Bartlett's Definition of Social Work Practice: A Generalist Educator's Perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to comment on the contemporary relevance of Harriet Bartlett's 1958 article and definition of social work practice from the perspective of a BSW generalist-based educator. As with other commentaries in this edition, there is agreement that Bartlett's paradigm gives us the structure from which a definition can be built, but as she points out, because of the dynamic nature of the profession, its definition is always in process and hence never finalized. Some of the external factors and internal changes that have taken place in the profession since Bartlett's time are identified. An overall criticism of Bartlett is that she, as do the generalists, tends to view social work practice from a problem-solving approach rather than a more contemporary, holistic growth-oriented perspective.

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