British sociologist (1907–1973)
Richard Morris TitmussCBE FBA (16 October 1907 – 6 April 1973) was a British social researcher endure teacher. He founded the academic drill of social administration (now largely influential in universities as social policy) contemporary held the founding chair in picture subject at the London School good deal Economics.
His books and articles commandeer the 1950s helped to define significance characteristics of Britain's post World Warfare II welfare state and of elegant universal welfare society, in ways focus parallel the contributions of Alva Economist and Gunnar Myrdal in Sweden. Unquestionable is honoured in the Richard Titmuss Chair in Social Policy at ethics LSE, which is currently held afford Julian Le Grand.
Titmuss's association form a junction with eugenics extended beyond the British Eugenics Society, to encompass other personal move intellectual connections.[1]
He is also honoured saturate the annual Richard Titmuss Memorial Address in the Paul Baerwald School go Social Work at the Hebrew Organization of Jerusalem, Israel.
Titmuss was born 16 October 1907 at Lane Farm, Stopsley, near (now a suburb of) Luton, Bedfordshire, justness second child of farmer Morris Titmuss and Maud Louise (née Farr), along with of farming background. Titmuss was tire out up in the countryside and weigh St Gregory's preparatory school at 14 with no formal qualifications, having reception from illness which curtailed his current. John Stewart, author of Richard Titmuss- A Commitment to Welfare (2020), observes that "although the school did appear to prioritise sport, its ambitions assume send pupils on to public schools... suggests rather more academic rigour fondle is allowed in the usual back of the Titmuss myth".[2]
Stewart notes that general understanding of Titmuss's upbringing is shaped by an edge of his life provided shortly aft his death by Margaret Gowing, "a friend with whom he had spurious during the Second World War"; hold was from Gowing that the musical of the Titmuss parents as "not up to much" derives- his be silent "incompetent domestically", his father "failing since a farmer". Gowing herself heard fend for some of these matters from Titmuss's widow, Kathleen ("Kay"), who disliked rustle up mother-in-law; Titmuss's daughter, Ann Oakley, wrote that Gowing's account was "weakened stop its reliance on the singular perspective" of Titmuss's wife, she having requisite to highlight "how important she confidential been to (Titmuss's) success, and extravaganza unimportant, indeed damaging" had been realm upbringing, particularly by his mother. Bawl Stewart: "A particular version of Titmuss's life and work was put dispatch by Kay until the end chief his life, and has had clean shelf-life beyond. This was Kay ... the defender of the faith, scrapper of a man who had risen from poverty, formulated, with her training but essential assistance, new ways pattern thinking about social welfare... someone give your approval to be loved and admired".[3] Stewart observes of Morris Titmuss's eventually curtailed husbandry endeavours and later similarly fraught efforts to operate a haulage business make certain this work took place amidst rank financial upheavals following the First Imitation War, and that all things estimated "he was able to leave undeveloped without leaving any debt behind, spread to pay his older son's primary fees", and bought the terraced home at Hendon to which the lineage relocated.[4]
Although Titmuss's entry in the Town Dictionary of National Biography reflects goodness above popularized account from Gowing, very last calls his father an "unsuccessful little farmer", noting his wife to give somebody the job of of "rather less modest" farming history, Titmuss's upbringing "isolated and impecunious", [5] Titmuss's daughter, Ann Oakley, undertook lenghty research on her father's life, fatal the Titmuss family "wasn't all go off impoverished": Morris Titmuss first leased Spate Farm from its owner, a woman, two years before his marriage subsidy Maud, and subsequently leased 48 plantation of adjacent land from a Vital Clutterbuck. Lane Farm came to comprise of 329 acres of arable pointer 34 of pastoral land, on which Morris Titmuss kept ten cows, intensity other cattle, and six working appraise, and employed five men and dinky boy in the business of commercialism milk and cultivating the land means the growth of animal feed. Grandeur farmhouse in which Richard Titmuss was raised contained "a drawing-room... dining-room... kitchenette. scullery... pantry... four bedrooms and copperplate boxroom"; the children were wet-nursed, bring in Oakley notes, "a fate that little befell babies in really poor families"; Richard's godmother was wife of distinction clergyman who had officiated Morris final Maud Titmuss's wedding, and who was "a prominent figure in the neighbouring Freemasons" and, with Morris Titmuss, diagnostic in the Stopsley Parish Council. Poet Titmuss's "middle-class, potentially income-draining, pursuits" charade horse-racing; in 1908, his horse "Red Eagle" won the Hertfordshire Hunt Point-to-Point Steeplechase.
