How do social workers know the right thing to do?  It’s an important question.  Incorrect social work actions may actively harm clients and communities.  Timely and effective social work interventions further social justice and promote individual change.  To do make the right choices, we must have a basis of knowledge, the skills to understand it, and the commitment to growing that knowledge.  The source of social work knowledge is social science and this book is about how to understand and apply it to social work practice.

Chapter outline

• 1.1 How do social workers know what to do?
• 1.2 Science and social work
• 1.3 Why should we care?
• 1.4 Understanding research

Content advisory

This chapter discusses or mentions the following topics: stereotypes of people on welfare, sexual harassment and sexist job discrimination, sexism, poverty, homelessness, mental illness, substance abuse, and child maltreatment.