Social Work, Sociology, and Social Diagnosis

Excerpt from the full-text article: A new type of scholar-practitioner is needed; one who can contribute to both sociology and social work. To this point sociology has had the advantage because it has more of the needed people than social work; it just won\u27t let them out of the closet. Social work has always been better than its own self-image. Lack of scholarship has hindered organizing and presenting the hard won knowledge which the field has acquired. The way to bring this scattered information together is by developing typologies which are refined in practice and common to both fields. Only then will sociology have cumulative knowledge and social work effective practice techniques

Comment on Professional Achievement in Social Work

Anything which would help explain professional achievement in social work would be an important contribution to knowledge. In the present instance poor conceptualization and weak data analyses do not support such a conclusion

Program Research as Social Practice

Excerpt from the full-text article: What is done with the information developed by any researcher involves ethical and political considerations out of his control. In administrative research the sponsor has been able to dictate all conditions. We believe that this has contributed to the crisis in confidence about whether or not developing knowledge makes a difference in solving the problems of this world. It is time for professional societies to take more responsibility for the behavior of their members and to provide them with more protection

The Social Policy of Denial: Unemployment in Israel

When reality does not match the dream nations tend to suffer. In Israel unemployment compromises social democratic ideals. The country oscillates between bombast and despair. Official data is not trusted. Those who leave Russia on Israeli visas and do not come are dropouts. Those who leave Israel for other countries are yordim. Those who go to work every day when there is nothing to do are draining the nation with hidden unemployment. These are terms of derision. Some of the difficulty with unemployment data and understanding Israeli response to the problem may be for security reasons. Israelis have lived in an almost continuous state of war since 1922. The danger from living under such pressure is that it increases the denial; policy thinking is rigid and bureaucracy grows. Israel has survived because of its capacity for flexibility and innovation. Continued replacement of these qualities by denying economic realities may threaten its survival and peace in the world

Debunking: A Role for the Practicing Sociologist

Individual sociologists have been effective in solving organizational problems. They have been spectacularly unsuccessful in solving persistent social problems such as poverty. These ultimate troubles may never be solved but they must always be worked with. Sociological ideas cannot be the only knowledge system used in working with social difficulties. No reductionistic system has ever been successful. Creating the conditions which will even improve any deleterious social behavior requires a wider perspective and more resources than the sociologist, as sociologist, can muster. Practicing sociologists can make their greatest contribution to ameliorating major social malfunctions by putting increased emphasis on their traditional role as debunkers. That is, by showing when policies or programs are based on false perceptions or poor data

Attitudes, Behavior, and Social Practice

The relationship between attitudes and behavior is not symmetrical. A literature review is used to organize a summary of methodological and practical problems in this area. In turn, these findings are used to comment on how sociology and social work practice can take this into account

Symbolic Interaction and Social Practice

To make social theory useful for practice its concepts must be in a form which is compatible with the ways practitioners relate to people. Symbolic interaction has a unique contribution to make to this endeavor. Its unit of attention is interaction; what goes on between people. Facts and ideas at this level of abstraction can be used in intervention. By contrast theories of society and theories of system are descriptive. They provide useful background information for practice