Thoughts on the Use of Knowledge in Social Work Practice

The quest for making social work a discipline based entirely on empirical research findings is not new. In this arti-cle, the authors briefly review the field of social work in the United States during the past 100 years and discuss how the quest for the status of a profession forced the emphasis on empirical research. However, the authors claim that now and in the past, social work is a most complex field and that many of its basic ingredients are inherently difficult to study. They conclude this article, with a call for social work to continue stressing the “science ” side by enhancing careful evidence-based practice, does not hamper the field from evolving and from practitioners using the “art ” side of social care