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Pioneering Contributions
The pioneering efforts of William H. “Bill” Butterfield, PhD, MSW, comprise three areas. These are behavioral social work, computers and social work, and homelessness research.
Behavioral social work comprised much of the focus of Dr. Butterfield's early research and service. He authored several articles on behavioral social work, at a time when such practice was an emerging modality. His involvement as the editor of Behavioral Engineering from 1972-1986 draws on his “sideline” of interest in engineering and later shows up in his contributions to the then innovative and progressive idea of computers and technology in social work. Later, he served as Guest Editor of the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry (1978-1979), and on several editorial boards, including Behavior Group Therapy (1983-1988), Behavioral Medicine Abstracts (1983-1985), Social Work Research and Abstracts (1986; 1989-1994), and Computers in Human Services (1992-2012), where he also served as Software Review Editor from 1987-1992, and Software Reviewer for NASW in 1997.
While working to promote behavioral social work may seem mundane in 2024, one has to go back to the 1970s-1990s and realize that personal computers were just being marketed to the public, academics included about 1990. The use of email started to become more common in business, government, universities, and defense/military industries at that time, but the Internet as we know it was not well-developed. Although it is hard to imagine today in 2024, the idea of the use of computers in social work was extremely controversial. Can one imagine such titles today for journal articles as “Computers as practice research tools” in Social Work Research and Abstracts (1988), or “Computer applications in social work” as an entry in the Encyclopedia of Social Work (1995). Certainly, Dr. Butterfield was ahead of his time in writing “Artificial intelligence” in Computers in Human Services (1988). Now, 36 years, and a generation later, the big question facing social work is AI, artificial intelligence! Dr. Butterfield is a pioneer in his work in advocating for and raising the issue of computers and technology in social work. Based on research in this area, he published a groundbreaking piece entitled “Computers in social work and social welfare: issues and perspectives” in the Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare in 1986. At the same time, he developed the first social work course in an MSW program in the United States, “Computer Applications in Social Work” at Washington University in St. Louis.
Butterfield was one of the earliest researchers in social work to focus on homeless families and the growing development of shelter-based services to house them. His work stemmed largely from his long-time volunteer involvement with the Salvation Army, grew from his interest in computers and social work, and found application in the St. Louis City-funded Homeless Services Network. Originally, Butterfield's task was to develop a database that would set up the ability of service providers to refer homeless families to existing beds in more than 20 shelters. He involved doctoral students in this work, and as a result, he mentored several students and positioned them at the forefront of homeless service development and delivery. At the time, the computerized network that Butterfield developed won a $100,000 award for the City of St. Louis from the Harvard University/Ford Foundation “Innovation in State and Local Governments” in 1990, and first place honors from the U.S. Conference of Mayors as the only city appropriating general revenue funds for homeless services. Several journal articles have been published about this innovative use of computerized technology in homeless services, including the 1995 longitudinal studies such as “Predictors of permanent housing for homeless families.” In summary, the computerized development of a database and process for referring homeless families to shelter made the City of St. Louis a national leader in the development of a Continuum of Care for services to homeless families.
Career Highlights
Butterfield graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1960 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Special Education. From 1960 to 1966, he worked as a Probation Officer at the Maricopa County Juvenile Probation Department in Phoenix, Arizona. There he had his first exposure to the need for behavioral social work. Boys in juvenile detention did not have any access to continue their education. Noting this, Butterfield started a school within the Probation Department and was appointed as Director of Educational Services in 1966-1967. He co-authored an article on the use of behavioral methods in teaching juveniles to read (Staats & Butterfield, 1965). While there, he saw an ad, in the Journal Federal Probation, about doctoral education scholarships at the University of Michigan. He decided to apply, not knowing much about social work or the stellar reputation of the University of Michigan. He was accepted and stepped into a tremendous opportunity to work with some of the leading behavioralist social workers of the time, including Edwin J. Thomas and Sheldon D. Rose. In August 1971, with Edwin Thomas and Eileen Gambrill, Bill holds Patent #3600826: A signal system for the assessment and modification of behavior.
Working with these and other behavioralists, Butterfield obtained an MSW at the University of Michigan in 1968 with a specialization in administration and group work. At the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies, he obtained a dual PhD in Social Work and Psychology in 1970. In social work, he specialized in organizational theory, and in psychology, experimental psychology, emphasizing theories of learning and behavioral interventions. Butterfield joined the University of Wisconsin in 1970 as an Assistant Professor. In 1973, he was recruited by Dean Ronald Feldman as Assistant Dean for Administration at the Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis. From 1973, Butterfiled served in a variety of administrative roles, including Associate Dean, PhD Program Chairperson, and Associate Professor. He retired in July 1996.
