Social work in health care: Do practitioners' writings suggest an applied social science?

There are two sources of literature in social work-one from academics and t he other from practitioners. Each group is driven by different motivations to write. Academics seek a 'scientific rationality' for the field, while pr actitioners assume practical and intuitive reasoning, experience aligned wi th theory, and the 'art of practice' to guide them. It has been said that p ractitioners do not write and that 'faculty' are the trustees of the knowle dge base of the profession, and are responsible for its promulgation via pu blication. Practitioners, however, do write about their practice and their programs, and analyze both, but publish much of their work in non-social wo rk media. Their work tends not to be referenced by academic writers. One de partment's social workers' publications are described. We learn, from their practice writings, what concerns clinicians. Theirs is case-based learning , theoretically supported, in which the organization of services calls for their participation in multi-professional decision-making. There is the gro wing realization among social workers that practice wisdom and scientific t echnologies need to be reassessed together to find ways to enhance social w ork services.