Assessment and Social Construction: Conflict or Co-Creation?

Assessment procedures in social work emerged within the historicalcontext of modernist empiricism. They are lodged in assumptionsof objectivity, measurement accuracy, value neutrality and scientificexpertise. Within the context of postmodern constructionism,the grounds for traditional assessment are thrown into question.While such critique may seem to threaten the assessment tradition,such a conclusion is unwarranted. Rather, one may locate withinthe assessment tradition and constructionist writings converginglines of thought. Through the collaborative extension of twoassessment exemplars—the genogram and the ecomap—wesuggest new and more promising potentials for assessment practicesin social work.