A Historical Analysis of Evidence-Based Practice in Social Work: The Unfinished Journey toward an Empirically Grounded Profession

Abstract

We provide a novel historical account of social work practice that situates the evidence-based practice (EBP) movement as an attempt to fulfill a long-standing ambition to develop a practice grounded in empirical research. Based on Thomas Kuhn’s conceptualization of scientific paradigm shifts, we argue that social work praxis has been organized by three successive practice paradigms: moral, authority, and empirical. A systematic attempt to shift from an authority-based to an empirically based paradigm began in the 1970s with the advent of the empirical clinical practice (ECP) movement. In the wake of ECP’s downfall, EBP represents a second attempt to complete the transition, but it is currently at a crossroads. Following a historical review of the evolution of practice paradigms in social work, we compare the ECP and EBP movements both to understand ECP’s demise and to propose implications for the future of EBP.