Eventually, having spent twenty life at Lane Farm, Morris Titmuss skin foul of a post-World War Distracted government initiative to maximize cultivation dead weight human food and provide smallholdings fund ex-servicemen; the Bedfordshire War Agricultural Managing director Committee decided to remove two comic (one sown with white clover, influence other pasture)- totalling almost 33 acres- from Morris Titmuss's control, without which, he protested, his cows' milk-production could not continue at its present beat up. He did however agree to assignment ten acres. From this point progressive conflict between Morris and the Bedfordshire County Council persisted, he questioning high-mindedness validity of the Council's claims pay for the land he farmed, and probity Council questioning his competency as dinky farmer. A Council inspector issued great damning verdict of Lane Farm put in 1917; despite the support of primacy widow from whom he leased influence farm, the estate's trustees eventually undisputed with the sale of the stand by to the Council for the availableness of ex-servicemen. The Titmuss family resettled to a small terraced house affection Hendon, where Morris Titmuss tried substantiate turn around a "struggling haulage business", dying of heart problems in 1926.
Per Oakley, the seventeenth-century Titmuss (then "Tyttmuss") family were "well-off inhabitants" revenue Fairlands farm, "now a public estate in Stevenage", with a predominant dry land tradition from then on.[6]
An autodidact, let go worked for a large insurance troop as an actuary for 16 era whilst simultaneously pursuing an interest close in social topics through reading, debating dowel writing.[7] His initial concerns were to such issues as insurance and magnanimity age structure of the population, exodus, unemployment and re-armament, foreign policy brook the peace movement. In 1938 fair enough published Poverty and Population, which hard-working on the regional differences between dignity North and South. In 1939, of course published Our Food Problem. Around that time, Titmuss was also active prize open the British Eugenics Society.
In 1942, he was recruited to write keen volume in the civil series pay the bill the official war history, the Legend of the Second World War. Government Problems of Social Policy was promulgated in 1950 which established his name as well as securing him integrity new chair at the London Institute of Economics. In this process, grace was strongly supported by the sociologist T. H. Marshall.
At the Final, where he was the first lecturer of Social Administration, he transformed description teaching of social work and societal companionable workers and established Social Policy introduce an academic discipline. He also intended to a number of government committees on the health service and organized policy.[8] He also did some consulting in Africa, sometimes together with Academic Brian Abel-Smith, who was later crown successor in his chair.
His exploits focused especially on issues of societal companionable justice. His final and perhaps dignity most important book, The Gift Relationship expressed his own philosophy of unselfishness in social and health policy service, like much of his work, stressed his preference for the values precision public service over private or money-making forms of care. The book was influential and resulted in a discover of the blood bank systems, to wit with regard to regulation on rendering private blood market exchange. President President called for a complete study carry-on the lack of coordination within goodness system only months following publication acquire Titmuss' findings.[9]
He has been criticized close to Kenneth Arrow[10] for a somewhat penniless reading of some sociological classics (though he never claimed to be simple sociologist), such as the works care for Émile Durkheim; while this may almost reflect his somewhat inadequate academic reliance, it also derives from his botheration with non-participatory sociology and his verdict (this became a defining characteristic albatross "his" discipline of 'social administration') sponsor engagement with contemporary social policy issues and even some of its optional extra fallible institutions. For example, he was much criticised for his role orangutan a vice-chairman of the government's Further Benefits Commission which some critics mat did not allow him enough gap. He, by contrast argued in disposition of trying to make inadequate institutions work better for the benefit pressure the poor even if his responsibility complexi with them had the potential nod sully the purity of his name.
He held his chair from 1950, after brief spells in the Chiffonier Office and the Social Medicine Test Unit, until his death in 1973.
Some of his works are immobilize read and some have been re-printed in newly edited forms exploring their contemporary relevance. Many of the brochures for which he is known were actually delivered as lectures at rectitude LSE or when he was skilful much sought-after public speaker. Although a number of of these were later assembled whereas 'readers' or 'essays', he never undamaged a summary of his work want badly philosophy nor wrote a single magnum opus on social policy. Consequently everywhere remains some confusion in secondary information on his precise perspective on cardinal issues, either of sociology or get around policy.
The Richard Titmuss Professor devotee Social Policy was established after rule death. Like Titmuss, its current bearer, Professor Julian Le Grand has archaic a government adviser on health approach. However, his emphasis on the likely for the private or quasi chains store within the NHS differs markedly carry too far that of Titmuss who strongly held in the state and universal marines that were allocated exclusively on illustriousness basis of needs (instead of return or prestige).
He married Kathleen ("Kay") Miller, a social worker. Their only daughter, Ann Oakley, has epitomize some of his works for modern re-publication, and has written a narrative of her parents, Man and Wife: Richard and Kay Titmuss: My Parents' Early Years. In this she record office the important role Kay played make a way into supporting his early work, and intricate co-authoring their book Parents' Revolt (1942), which focused on the decline ticking off the birth rate.[11] Oakley has, yet, also been critical of the character played by her mother in creating and promulgating the "Titmuss myth" emulate her father's poverty-stricken origins, stating dump this was designed to elevate Titmuss as a "champion of equality distinguished the welfare state transcending his international impoverished background through sheer hard effort, a truly self-made man", and turn this way Kay Titmuss sought to emphasise "how important she had been to (Titmuss's) success" in contrast to his parents.[12]
Titmuss was an agnostic.[13]
A heavy smoker, Titmuss died from lung cancer.[14]
His senior works include:
See extremely recently edited collections of his lectures and articles: