The emerging ‘science of social work’ in the United States and German-speaking countries: A comparison

Abstract

The aim of this article is to begin a comparison between an emerging ‘science of social work’ in the United States and German-speaking countries (Switzerland, Germany, and Austria), with the intention of moving the discussion forward. It is found that the ‘science of social work’ is more developed in German-speaking Europe than in the United States, but that similar conclusions have been developed in both contexts. However, scholars of the two continents only rarely refer to one another’s work, and the lack of communication between the two groups is hurting the discipline as a whole.