UNSCIENTIFIC THINKING ABOUT SCIENTIFIC PRACTICE - EVALUATION THE SCIENTIST-PRACTITIONER MODEL

Advocates of the scientist-practitioner model of social work argue tha t practitioners should use the model's twin pillars of single-system d esigns and standardized rapid assessment instruments to evaluate their practices. We evaluate the following central claims of the scientist- practitioner model: that it makes practice more effective, that it is needed to satisfy accountability requirements, that its advantages out weigh its disadvantages, that it provides valid causal knowledge of tr eatment effectiveness that be generalized to other cases, that it is n ot biased toward any particular practice theory, and that its lock of adoption by practitioners is not due to any deficiencies in the model itself. We find that the methods of the scientist-practitioner model a re of unproved clinical effectiveness, limited scientific value, quest ionable practicality, and unknown net benefits.