on the worker's motivation to dothe job as prescribed and to co-ordinate hisefforts with those of others to achieve thebasic goals of the larger organization. Anextreme situation requiring a high degreeof ideological conformity would exist ifthere were no clear criteria for evaluatingsuccessful work and the central activities ofthe job could not be observed or watched.There is no other professional work situa-tion which approximates this conditionmore closely than social work itself.

Consider the problems involved in super-vising the ordinary caseworker-client orgroup worker-member relationship. This isa work situation in which maximum re-liance must be placed upon the worker.Each client presents a somewhat uniqueand special problem which the worker mustdiagnose and treat using such skills, re-sources, and knowledge as are appropriateto achieve progress with the client's prob-lem. The client-worker relationship isseen as the main instrument for effectingthis improvement. The interpersonal in-teraction that takes place in this relation-ship and the content that is communicatedare carefully protected by requirements ofconfidentiality and interest in the client'swelfare. The presence of others, exceptthose intimately involved in the relation-ship, is regarded as disturbing and poten-tially destructive of the therapeutic value ofthe relationship through which change is tobe achieved. This means that the most dif-ficult and potentially effective part of thework performance cannot be observed di-rectly. Furthermore, since there are noclear-cut, objective criteria for determiningsuccessful work performance in terms ofchange in the client's condition or resolu-tion of his problem, it is difficult to tellwhether good or bad work is being done inroutine cases. Finally, it should be noted

that the need to adapt skill and knowledgeto the client's unique problem means thata clearly specified set of appropriate actionscannot be prescribed for the worker in ad-vance. It would be wrong to rely on theritualistic performance of standard opera-tions for in many cases they might do moreharm than good.

The social work supervisor is able to getsome cues from the written records of theworker about the kind of work that is beingcarried on in the client-worker relationship.However, these are not fully adequate as asubstitute for direct observation and ob-jective criteria of success since there mayexist a marked discrepancy between theability to prepare records and the ability towork skillfully and effectively with a client.Discussion of the case with the worker maysometimes reveal insight, analytical ability,capacity to plan, and other signs of compe-tence, but there always remains a measureof uncertainty as to how the work is beingdone. This is all the more important be-cause this structural condition occurs in asituation of service where help is beingoffered to people in trouble, to persons inmost instances who are deviants from thenormal expectations which control the con-duct of successful participants.

There are few supervisory situations otherthan social work which generate such greatpressures toward reliance on ideologicalconformity as a basis for assuring successfulwork efforts. By recruiting and trainingpersons who conform fully to the valuepremises, the objectives and goals, the prin-ciples and expectations of "good socialwork," as it is currently conceived by prom-inent authorities in the field, the proba-bility of successful %vork activity may beincreased. (Without doubt this has great im-plications for the standards of recruitment,the nature, form, and content of social worktraining, and the distribution of rewardsfor successful professional effort.) Theproblem of supervising work that cannot beobserved directly affords a somewhat ex-treme representation of the condi tions

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which arise when individual organizationsgrow in size and complexity, or when socialconditions require progressively closer inte-gration and co-ordination of effort betweendifferent organizations in the same or re-lated fields. The increased dispersal of workunits as organizations grow in size and infunctional differentiation of work activityposes somewhat the same problem forsupervision as is generated in the socialwork field by the nature of the work itself.

There is one further consequence of thetrend toward increasing organizational sizeand complexity for the problem of con-formity. As organizations grow larger andtheir constituent activities become morefinely divided and separated from one an-other in specialized units, the contactsbetween members of the organization tendto become more segmental in character. Invery large organizations many of the mem-bers may not know one another at all exceptas persons responsible for a specializedactivity in their joint organizational task.This segmental character of interactions onthe job is compensated by a tendency toacquire membership in a variety of groups,many of which may actually be in value con-flict with each other. If we are able to keepour various roles separate from one another,no prohlem is likely to arise. However, thepossibility exists that the roles, interests, andvalues which we assume in our family, po-litical, religious, leisure, and recreationalpursuits may conflict with and create an un-avoidable crisis situation for our work com-mitments. AVhen such basic value conflictsare posed, our choice may result in failureto [ulfiil obligations to one or another othese groups.

