Social Work and the Convergence of Politics and Science

The development of the human services professions has become intertwined with the use of scientific inquiry. To some extent, the use of science has provided a means of legitimating social work and related professions. At the same time, the political conservatism and contraction of resources in recent years have led to an emphasis on the monitoring of social interventions. As a result, a particular ideology about science and objectivity has emerged during the past quarter century. Science as systematic monitoring and as an evaluation strategy became a valued tool embedded in a larger set of values and assumptions. The introduction of selected scientific processes for monitoring the social services occurred in a climate of clear preferences concerning desirable and not-so-desirable populations, problems, and program strategies. Concerns about the influence of the political and cultural context within which human services are provided diminished, due to a belief that evaluation as a scientific process introduced objectivity. Yet when scientific inquiry and methodology are applied outside such a context, the picture they provide is incomplete. Key words: politics; professionalism; science; technology; values In recent years, social work has developed an affinity for scientific inquiry. Yet social work is more than a science, because the profession is value oriented. Not only is it value oriented, but it is also influenced by the political context in which it operates. Forces in the larger society such as po-litical and fiscal conservatism have pushed for a monitoring of social work. Concomitantly, forces within the profession itself have pushed for a test-ing of interventions and theories. Both sets of forces have resulted in the convergence of scien-tific inquiry and professionalism. With such a convergence of forces, critical questions and goals have been lost sight of. This article focuses on the social work profession and its possible association with scientific inquiry, technology, and values; the political and cultural context and the use of in-quiry; and the relationship between inquiry and professional development