ABSTRACT
In the United States, the emergence of the social work profession largely coincided with the progressive era in the early twentieth century, a time of major social reform led in part by women who were the predecessors of the profession and who were also active in the movement for women's suffrage. The second wave of the feminist movement beginning in the 1960s influenced feminist social work educators and practitioners to advocate for the inclusion of feminist perspectives in social work practice and to articulate feminist social work practice methods. In 1975 the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) formed a National Committee on Women Issues. Evidence-based practice (EBP) and its emphasis on effectiveness dominate social work practice. It requires the use of practice methods that have clearly designed protocols and research-based intervention strategies that demonstrate positive outcomes for clients. The medical community moved to a standard of care with what became known as evidence-based medicine (EBM) in the 1970s.
