Evidence-based Social Work
Evidence-based practice (EBP) is now a core element of many governments’ approaches to policy-making and social intervention. It has become a powerful movement that promises to change the content and structure of social work and its allied professions. Its emergence has generated much debate and raised challenging questions, however, particularly at the interface of research, policy and practice. This book provides a critical analysis of evidence-based practice in social work. It introduces readers to the fast-changing research, policy, legislative and practice contexts. It discusses what constitutes knowledge in social work, the values and beliefs that lie behind evidence-based practice, and the problems of implementation, formalization and resource management. Reflecting on the challenges of transferring evidence-based practice to frontline social work practice, Gray, Plath and Webb argue that social work practice is not easily measured and systematized into best practice guidelines that disseminate proven diagnostic and effective intervention knowledge.
Using actor network theory for the first time in the social work literature, Evidence-based Social Work illuminates how adopting the methodology and language of evidence-based practice fundamentally alters the conditions under which social work takes place. This book is vital reading for academics, practitioners and students with an interest in contemporary social work practice and research.
Mel Gray is Professor of Social Work and a full-time researcher in the Institute for Social Well-being at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Debbie Plath is Senior Lecturer in Social Work in the School of Humanities and Social Science at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Stephen A. Webb is Professor of Human Sciences and Director of the Institute for Social Well-being at the University of Newcastle, Australia. |