Download Building Social Work Knowledge: Some Issues

Building Social Work Knowledge: Some Issues
B. VIJAYALAKSHMI
This article addresses issues and concerns specific to building social work
knowledge and concludes with the need for indigenous social work knowledge.
In the course of the article the author touches upon the very need for knowledge,
the nature of social work knowledge, problems in borrowing knowledge from
other disciplines and the precautions to be taken, It also discusses the failure for
the social work profession to develop a knowledge base, the role of research in
knowledge building, development of new knowledge and sources of knowledge
transfer.
Prof. B. Vijayalakshmi is Director, Centre for Women's Studies, Andhra
University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India.
There is an embarrassingly rich literature that details what the
social worker needs to know, do, and feel. But that knowledge is not
organized in a manner that allows one to readily specify what one
will need to know about what. Thus, no where will you find a book
on all knowledge necessary for social work practice."
Kadushin, cited from Compton and Galaway, 1979: 43
Knowledge, no sooner grasped leaps forward again to excite new
pursuit, and this is both the gratification and frustration of trying to
work on problems-in-change.
Perlman, 1957: 27
INTRODUCTION
As social work believes in dealing with human beings as a whole, the
type of knowledge needed by it becomes varied, making its base
multi-disciplinary. This type of knowledge, it is felt, would enable the
social workers to take care of the problems related to the various aspects of social functioning of human beings. According to Siporin
(1975:93),
social work knowledge is knowledge that is known, or needs to be
known, by social workers for their use in effective social work
74 B. Vijayalakshmi
practice. It is essentially the knowledge about the world, man, and
society. Such knowledge is selected, developed and applied
because it is believed that it can help achieve social work purposes
and realize social work functions. The formation of such
knowledge is guided also by social work values, and by feed back
from practice experience and research.
This explanation of social work knowledge indicates three aspects,
that is, the purpose of social work knowledge, the nature of the knowledge and the dynamic nature of the knowledge base of social work.
NEED FOR KNOWLEDGE
For social workers to be truly effective, they need to be constantly
asking why. It is this quest for understanding about, why situations
arise, why people react in certain ways, and why particular interventions might be utilised, that theoretical knowledge informs practice
(Coulshed and Orme, 1998). And here knowledge plays an important
role in the accreditation of any profession. A profession is distinguished by its ability to train its students to acquire knowledge and
skills and integrate them into practice (Devi Prasad, 1997: 245). The
competence of a professional depends upon the expert use of knowledge, skills and language specific to that profession. Further, theoretical knowledge helps the social workers in dealing with people who
have problems by providing insights into the causative factors of a situation. This, in turn, facilitates the much-needed interventions.
According to Polansky (cited from Siporin, 1975: 102),
the function of knowledge in social work is to increase the
practitioner's ability to exercise conscious and deliberate mastery
over his environment... it assists getting things done to the extent
that it makes possible, dependable and precise predictions... it is an
essential convenience to derive one's predictions from general
dynamic principles ... A social worker's action may be said to be
'scientifically based' to the extent that they are derived from such
general principles.
Thus, there is a close relationship between theoretical knowledge
and practice in social work.
Nature of Social Work Knowledge
As human functioning occurs in the context of interpersonal relationships and the social environment, the problems that people bring to
social workers are enormously complex in their etiology, ongoing
Building Social Work Knowledge: Some Issues
75
dynamics, and consequences. This required the profession to have
dual emphasis on both the person and environment, and focus on the
changing social needs, new knowledge from other disciplines, and
technological advancements. 'Further, the dual goals (of the profession) i.e., of improving societal institutions and assisting clients
within their social and cultural milieu has lead to the mining of concepts from different disciplines' (Greene and Ephross, 1991:10). The
multidisciplinary knowledge, thus acquired, enabled the social workers to have a comprehensive understanding of human functioning.
Much has been written on the content of the knowledge base of social work (for example, Khinduka, 1987; Siporin, 1975; Thomas,
1967). The knowledge base, mostly, consisted of the knowledge
drawn from sociology, psychology, economics, political science, and
anthropology. Also, philosophy, ethics and jurisprudence are considered as significantly contributing to the knowledge base of social
work. That is the reason why 'if (one) look(s), at any of the theories
that have been in vogue within social work for the last hundred years,
almost all of them, without exception, can be traced back to one of
these disciplines' (Soifer, 1999:44).
