Changes in the form of knowledge in social work: from the 'social' to the 'informational'?

This paper examines the changing form of knowledge in social work over the past thirty
years and its implications for theory and practice. In particular, it considers the impact of
new systems related to a range of new information and communication technologies
(ICTs) and the shift from a narrative to a database way of thinking and operating. In
doing so, it attempts to identify a series of key challenges and questions which need to
be considered in order to engage with the changes. In particular, it addresses how far
social work is still primarily concerned with subjects and their social relationships and
argues that social work now operates less on the terrain of the ‘social’ and more on the
terrain of the ‘informational’. Such changes have implications for the relationship
between theory and practice in social work and the nature of ‘social’ work itself.