ABSTRACT
The fact that social work is a value-based profession is also used to belittle the field. Values, according to that perspective, should be secondary to "scientific rigor" in the selection of theories we use to guide our practice or of the policies we choose to promote. Social workers are accused of being led by their hearts instead of their heads and, therefore, advancing theories and practice approaches not because they work but because they "feel right." That would be a telling criticism if all theory and practice were not also value driven.
