ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a brief historical sketching of traditions where a case has been made for sociological ideas to inform social work. A broad sweep of ideas and sociological reference points within social work will be covered. The chapter provides students and practitioners with a way to think sociologically as an anchor and reference for interpretation, analysis, deliberation and action in accordance with values based social work practice. It draws threads that connect their ideas, as well as their unique distinctive contributions and how it builds on these existing foundations. As with Bartlett, her focus is on an integrated knowledge base and the insights sociological theories and thinking can offer to social work analyses of societal conditions and what is best to be done for the people for whom social workers work. Essentially this is a sociological project.
