Knowledge for Direct Social Work Practice: An Analysis of Trends

This article reviews selected trends in the knowledge base of direct social work practice over the past quarter century: burgeoning diversity in practice approaches; new views of the client‐practitioner relationship; the development of multilevel intervention models; the emergence of family therapy approaches; increasing focus on action, meaning, and information in client helping services; and growing attention to scientifically based practice. These trends are analyzed as products of practice movements, which experience cycles of growth, change, and decline, leaving legacies in the form of additions to the core knowledge of the profession.