ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies and describes challenges of the profession as a backdrop to the emergence of evidence-based practice (EBP). The social work profession has historically defined its mission as operating in the service of individuals and communities, the underprivileged, the oppressed, and the neediest individuals. It focuses on the complexity of social and behavioral problems addressed by social workers; the conceptual models that govern social work practice and their capacity to challenge EBP; the limits of knowledge even under the best circumstances provided by more access to better scientific evidence; organizational constraints; and problems associated with evidence-to-action processes. In addition to the practical challenges of implementing EBP in complex service delivery systems, EBP is a manifestation of an antiquated positivist paradigm that has no role in social work. In the social sciences, and subsequently in social work, prevailing orientations to science and knowledge were challenged as being mechanistic, dehumanizing, disempowering, antifeminist, and generally insensitive to personal and cultural diversity.
