Social Work Practice Research on Severe Mental Illness: Charting a Future

Social work practice with the mentally ill has traditionally relied upon an interdisciplinary- based, problem-solving approach. But as the medicalization of the mental health field evolved over the past three decades, a distancing from the behavioral sciences and a subsequent division within social work itself regarding practice definitions and goals of research appear to have occurred. A reexamination of contemporary social work research and the profession's practice mandate, together with a reconceptualization of findings from the behavioral sciences, suggests important and legitimate areas of social work inquiry into severe mental disorders. Criteria for identifying and implementing the basic content of a social work curriculum pertinent to the nature, treatment, and further study of chronic mental illness are offered.