ABSTRACT
The ability to ‘integrate theory and practice’ appears on all practice assessment schedules and guidelines for essays leading to the award of the professional qualification. It is thus a powerfully sanctioned, if somewhat vaguely defined, expectation of student social workers everywhere. This belief in the superiority of theoretically informed practice and the amendment of theory at the point of use to accommodate individual circumstances has long been an important test of the professional faith. However, general principles (be they ever so wholesome-sounding) which go unanalysed for any length of time tend to degenerate into clichés, and this is what has happened with this idea; the logical implications of the words have been drowned out by the congenial noise they make. We have many words and phrases in modern life which seem to have this effect of switching off the cerebral cortex, from ‘organic’, ‘natural’ and ‘fresh’ in supermarkets, to ‘community’, ‘needs-led’, ‘strategic’ and ‘excellence’. The argument is not that these words do not have specific meanings, rather that they should be used with discrimination and due humility if they are not to be quickly worn out, namely:
‘When I use a word’, Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less’.
