The Knowledge Base of Social Work Practice: Theory, Wisdom, Analogue, or Art?

Abstract

Lured by the promise of the scientific method, social work turned away from its own foundations of practice wisdom and therefore has not entirely succeeded in developing its own value base, theories, and methods. A historical overview traces the tendency to accumulate theories that are, in many ways, alien to the profession's original mission. An alternative approach is proposed based on the combination of practice wisdom, the humanities, and the contributions of the emerging interpretive human sciences.