Practice wisdom in social work: an uncommon sense in the intersubjective encounter

Social work is not, and should not be, a practice of common sense. The author revisited a vast array of literature on practice wisdom in social work and parallel conceptions in cognate disciplines. For better or worse, the idea of practice wisdom has been revitalized in standing against the deprofessionalization of social work. However, its ambiguity in meaning has somehow overridden its reputation. Practice wisdom is intuitive, tacit, and spontaneous in nature. It is an embodied phronesis of experienced practitioners. The author argues that practice wisdom in social work is not only the wisdom of analytical experience, but it is also the wisdom or a quality characterized by courtesy, kindness, consideration, compassion, and benevolence. It is uniquely uncommonsensical and has to be cultivated through the intersubjective encounter between the practitioner and service user.