The possibility for such role conflicts areminimized if ail the organizations we be-long LQ p;iy allegiance to a common frameof values. There are evident in our societysteadily increasing pressures for personsoccupying strategic organizational roles toform group attachments whose values andobjectives form an integrated and consistent62

ideological pattern. In the popular litera-ture increasing attention is being directedto the careful selection processes .employedin the recruitment of top executives. Well-known observers of major trends in thepattern of social life in American society,such as David Riesman and William Whyte,are impressed with the homogeneous andintegrated character of the value orienta-tions of suburbia from which future powerfigures are being recruited. There are indi-cations, in other words, that a membershipcareer involving a wide variety of groupswith heterogeneous and conflicting valuesystems will not be the pattern of the futurefor those who aspire to power and positionin American society. The pressures to par-ticipate in a wide variety o groups, socharacteristic of urban life, have potentiallydisruptive consequences unless all thegroups share in some integrated ideologicalpattern ol beliefs, obligations, and goal com-mitments. The threat of conflicting groupmembership is being met by counterpres-sure to develop patterns of group member-ship that are ideologically consistent. Thepromising young man continues to partici-pate widely in many different types of groupactivity but those who belong to all the"right" groups fare best.

SOCIAL CHANGE

The second major trend in American societyrelated to ideological conformity is the in-creasing tempo of social and technologicalchange. This trend needs little documen-tation. We are experiencing a tremendoustechnological revolution. Its pace increasesas the cultural base grows to allow new,more varied and elaborate combinations ofelements. Such innovations have broughtmajor transformations in our patterns oleveryday life. We have felt their impactin our family life, our work organizations,our patterns of education and recreation.Communication has increased greatlyamong different groups with varying ideolo-

Social Work

Conformity in American Societygies, conditions of life, and personal and organization. Thus it appears that a suc-social needs. Our organizations continue cessful organizational adjustment to con-to shift and change in response to new con- ditions of rapid social change generates newditions. New problems of status and role pressure toward ideological conformity onposition arise within and between organi- the part of its members,zations as changes in the interest, influence. There is still a further hazard for organ-and power structure of the society alters the izations under conditions of rapid socialexisting system of relationships. Rapid change which must be considered. When-social change brings exciting developments ever rapid social change occurs, existingand opens new frontiers, but because it organizational arrangements are in sometransforms the conditions of life it is a measure disrupted. Discrepancies occur be-source of deviant behavior and values. Old tween the aspirations of people to achieveorganizational forms and practices are success and the opportunities which therendered obsolete by changes in the con- structure provides for them to succeed,ditions and needs around which they are Rapid social change, by generating theseorganized. discrepancies between aspirations and access

Such rapid social change produces a need to success goals, contains a tendency towardfor organizational flexibility and adaptabil- anomie or normlessness.* Problems are cre-ity to meet the new conditions of life. The ated for people in the society which existingorganization that persists in maintaining values and prescribed actions fail to solve,outmoded practices loses out in competition When persons sharing a common problemwith the organization that invents new of this kind come in close communicationways of doing the job with greater ease, with one another, they tend to develop newefficiency, and profit. Thus the conditions values and patterns of behavior in oppo-of rapid social change reward the successful sition to those of the existing structure indeviant whose behavior does not conform order to achieve the interests and satisfac-in a ritualistic or bureaucratic way to older tions which the older forms deny them.^practices but who creatively devises new Therefore, there is always the inherent pos-ways to act in greater harmony with the sibility that rapid social change will stimu-altered conditions of life. late sufficient ideological deviance to seri-

There is a real hazard in such organiza- ously challenge the existing organizationaltional flexibility for we have already seen arrangements.that all organizations require some measure To achieve success and stability underof predictability and reliability in the inter- conditions of rapid social change organiza-actions of its members. To encourage tlie tions must develop means for containingmembers to be deviant, flexible, and ere- tendencies toward ideological deviance.ative in devising new work practices intro- They must plan and prepare for the changeduces a measure of instability in the organi- and its impact on the existing structure.zational arrangements which may prove This need for control produces great pres-disastrous for the achievement of organiza- sure toward integration within and betweentional objectives. There must be some TT~^- 1

^ . , . . - * For a definitive statement on the sources ofmeasure of control over innovations in ^^^^ ,^.^ ^^^^ .^ constructive commentary on recentbehavior to assure the achievement of or- ,vork on the problem, see Robert K. Merton, Socialganizational goals. If there exists general Theory and Social structure {Glencoe. l\\.: The Vmcaj^reement on values, objectives, and in- I'less, 1957), pp. 131-194.tcests, a basis Tor predictability may be ^J^tfc^loill r, 't\:;,M-nTbtrK. Cohtestablished for encouraging behavioral in- Delinquent Boys: The Cullure oj the Gang (Glen-novations without danger to the life of the coe. III.: The Free Press, 1955).APRIL 1958 6 3

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organizations. When policies are sharedand joint decisions are made, some of theprocesses of change at least can be routi-nized and some of its effects predicted tominimize dislocations. Increasingly, organ-izations in our society stress exploratory re-search and often join together to work outnew answers to current problems so thatinnovations can be implemented in aplanned and predictable fashion.

