CAUSE OF SOME FAILURES IN THE WORK OF THE UNITED CHARITIES OF CHICAGO.

Good will and good wishes do not necessarily mean success in dealing with maladjusted families. To save a family from disaster is a delicate task in social engineering. In order to secure a "rounded view of the client's life," the case worker must often search through an intricate and involved maze of facts that seem contradictory. She must bring to her search for the truth a scientific attitude and an analytical quality of mind. The facts secured must be organized and interpreted, the essential separated from unessential until the pattern of the life being studied, stands out clearly. In reading the records of the families studied, it was often impossible to determine the cause of failure to take some measure which, it seemed reasonable to suppose, might have been of service to the family. In general the following plan was used in making a judgment as to the cause of failure: If the record showed attempts to get at the true cause of the situation and to take measures to remove it, failures and omissions were attributed to lack of time.