Working Definition Of Social Work Practice

Research on Social Work Practice http://rsw.sagepub.com/ Guest Editor's Foreword Michael J. Holosko Research on Social Work Practice 2003 13: 265 DOI: 10.1177/1049731503013003001 The online version of this article can be found at: http://rsw.sagepub.com/content/13/3/265.citation Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com Additional services and information for Research on Social Work Practice can be found at: Email Alerts: http://rsw.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://rsw.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Downloaded from rsw.sagepub.com at The John Rylands University Library, The University of Manchester on January 18, 2011 ARTICLE RESEARCH ON SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE 10.1177/1049731503251991 Holosko / FOREWORD Guest Editor’s Foreword Michael J. Holosko University of Windsor There have been a series of significant, niggling questions placed at the feet of the social work profession that have had much to do with shaping its practice and professional identity in North America. The first was, Is social work a profession?—a question answered by the leading authority on professions at that time, Abraham Flexner, at the National Conference on Charities and Correction, an association of the Charitable Organization Societies and Settlement Houses in 1915. Based on the sociological traits of a profession, Flexner concluded that it was not, but it was an intellectual activity with a mediating function that linked individuals with social functioning problems to helpful resources. This issue triggered a debate about social work’s professional status and identity, the likes of which had not been seen before. This debate is still apparent today, as Research on Social Work Practice published a special edition in 2001, edited by David Austin, that updated Flexner’s concern. The next niggling question, the subject of this journal, attempts to discuss, What is the definition of practice? By using Harriett Bartlett’s 1958 working definition of social work practice, published by the National Association of Social Workers, this article similarly updates this current practice debate. It was not the intention of this special edition to rework the working definition of practice but to invite leading scholars and practitioners to respond to our definitional dilemma, that is, social work’s long-standing inability to define itself in a way in which we are satisfied. Each lead author in this special edition has at least 25 years of practice and/or educational experience (and some have much more). They also have practice/educational experiences that span at least 16 different countries of the world. As a result, the international flavor of this special edition contains submissions from the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, and New Zealand. Marshall McLuhan’s prophecy that we are “a global village,” now literally hot-wired by fiber optics and satellites, is very apparent in this collection of articles. Also apparent is that our profession’s persistent search for its identity is wrapped around a central core, and that core is a search for an acceptable definition of practice. Hopefully, these Research on Social Work Practice, Vol. 13 No. 3, May 2003 265-266 DOI: 10.1177/1049731503251991 © 2003 Sage Publications 265 Downloaded from rsw.sagepub.com at The John Rylands University Library, The University of Manchester on January 18, 2011 266 RESEARCH ON SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE articles will contribute to the assisting of both of these quests. But alas, I would prefer that you be the judge of that! Downloaded from rsw.sagepub.com at The John Rylands University Library, The University of Manchester on January 18, 2011 Research on Social Work Practi