ABSTRACT
Early in the history of social work, Jane Addams may have been even more perspicacious than Kuhn. Guided by Addams, settlement workers engaged in language translation and attempted to interpret American institutions to immigrants bewildered by the signs and symbols of their new country. Addams and her creative social work colleagues assembled from residents the Hull-House Maps and Papers, a comprehensive report on the immigrants living nears the settlement house and their living conditions. The social work translator must develop a multilingual capacity and master the sign systems of basic science and of applied science. According to the Council on Social Work Education, critical thinking 'requires the synthesis and communication of relevant information'. The Council on Social Work Education expects social workers to become competent in knowledge application: 'Social workers apply theories and knowledge from the liberal arts to understand biological, social, cultural, psychological, and spiritual development'.
