SOCIAL WORK AND MANAGEMENT ›› 2023, Vol. 23 ›› Issue (1): 5-25.

• TEGAO •    

Practice Research and the Logic of Reasoning

HE Guoliang   

  1. Department of Applied Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, 999077, China
  • Received:2022-07-07 Published:2023-01-10

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Abstract: The relationship between theory and practice in social work has increasingly shown a trend toward “psychotherapy”. Coupled with the commonly used “Cartesian” epistemology, the scholars always tend to believe that human behavior is largely determined by the rational thinking of individuals. So the thinking of social work educators focuses on rational thinking at the individual level. This framework of thinking treats knowledge as a text or proposition that can be systematically processed and constructed. As long as the proposition is sorted out methodically, it can meet the needs of practice and teaching. Especially for practice, practitioners can guide their own practical work according to an integral theory and guided “intervention processes”, which is the basis of thinking for the thought that “theory guides practice”. Accordingly, this kind of thinking is too much focused on developing “theory-based reasoning” and neglects “practice-based reasoning”, which leads people only to believe that the former can bring practical effectiveness, but lack criticism of it and understanding of its limitations. Therefore, this paper emphasizes the importance of “practice-based reasoning” in practice, especially the three important requirements of “practice-based reasoning” that practitioners should attach importance to: the “first-person perspective”, the understanding of causality as embodied in “teleology”, and the important connection between “practice-reasoning” and value practice.

Key words: theory and practice, types of knowledge, theory-based reasoning, practice-based reasoning, knowledge of value

CLC Number: 

  • C916
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