This is not unique to social work alone and as pointed out by
Compton and Galaway (1979: 42), 'all human service professions
borrow from each other — partly because practicing professionals,
social workers included, are more interested in the application of
present knowledge than in the creation of new knowledge'. The argument in favour of such borrowing is that the 'social worker's primary
task is not to generate knowledge about people and human system per
76 B. Vijayalakshmi
se, but to select and organize knowledge developed by researchers in
psychology, anthropology, sociology... and so on in light of the nature of one's tasks and the ways people change' (Compton and
Galaway, 1979:49).
Problems in Borrowing Knowledge
It is true that social and behavioural sciences provide an essential
foundation to social work practice and without them the social workers fail to make full use of their own skills, and analytical powers at
the workplace with their clients and colleagues. But there are certain
problems involved in borrowing knowledge from other disciplines.
One of the problems is selective borrowing. According to Thomas
(1967: 3), such selective borrowing occurs because, 'the social and
behavioural sciences are not single units but comprise of different aspects in relation to their philosophy, methodology and knowledge...
Similarly social work is also a complex amalgam of thought, practices
and products'. As a result some of the social workers have developed
a tendency for selective borrowing and to 'discuss the impact of that
"new" theory on the profession' (Soifer, 1999: 49). At times, such selective borrowing has seeped through into field practice in a partial
fragmented manner. Criticising this tendency, Rojek, Peacock and
Collins (1988: 21) comment 'often confused social work educators
passed on their own diluted ideas to bewildered workers and students.'
The second is the problem of integration of social and behavioural
science knowledge in social work practice. In the process of integration, the transition from one stage to another is not an automatic activity. A conscious effort has to be made to pass from one stage to the
other. In the absence of such an effort, it is often difficult to link social
and behavioural sciences to practice situations. According to
Nicolson and Bayne (1984: ix) the students,
found the social science interesting.... However, they still have
doubts about actively incorporating social science theory into their
practice, because they were not confident in their ability to make
vital connections between theory, evidence and specific situations
with clients or their particular agencies.
The third problem is excessive dependence on any one discipline.
Discussing this aspect, Khinduka (1987: 687) observed that despite
the importance given by social workers to sociology, they ignored the
sociological knowledge base in favour of psychology. Thus, there
Building Social Work Knowledge: Some Issues 77
was a virtual deluge of social work with psychiatry and psychoanalysis as principal suppliers of concepts and insights for social work
practice. This, to a large extent, made the profession have a bias toward micro, rather than macro, tools for analysis and intervention.
Most often the approach of social workers, with regard to the borrowing from psychology, lead to the criticism that 'social workers treat
the discipline of psychology like a super market where theories fill the
shelves like cans — they take the can, open it, devour the contents and
all too frequently suffer the indigestible consequences' (Breakwell
and Rowett, 1982:6).
The fourth problem is attachment to theories. Too much attachment to theories, be they social or behavioural, not only leads to their
uncritical adoption, but also to a tendency to cling to them beyond
their relevance. The Buddha put this in perspective in a saying,
'Even this view, which is so pure and so clear, if you cling to it, if
you fondle it, if you treasure it, if you are attached to it, then you do
not understand that our teaching is similar to a raft, which is for
crossing over, and not for keeping hold of (cited from Bartley,
1990: 253).
Finally, 'the problem lies not in the task of finding a consensus on
(the need for and) the broad areas of knowledge but in the task of selecting the critical concepts for use by the practitioners in social
work from this immense range of knowledge and in the task of relating these concepts to one another' (Compton and Galaway, 1979:
48).
