are charitable
either for the sake of our souls or else to gratify our own emotions.
In the second, we are charitable for the sake of the individual poor
man. In the third, we are charitable for the sake of the class to
which he belongs.

Of the dangers of indiscriminate relief, it should not be necessary to
speak, for much has been written on that subject; but the dangers of
individual and social service have not been so frequently pointed out.
These two forms of service are very closely related. It is impossible
to treat the individual poor man without affecting the condition of his
fellows for better or worse, and it is impossible to deal with social
conditions without affecting the units that compose society. The
problems of poverty must be attacked from both sides, therefore, and
though I shall dwell particularly upon individual service in these
pages, we should remember that, unless this service is supplemented by
the work of good citizens, who shall strive to make our cities
healthier and freer from temptation, our school system more {7}
thorough and practical, and our public charities more effective, unless
this public work also is pushed forward, our individual work in the
homes of the poor will be largely in vain.

I have said that there were dangers in both forms of service. In work
with individual poor families we are likely to forget that these are
part of a neighborhood and community, and that we have no right to help
them in a way that will work harm to the community. We are always
inclined to think that the particular family in which we are interested
is an "exceptional case," and the exceptional treatment lavished upon
our exceptional case often rouses in a neighborhood hopes that it is
impossible for us to fulfil. Then, too, occupied as we are with
individuals, we are likely to exaggerate the importance of those causes
of poverty that have their origin in the individual. We are likely to
over emphasize the moral and mental lacks shown in bad personal habits,
such as drunkenness and licentiousness, in thriftlessness, laziness, or
inefficiency; and some of us are even rash enough to attribute all the
ills of the poor to drink or laziness. On the other hand, those {8}
who are engaged in social service often exaggerate the causes of
poverty that are external to the individual. Bad industrial conditions
and defective legislation seem to them the causes of nearly all the
distress around them. Se