ABSTRACT
This chapter considers what a social worker should know in sense of 'knowing that'. A number of factors will suggest which theory or group of theories is to be chosen. Some workers will be influenced by the group of concepts or theories that most advances the objective of making social work scientific, perhaps because this is for them only way of being rational. Emphasising the theoretical orientation implies that the social worker has a good grasp of the theory or theories and has a continuing interest in the way they develop: it should not be a once-for-all commitment to a theory or concept that happens to be at a particular state of development. The dominance of the psychological stems from a basic conviction about the primacy of the individual and about the most satisfactory way of explaining social phenomena. It seems to be assumed by many social workers that explanations of social phenomena must refer exclusively to facts about individuals.