Two disturbing tendencies need mention here. The first one is
looking towards existing theory as capable of dealing with the problem on hand and planning accordingly or accepting every emerging
theory as capable of dealing with social problems. Both are considered as extreme tendencies because in the light of changing human
environment and the consequent changes in the types of problems
encountered by people, new theoretical insights need to be developed and such insights should also be the outcome of the already existing knowledge base. Otherwise, it may ultimately lead to a
situation where 'students graduate with more inert knowledge (material that is relevant but is not used because of a lack of accompanying performance skills), more irrelevant knowledge (knowledge that
does not contribute to problem solving), and more false knowledge
(beliefs that are not true and that are not questioned)' (Gambrill,
1997: 319).
78
B. Vijayalakshmi
Precautions to be Taken
The point to be kept in mind is that while having theoretical base is inevitable, there should be discreetness in selecting theories for use. The
choice has to depend on the client's needs and situations and not on
the worker's own categories or theories concerning the meanings of
acts. This is because social workers' particular assumptions about human behaviour can be expected to influence their professional activities and the consequences of these have important implications for
their clients (Briar and Miller, 1971). In this context, they have suggested the following criteria for the selection of theory. According to
them the theory must
• be explicit about the question of goals;
• hold an optimistic view, that is orient the practitioner to
potentials for change and to search for more effective and
powerful ways of bringing about such a change;
• clearly indicate the use of the theory in relation to the client
system; and
• specify what role behaviours are expected of a practitioner to set
forth guidelines for outcome assessment.
The students can have useful knowledge only when they are exposed to theories, which are empirically verified and reliable. Further,
there should be development of a critical outlook toward the theoretical base because critical examination of the existing knowledge and
keeping oneself up to date shall enable the profession to have sound
scientific base. In this context, the educators and supervisors play an
indispensable role by providing instructions based on the most current
knowledge.
Reasons for Failure to Develop Knowledge Base
What are the reasons for the failure on the part of the profession to develop a definitive knowledge base? Some of the reasons mentioned by
Khinduka (1987: 688) are:
• anti-intellectualism, that is a tendency to substitute polemic and
rhetoric for evidence-based conclusions;
• inclination to equate knowledge with raw empiricism; and
• researchers taking up studies, which are a theoretical and
non-cumulative, thus contributing little to the systematic
development and validation of social work knowledge.
Building Social Work Knowledge: Some Issues 79
These observations, though made in the context of Western social
work, apply to the Indian context too.
Role of Research in Knowledge Building
Research plays an important role in the development of its knowledge
base in any discipline. However, most social work practitioners are
sceptical about research and its outcome — the theory. At times 'students and practitioners protested that theory implied distance and objectivity which contrasted with feelings and living reality of social
work encounters. As such it was seen to be a stumbling block in developing style' (Coulshed and Orme, 1998: 7). Such an attitude, both toward theory and research, is seen as 'fallacious, inappropriate and self
defeating...' (Siporin, 1975: 100), because knowledge building for
any profession is a dynamic activity involving deconstruction and reconstruction through research.
This scepticism has resulted in schism between practice and research with practitioners feeling that the research findings are depersonalised and could not be of help in practice and researchers telling
that the practitioners neither put to use the research findings nor try to
evaluate their intervention strategies (Riessman, 1994). Though there
is an element of truth in both these arguments, the stubborn adherence
to their respective viewpoints is leading to lack of productive collaboration. The Task Force on Social Work Research (1991: 92) has identified this as a major problem. It suggested that
all areas of the foundation curriculum, including practice methods,
be based on knowledge derived to the fullest extent possible from
research in social work and from related professions and
disciplines — (and) text books for practice methods courses be
based to the fullest extent possible on research-based knowledge
from social work and allied professions and disciplines.
Another criticism against research in social work is the absence of
specificity and inability to conduct purpose-based and goal driven research (Gambrill, 1994). This criticism holds well in the Indian context also. Way back in 1974, Ramachandran (1974: 222-223) quoted
the observations made in a report of the Committee on Social Science
Research. According to this report, there had been an obvious fragmentation of research in social work, which resulted in a series of independent and unrelated studies on different problems. Even studies,
which were done on the same problem, were not comparable because
80
B. Vijayalakshmi
the methodological tools were incomparable. Also, the absence of
methodological diversity was considered as another major flaw.
