Knowledge Bases and Knowledge Biases in Social Work

Abstract

Summary: The conception of a knowledge base for social work is explored within a multinational/multicultural context. Findings: Flaws in the idea of a knowledge base include the conception that social science knowledge is being continually reconstructed rather than acting as a base, the impossibility of defining a separable body of knowledge and the difficulty of seeing some knowledge as basic to all social work practice. Four arenas of debate within social work where the concept is particularly used are in defining the processes of professionalization, defining training and education curricula, identifying what knowledge is useful in practice and defining professional roles within multidisciplinary teams. Study of the construction and politics of knowledge biases within social work, through examination of the use of knowledge in practice and through consideration of the influence of stakeholders in creating biases, permits understanding of social work knowledge as a continuing interactive process among practitioners and other stakeholders rather than as an established base. Applications: Knowledge in any particular country or specialization of social work may be seen as biases within a broader conception of knowledge.