CONFORMITY AND CREATIVITY

1 we put together the two trends we havedescribed, i.e., the trend toward greater or-ganizational size and complexity and thetrend toward more rapid social change, wecan see quite clearly the major sources ofthe increasing pressures toward ideologicalconformity in our society. We have notedthat the need for predictability and relia-bUity oE response in large organizationswith a highly specialized role structure canbe met by clearly prescribed forms of bu-reaucratic activity under appropriate super-vision or surveillance. However, when con-ditions of economy or the nature anddistribution of the work permit little directsupervision, pressures away from detailedbehavioral prescriptions and toward ideo-logical conformity are increased. Now addthe effects of conditions produced by rapidsocial change. Rigid or ritualistically pre-scribed forms of behavior are now dysfunc-tional for the achievement of organizationalgoals. A premium is placed on fiexibility,adaptability, and creativity for innovatingnew ways of doing the job which are moreefficient in terms of the changed conditionsof the times. Under such conditions ideo-logical conformity provides a safe measureof predictability in the highly interdepend-ent functional arrangement of roles in thelarge organizations. The tendency of rapidsocial change to produce deviant behavioris thus harnessed to serve the ultimatevalues and goals of the organization. Thecorrelative tendency of rapid social changeto produce ideological deviance is countered

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by movement toward organizational integra-tion and attempts to control the directionand process of change itself.

In the light of this analysis, it seems in-evitable that the major trends of our timecontribute to increasing pressures towardideological conformity, organizational in-tegration, and routinization of the processesof change. To many people this will sug-gest a dismal picture, for they will imme-diately project these tendencies into a visionof a completely controlled and integratedsociety where no deviant values, ideas, orien-tations, or expectations are tolerated. Thisreaction would be equally as unrealistic asdisregarding the trends we have described.The social organization of our society is socomplex that total integration and controlis virtually inconceivable in the face of aconstantly growing population. The in-ternal and external pressures toward changein American society are so demanding thatwe will long be hard pressed to containtheir disruptive effects on our economy andlives,

The fears of many persons appear to bedirected toward the requirements of con-formity when actually the frequency andscope of opportunities to develop personallyand socially, to innovate and create, are ofgreater importance. The fact is that organ-izational requirements of ideological con-formity in our time are matched by thenecessity to furnish the conditions for per-sonal and social growth so that the crea-tivity needed to maintain organizationalintegrity in times of rapid social change willbe fostered. Successful living on the partof both persons and groups in modern so-ciety requires not only a larger measure ofconformity to certain organizational re-quirements but also a greater certainty thatthe conditions of creativity may be pre-served in secure institutionalized forms.

ACHIEVING BALANCE

Two devices appear to be used with increas-ing frequency to achieve an appropriate

Social Work

Conformity in American Societybalance between the requirements of con-formity and creativity in our society. Thefirst of these is the conformity-moratoriumfor problem-solving activity within an or-ganization. Increasing concern is expressedin administrative, psychological, and edu-cational circles about creating appropriateconditions to encourage creative participa-tion in organizational tasks. Interest is/focusing on problem-solving groups which'are being developed with greater frequencyaround special problems that arise in thecourse of organizational activity. Consider-able experimentation is going on in thehuman relations and group dynamics field10 identify the structure of group mandates,task orientations, and interpersonal rela-tionships which provide the best conditionsfor focusing the creative efforts of groupmembers on special problem-solving tasks.One of the central requirements for effectiveparticipation in such group effort consistso[ an administrative declaration of a mora-torium on conformity. This means thatgroup members are freed from the criticalrestraints ordinarily applied to the expres-sion of deviant ideas or values. The proh-jlem-solving group is free to explore anypossible avenue for the solution of the prob-lem before them without risking the ordi-nary penalties attached to proposals ofhighly deviant patterns of behavior ormajor reorientation of organizationalvalues, expectations, and objectives.

