At the Edge of the Frame: Beyond Science and Art in Social Work

Correspondence to Dean Emilia E. Martinez-B raw ley. School of Social Work, Arizona State University, PO Box 871802, Tempe, Arizona 85287–1802, USA. Summary The central argument in this article is that social work hasalways been a practice at the fringes. The phrase is used inits best sense and in at least two meanings: (1) that socialwork has been at the edges of the mainstream of scientific discourse,not because of any intrinsic deficiency in the profession butbecause of the nature of the practice; (2) that, in the postmodernsense, social work has been a collage where science, art, rationalityand intuition, systematic and asystematic knowledge meet. Inthis latter sense, this article proposes, social work can representa very desirable convergence of paradigms that needs to be acknowledgedand celebrated. Perhaps the most significant contribution ofpostmodernism is that it accommodates this possibility.     

Social Programme Evaluation in the USA: Trends and Issues

Correspondence to Edward Allan Brawley, Professor of Social Work, The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Sociology, 211 Oswald Tower, University Park, Pennylvania, 16802 USA. Summary This paper reviews the emergence of social programme evaluationas an important and frequently controversial topic in the UnitedStates during the last three decades. Political, practical,epistemological, and ethical Issues involved in the evaluationof social service programmes are discussed, as well as the strengthsand shortcomings of a range of specific evaluative approachesand techniques. Current trends towards evaluation strategiesthat take greater account of the special attributes of the socialservices and social work practice and that produce informationthat is more useful to policy-makers, programme administra torsand social work practitioners than has been true in the pastare identified. Some cautionary remarks are included about thedangers of overemphasizing ‘hard’ quantitative methodologies,goal attainment, and efficiency at the expense of alternativeapproaches that can produce other and sometimes more appropriateindicators of programme perform ance and results. This paper examines the evolution over three decades in theUnited States of efforts to evaluate social programmes, socialservices and social work practice. Some lessons that can bedrawn from the failures and successes of this experience aresuggested and the strengths and weaknesses of various evaluativestrategies and techniques are discussed.