ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the concept of evidence is important to social work practice, separating the Good Samaritan from the professional, who relies on evidence rather than surmise, theory, or tradition to make treatment or service decisions. The National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics to engage in a complex collaborative decision-making process to determine a best course of action, a process that is far easier said than done. Evidence serves different purposes in practice, it can be exploratory, descriptive, experimental, or correlation in nature. Evidence-based practice (EBP) refers to an approach to social work that integrates empirical evidence with client or case context and agency or setting in developing treatment or service plans. It explains the specific interventions for which there is scientific evidence that they improve outcomes. Three examples of EBP well known to social work are eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), and motivational interviewing (MI).
