ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the ways in which the terms 'generic' and 'specific' have been related. It discusses the three aspects of the 'generic-specific' idea—the meaning of the terms, what they refer to: knowledge, values and skills, and the way in which the two terms have been related—it is helpful to bear in mind the key qualifying words that are used, and the concrete nature of social work practice. The chapter suggests that progress in clarifying the issues involved is likely to follow from the attempt to develop curiosity about actual social work experience. The social worker must have some knowledge of human growth and development in both its physiological and psychological aspects throughout the chief phases of the life cycle from birth to old age and death. A. Kadushin identifies different levels of knowledge according to the degree of specificity.
