Chapter 10 Contemporary Issues in Social Work

What Is an “Issue”? Something unresolved that merits attention A topic about different and often contested views that people hold A topic that is relational and arbitrary Issues in this chapter are interrelated topics with continuing implications for social work: Postmodernism/social construction; Globalization; Evidence-Based Practice; Ethics; the Process of Professionalization

Modernism/Postmodernism Social Construction/Globalization Enlightenment origins (approximately 18th Century) Belief in reason, progress, and human perfection Seeks truth through rational science to solve social problems and ill Postmodernism/Social Construction Arose out of disillusionment with modernist beliefs Rejects all singular narratives in favor of multiplicity – e.g. “truths” not “Truth” – and “Science” as the sole producer of truths Globalization A discourse: A way of understanding and talking about the world and its people as complex and fully interrelated Four interdependent forms: environmental, cultural, economic, security (Healy, 2008)

Evidence-Based Practice Modernist: lodged in “science.” Emerged in current form in field of medicine Defined as: “the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients” (Sackett et al., 1996, p. 71) Originally, “top-down” and “bottom-up” (clinical practice evidence plus professional expertise); co-opted in social work as only top-down hierarchical ordering of research methods and exacerbated by managerial principles of accountability for performance outcomes. Tends to ignore social and political factors Contrasted by participatory, client/consumer-involved approaches and research methods that see “evidence” as a social construction Consonant with social work values of social justice, inclusion, and mutuality

Rules/Universal Principles Ethics Modernist view–perspectives on moral conduct. Action guided by: Problems: Who decides? Whose action views are suppressed? Postmodern view (communicative or dialogical ethics): Ethics are constructed through language in historical context and always are provisional and open to negotiation. Consequences Rules/Universal Principles Personal Attributes

Professionalization Ongoing problems: Contextual challenges: Shift from moral to scientific basis of knowledge and discourse Inability to define “unique” disciplinary niche Erosion of confidence in authorities and experts versus desire to retain control, exclusivity and monopoly over education, research, and practice Contextual challenges: Education: lodging in academic institutions with “disciplines” and accreditation “standards” Research: must hew to “science” to get funding; marginalizes or extinguishes other forms of inquiry Practice: managerial accountability versus professional expertise that guides, if not mandates clinical/practice decisions