Social work research is, further, criticised on the basis of its choice
of methods. In spite of their relevance to social work research, qualitative methods are not used much and most of social work research is
based on quantitative methods (Vijayalakshmi, Devi Prasad and Rao,
1996). It is generally considered that the excessive emphasis on quantitative techniques is a by product of the quest for professional status
(Fraser, Taylor, Jackson and O'Jack, 1991).
This led, sometimes, to the framing of research questions to suit the
methods rather than the other way round (Reinharz, 1979/1991). This
approach is found unproductive in terms of development of knowledge in social work. Criticising this state of affairs, Riessman (1994)
said that
Methods are like maps; they focus inquiry and lay out paths which
if followed are supposed to lead to valid knowledge of how the
world works. But like maps we consult in every day life, they
contain assumptions about what is important. Different maps make
certain features of the terrain visible and obscure others.
To strengthen social work research as a knowledge building activity Thyer, Issace and Larkin (1997: 315) suggested the following
steps.
• Talented and experienced clinicians and other social work
practitioners should be recruited into training programmes
focussing on service research.
• Talented and experienced researchers can spend study leave
doing social work practice.
• A cadre of doctoral-level social workers be trained as
practitioners and as researchers
• Specialised training in conducting outcome studies be provided
• Doctoral programmes should make greater use of research
practice and clinical-research internships.
• Doctoral graduates be given expertise in evaluative research
focusing on empirical testing of the outcomes of social work
interventions. If such studies are published, practitioners will
naturally turn to this functional, journal based literature for
guidance.
Another important suggestion made by Ramachandran (1974) is to
start a central agency for the promotion of social work research.
Building Social Work Knowledge: Some Issues
81
Development of New Knowledge
Social work, being a profession rooted in the sociocultural realities of
the contexts in which it operates, it should be responsive to the changing social needs, if it is to expand its knowledge base. Such a stance
will help the profession develop insights into the changing scenario in
terms of client needs and available support structures by constantly
expanding, reorganising and reformulating its knowledge base in the
light of related literature. This would result in the orderly accretion of
the knowledge.
According to Hearn (1958) theory building is a continuous circular
process. The same is presented in Figure 1.
FIGURE 1: Theory-Building
These ten steps in theory building can be of use for development of
theory and knowledge in social work.
Sources of Knowledge Transfer
A number of sources can be identified for the transfer of knowledge to
social work from related disciplines. They are:
• participating in inter-professional dialogues;
• using creative literature;
• internalising and keeping abreast of the literature for the orderly
accretion of knowledge by the practitioners;
82 B. Vijayalakshmi
• giving increased attention to interpretive work, narrative studies
and case studies as methods of knowledge transfer to social
workers from other disciplines; and
• taking part in continuous education programmes.
The need for such participation has been emphasised by a number
of writers (for example, Desai, 1974). Finally, to keep pace with the
changing human needs, professional social workers need to dedicate
themselves to a life time of study as a skillful reader of professional
literature and as a student in staff development, continuing education
or advanced degree programmes (Morales and Sheafor, 1995:42).
Thus social workers should continue their development by reading,
attending conferences, institutes and workshops, participating in professional activities; and by exchanging ideas with other professions.
CONCLUSION: NEED FOR INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE
It was argued that the content of social work is universal (Rosenfeld,
1976). Despite such assertions, there has been much discussion on the
need for indigenous knowledge for social work on the ground that
utility or relevance of the knowledge is bounded in time, place, and
person (Rein and Sheldon, 1981: 37). Pyne (1997) has identified a
number of reasons for the tendency in favour of culture-specific
knowledge base.
1. Values and cultural bases of different societies may be incompatible with the assumptions and prescriptions within which
Western social work has originated. The works of Gangrade
(1970), Karnik and Suri (1995), Kumar (1994), Wadia (1961),
and so on, fall in this category.
2. Societies face different problems and issues, and hence, Western models cannot be of help in intervening in the situation.
The arguments of Ghosh (1984), Ilango (1988), Nagpaul
(1972), Nanavatty (1981), and Ranade (1974) fall in this
category.
