SOCW6060: Discussion 2: Sources of Knowledge (WK1)

Social workers make decisions in practice settings based on different sources of knowledge, including their intuition, personal experiences, tradition, authority, and theories and research evidence. These sources of knowledge can be used together to contribute to decisions. Which source(s) of knowledge do you rely on? What are the strengths and limitations of each source of knowledge, and how will they affect your social work practice? For example, think about the sources of knowledge you used when you made decisions in your field experience. In this Discussion, you consider the sources of knowledge that inform your practice decisions.

To prepare: Complete the “Situations 1 and 2: Making Decisions About Interventions” handout. (Note: You do not need to upload the handout to the Discussion forum. The handout is intended to assist you in writing your Discussion post.)

• Explain how and why your choices differed in Situations 1 and 2.
• Evaluate when using intuition or personal experiences is advantageous in making clinical decisions. Provide an illustration of this from your fieldwork experience.
• Analyze when using theories and research evidence is advantageous in making clinical decisions. Provide an illustration of this from your fieldwork experience.