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Critical Thinking in Clinical Assessment and Diagnosis pp 205–228Cite as

Integrating Practice and Research on Mental Disorder

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Part of the book series: Essential Clinical Social Work Series ((ECSWS))

Abstract

In this chapter, the question of whether assessment is best seen as ‘art’ or ‘science’ is explored in connection with the overarching question of the role that research can or ought to play in clinical practice and what the integration of research evidence into practice actually involves. Exploring the strengths and limitations of each position (‘art’ and ‘science’), the chapter discusses the use of tacit knowledge and reflective practice in the more ‘bottom-up’ intuitive approach, as well as the use of structured and actuarial approaches in the more ‘top-down’ analytic approach. It then outlines the basis for a ‘knowledge-based’ approach to assessment and diagnosis in which evidence is synthesized from multiple sources, and practice-based research is utilized to challenge the limitations of more traditional approaches. It concludes by making the case for critical pluralism, a pragmatic approach to assessment that allows practitioners to assess the relevance and utility of particular forms of knowledge for particular clients and to reconcile some of the tensions between competing, and often polarized, approaches to diagnosis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Policy and Social Work, University of York, York, England

    Mark Hardy

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  1. Mark Hardy
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Correspondence to Mark Hardy .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, USA

    Barbara Probst

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Hardy, M. (2015). Integrating Practice and Research on Mental Disorder. In: Probst, B. (eds) Critical Thinking in Clinical Assessment and Diagnosis. Essential Clinical Social Work Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17774-8_11

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