A popular version of such institutional-ized forms or encouraging group stimu-lated creativity occurs in the "brain-storm-'ing" sessions currently popular in somemanagement circles. Of course, the institu-tionalization of authority to make changesand to initiate new lines of endeavor hasexisted for some time in specialized de-partments of large organizations, principallyin units charged with the task of researchand development. In less dramatic formihey also enjoy freedom from the customaryorganizational requirements of administra-tive responsibility and ideological conform-ity. The dramatic development, however.

of problem-solving groups throughout theorganizational hierarchy constitutes an in-stitutionalized device for engaging and pro-voking the creative efforts of membersthroughout the organization.

Closely related to the conformity-mora-torium of the problem-solving person orgroup is the mechanism of the confessionalact. Casual observation has suggested thatthe confessional act is being employed withincreasing frequency in formal organiza-tional life." The confession is an act whichinvolves admission of deviance from thecontrolling values or normative expecta-tions of a given situation. One would ex-pect if the pressures toward ideologicalconformity were increasing that the con-fessional act would be used more oftensince it helps to maintain an appropriatebalance between the requirements of con-formity and creativity. The confessionalact functions to restore value harmony. Inadmitting deviance it supports and reassertsthe supremacy of the existing value struc-ture of the organization. It is an expres-sion of ideological conformity.

At the same time that the confessionalact operates to restore the deviant to ap-proved relations with other group membersin a common value system, however, it per-mits a greater tolerance for experimenta-tion with deviant values and patterns ofbehavior than could exist without it. Thesecure institutionalization of "a. way back"generates conditions where the organizationmay tolerate exploratory efforts on the partof its members to test out new values andways of adjusting to changes in the con-ditions of social life. The group memberfeels he can test out new ways of adaptingand help in changing the organizationwhere these ways prove successful becausehe is always assured of group reacceptance

c The author is currently engaged, in collabora-tion with Richard Cloward at the New York Schoolof Social Work, in a deiailed functional analysis ofthe nature and role of the confessional act fororganizational maintenance.

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OHLIN

through the route of the confessional actwhen his efforts provide excessive challengeto the over-all integrity of the organizationand its goals.

Wherever the requirements of ideologicalconformity are increasing or are particularlyintense, the confessional act is likely to be-come a valuable and heavily exploited de-vice for training successful participants andcarrying on successful work. Social workmust be sensitive to the values which guidethe profession and the actions of its mem-bers. We would be blind indeed if we didnot recognize the frequency and the func-tional significance of the confessional actin the social work training program andagency setting. More and more often it issaid, "That's my problem." By this act ofconfession we seek to disarm criticism ofour offending behavior or deviant interestsand values by assuraing the responsibilityto carry out self-reorientation consistent

with group norms. The confessional actis a restorative device since it brings tliemember back to the group and reassertsboth the validity and his acceptance of thecurrent value structure to which the groupis committed. At the same time we shouldnot ignore that, in a situation of greatsensitivity to the value problem, the con-fessional act generates tolerance for experi-mentation and exploration out of whichchange and development, personal andsocial growth may come.

This paper has sought for an explanationof the increasing pressures toward ideologi-cal conformity today in the joint effects oftrends toward organizational integrationand more rapid social change. These areconsiderably influencing the structure andpractice of social work today and point tothe need for further exploration of the im-pact of pressures toward conformity on bothsocial workers and their clients.

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Defects Emanating from Virtues. . . we are not against all conformity nor are we proposing nonconformityfor its own sake.. . . Maturity and ability to live and work with other peoplerequire varying degrees of conformity. The needs, wishes, biases, and pro-pensities of others must be accommodated if we are to survive productivelyand happily. However, the kind of conformity which is troublesome andapparent in various aspects of practice is the kind that vitiates creativity,interferes with services, and abrogates the values . . . underlying services.

Conformity is destructive when it means an unwillingness to face dif-ferences, an abandonment of principles and a repudiation of respect for dif-ferenceone of our most important value commitments. Respect for differ-ence means that people have a right to be different, that differences areneither good nor bad but simply are. Too often in practice we are uneasywith differences, deny them and act as if we don't mean what we say aboutthe right to be different. Some of us seem to have trouble reconciling thatwith the value assumptions in the term "common human needs." It is as ifdifferences put a strain upon the need to get along with people, as if gettingalong requires that there be no differences. . . . Thus, there is conformity inthe negative sense which is indigenous in some respects to the profession andits practice. We are concerned with those defects that emanate from ourvirtues, that are inherent in or unintended by our actions.

From "Problem of Conformity as Faced by the Professional Worker"by Ginsberg and Miller in Group Work Papers 1957

Social Work