Notable in Butterfield's career is his service to local, state, and national organizations, particularly behavioral social work and NASW including: Member, Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy Committee on Medical Devices, 1974-1978; Member, Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy Committee on The Ethics of Behavior Control, 1974-1979; Member, Biofeedback Research Society Instrumentation Committee, 1976-1978; Chairperson, Program Committee and Executive Board Member St. Louis Unit NASW, 1976-1978; Alternate to NASW Delegate Assembly, 1977 and 1979; Treasurer, Social Work Group for the Study of Behavioral Methods, 1977-1979; Vice Chairperson and Executive Board Member, St. Louis Program Unit NASW, 1978-1980; Treasurer Missouri Chapter NASW, 1977-1980, 1982-1984; President, Social Work Group for the Study of Behavior Methods, 1979-1981; Board member, Missouri Chapter NASW, 1980-1981; Elected member, NASW Delegate Assembly 1980-1984; President, Missouri Chapter NASW, 1985-1987; Co-chairperson Missouri Chapter; Vice President for Practice Advancement, Ohio NASW Chapter, 1997-1999. In particular, his national NASW service included Board member National Association of Social Workers' Legal Defense Service 1989-1991, and the NASW Committee on Inquiry regarding complaints of ethical violations from 1993-1996. He argued for openness in ethical review panel discussion in Butterfield (1996).
Biographic Information
Butterfield was born on November 11, 1935 in Worland, Wyoming. He attended rural schools until his family sold their ranch and moved to Spearfish, South Dakota so Bill could attend high school. He joined the South Dakota National Guard in 1953 and studied engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines. Deciding that he wanted to see the world, he joined the Navy in 1954 and was selected for officer training in the U.S. Navy Reserve Officers Training Program from 1955-1960. He was one of only a few enlisted men that were selected for officer training. As part of his Navy assignment, he was sent to the University of Nebraska where he obtained a B.S. in Special Education in 1960. By the end of his Navy training, Butterfield expected to be commissioned as a naval officer, but to his surprise, the Navy had changed the physical requirements for commissioning and he was told that he no longer eligible for commissioning and would complete his naval service as an enlisted person. Not taking this for an answer, he “walked around the corner” to the U.S. Army Reserve Recruiting Station where the Army happily commissioned him as a 1st Lieutenant. Butterfield served in the U.S, Army Reserve for 33 years, and retired as a Lt. Colonel in 1989. For most of that time, he worked as a social worker in hospitals on U.S. Army bases.
Butterfield's lengthy list of civic leadership and service includes long-time service to state and national NASW. He volunteered as Treasurer and Membership Director for Association for Community Organization and Social Action from 1997-2018; Treasurer First United Methodist Church, Lansing, Illinois 2014 – Present; and Treasurer Boy Scout of America Troop 185, Park Forest, Illinois 2018 – Present.
Significant Recognition And Awards
- The Leon Levitz Annual Award for the most significant contribution toward the solution of the juvenile delinquency problem, Maricopa County, Arizona, 1966.
- Elected to Sigma XI, the Scientific Research Society of North America, 1975.
- Certificate of Appreciation for Exemplary Service to the Profession, St. Louis NASW Program Unit, 1984.
- Certificate of Appreciation for Exemplary Service to the Profession, Missouri Chapter of NASW, 1984.
- Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Dedication and Administrative Service, Association for Community Organization and Social Action (ACOSA), 2018.
Significant Publications
- Staats, A., & Butterfield, W. (1965). Treatment of non-reading in a culturally deprived juvenile delinquent: An application of reinforcement principles. Child Development, 5, 925-942.
- Butterfield, W. (1986). Computers in social work and social welfare: Issues and perspectives. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 13, 5-26.
- Butterfield, W., (1988). Artificial intelligence. Computers in Human Services, 3, 23-35. https://doi.org/10.1300/J407v03n01_03
- Butterfield, W. H., (1993). Graphics in L. Beebe (Ed) Professional Writing for the Human Services. Washington D. C.: NASW Press.
- Rocha, C., Johnson, A., McChesney, K., & Butterfield, W. (1995). Predictors of permanent housing for homeless families. Families in Society. The Journal of Contemporary Human Services, 77, 50-57.
- Butterfield, W. (1996). Should the findings of ethics hearings be released to the public? In E. Gambrill & R. Pruger (Eds.) Controversial Issues in Social Work: Ethics, Values and Obligations. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
- Butterfield, W. H. (1998). Human services and the information economy. Computers in Human Services, 15(2/3), 121-142.
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