However, Payne (1997: 7-12) considered these arguments as not
wholly convincing and negated them on the following grounds:
• As countries are increasingly ethnically and culturally pluralist,
transfer of ideas between cultures is allowed
• Useful exchange can be achieved in developing locally
appropriate forms of social work knowledge by adopting
Western models.
Building Social Work Knowledge: Some Issues
83
• Countries and cultures do not stay where they are and are always
changing. Many economies, which were underdeveloped, are
now economically rich and as a result their needs are also
changing.
The impact of globalisation is seen as contributing to an argument
against cultural specificity of knowledge base of social work. In this
connection, it has been observed (Midgley, 1997: 59), for the first
time in human history, that the local environments no longer solely
define peoples' lives in which they live. Despite the recent resurgence
of nationalism and ethnic conflict, many believe that an international
world system will inexorably replace the local community and even
the nation state as the primary basis for social or national identity.
Further, it may be pointed out that while we think of developing an
indigenous base of foundation knowledge, efforts have to be first
made to assess how far the social and behavioural sciences themselves have developed in this direction so as to enable our profession
to draw knowledge from them. While examining the constraints of
creating an indigenous knowledge base pertaining to foundation
knowledge contributed by social and behavioural sciences, Pathak
(1974: 179-180) observed that 'although a good deal of research has
been done and literature produced since 1950s in all of the social sciences, and particularly in economics and sociology, the relevance of
these to Indian society is being questioned by Indian social scientists
themselves'. This observation needs serious consideration.
In conclusion, it may be pointed out that in spite of the need for a
strong knowledge base for social work, not much effort has been done
in this direction and most of the existing knowledge base is yet to be
tested and verified. Social workers need to keep themselves abreast of
the fast exploding knowledge in the related disciplines so as to enable
themselves to bring the insights provided by such knowledge into
their practice. Unless these issues are looked into, the profession will
increasingly find it difficult to maintain its relevance to current social
realities.
REFERENCES
Bartley, W.W.
1990
Unfathomed Knowledge, Unmeasured Wealth: On Universities and the Wealth of Nations, Lasake: Open
Court.
84
B. Vijayalakshmi
Breakwell, G.M. and
Rowett, C.
1982.
: Collaboration between Social Workers and Psychologists, Bulletin of the British Psychological Society, 35,
65-66.
Briar, S. and
Miller H.
1971
: Problems and Issues in Social Case Work; New York:
Columbia University Press.
Compton B.R. and
Galaway B.
1979
Coulshed, V. and
Orme, J
1998
Sources and Functions of Knowledge for Professional
Practice. In B.R. Compton, and B. Galaway (Eds.), Social Work Processes (Revised Edition), Homewood: The
Dorsey Press, 37-67.
: Social Work Practice:
Macmillan Press Ltd.
An
Introduction,;
London:
Desai, A.S
1974
Social Work Education in India. In B. Chatterjee and S.D.
Gokhale (Eds.), Social Welfare Legends and Legacy,
Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 204-219.
Devi Prasad, B
1997
Literature on Undergraduate Social Work Education, The
Indian Journal of Social Work, 58(2), 244-264.
Fraser, M, Taylor, M.J.,
Jackson, R. and
O'Jack, J.
1991
Social Work and Science: Many Ways of Knowing? Social Work Research and Abstracts, 27(4), 5-15.
Gambrill, E.
1997
: Social Work Education: Current Concerns and Possible
Futures. In M. Reich and E. Gamrbill (Eds.), Social Work
in the 21st Century, New Delhi: Pine Forge Press,
317-327.
Gangrade, K.D.
1970
: Western Social Work and the Indian World, International Social Work, 13(3), 4-12.
Ghosh, B
1984
: Social Work Contribution to Population Programme
Management, The Indian Journal of Social Work,
44(4):409-418.
Greene, R.R. and
Ephross, P.H
1991
: Human Behaviour Theory and Social Work Practice,
New York: Aldine De Gruyler.
Hearn, G.
1958
Ilango, P.
1988
: Theory Building in Social Work, Toronto: University of
Toronto Press.
: Existing Model of Social Work Education for Community Development, The Indian Journal of Social Work,
49(1), 21-25.
: The Law of Karma and Social Work Considerations, International Social Work, 38(4), 365-378.
Karnik, S.J. and
Suri, K.B.
1995
Khinduka, S.K.
1987
Social Work and the Human Services. In A. Minahan and
others (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Social Work (Volume 2,
Edition 18), Silver Springs: National Association of Social Workers, 681-695.
Building Social Work Knowledge: Some Issues
85
Kumar, H.
1994
Midgley, J.
1997
Social Work: An Experience and Experiment in India,
New Delhi: Gitanjali.
Social Work in International Context. In M. Reisch and
E. Gambrill (Eds.), Social Work in the 21st Century, New
Delhi: Pine Forge Press.
Morales, A.T. and
Sheafor, B.W.
1995
Nagpaul, H.
1972
Social Work: A Profession of Many Faces, Boston: Allyn
and Bacon.
The Diffusion of American Social Work Education to India: Problems and Issues, International Social Work,
15(1), 3-17.
Nanavatty, M.C.
1981
Nicolson, P. and
Bayne, R.
1984.
Pathak, S.H.
1974
Rural Development and Social Work, The Indian Journal
of Social Work, 42(3), 265-272.
Applied Psychology for Social Workers, London:
Macmillan Press.
Payne, M.
1997
Perlman, H.H.
1957
Ramachandran, P.
1974
Modern Social Work Theory (Edition 2),
Macmillan Press.
Ranade, S.N.
1974
A Quarter Century of Professional Social Work in India.
In B. Chatterjee and S.D. Gokahle, (Eds.), Social Welfare
Legend and Legacy, Bombay: Popular Prakashan,
170-192.
London:
Social Case Work: A Problem Solving Process, Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
: Review of Social Work Research. In B. Chatterjee and
S.D. Gokhale (Eds.), Social Welfare Legend and Legacy,
Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 220-232.
Social Work Education in India. In B. Chatterjee and S.D.
Gokhale (Eds.), Social Welfare Legend and Legacy,
Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 193-203.
Rein, M. and
Sheldon, H.W.
1981
Knowledge for Practice, Social Service Review, 55(1),
1-41.
Reinharz; S.
1979/1991
On Becoming a Social Scientist, New Brunswick: Transactions.
Riessman, C.K. (Ed.)
1994
Qualitative Studies in Social Work Research, London:
Sage Publications.
Rojek, C, Peacock, G.
and Collins, S.
1998
Social Work and Received Ideas, London: Routledge.
Rosenfeld, J.M
1976
Professional Education for Social Work: The Universal
and the Particular. In Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Schools of Social Work: Social Realities and the Social Work Response — The Role of
Schools of Social Work, New York: International Association of Schools of Social Work, 14-22.
86
B. Vijayalakshmi
Siporin, M.
1975
Soifer, S.
1999
Task Force on Social
Work Research
1991
Thomas, E.J.
1967
Thyer, B.A., Isaace, A.
and Larkin, R.
1997
Vijayalakshmi, B.,
Devi Prasad, B.
and Rao, K.V.
1996
Wadia, A.R.
1961
: Introduction to Social Work Practice, New York:
Macmillan Publishing Co.
: Social Work: A Profession in Search of a Paradigm, The
Indian Journal of Social Work, 60(1), 35-56.
: Building Social Work Knowledge for Effective Services
and Policies: A Plan for Research Development, Austin:
Capital Printing.
: Types of Contributions Behavioral Science Makes to Social Work. In. E J. Thomas, (Ed.), Behavioral Science for
Social Workers, New York: The Free Press, 2-13.
: Integrating Research and Practice. In M. Reich and E.
Gambrill (Eds.), Social Work in the 21st Century, New
Delhi: Pine Forge Press, 311-316.
: Trends in Articles Published in The Indian Journal of Social Work, 1971-1990, The Indian Journal of Social
Work, 57(3), 442-460.
: Ethical and Spiritual Values in the Practice of Social
Work. In A.R. Wadia (Ed.), History and Philosophy of
Social Work in India, Bombay: Allied Publishers.
THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK, Volume 65, Issue 1, January 2004