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The Practice-Research Relationship

A Case of Ambivalent Attachment?

Families for Children, England, john{at}rip.org.uk, randallhkd{at}btinternet.com

• Summary: Evidence-based practice is a familiar, if contested, theme in contemporary health and social care. If it is to be more than a passing fashion, there need to be much stronger and more credible partnerships between practitioners and researchers. This article identifies key lessons derived from a small local experiment (DATAR) in the UK which sought to build a bridge between a locality in a large rural social services department and a child care research unit.

• Findings: If knowledge is seen essentially as ‘one-way traffic’, from research to practice, then evidence-based practice is likely to be a project destined for disillusionment.

• Applications: For evidence-based practice to succeed and benefit the children and families that each partner seeks to serve, it needs sustained commitment, authentic collaboration and a shared belief in each other’s contribution to the development of knowledge that works. Rather than indulge in rather futile contests between art and science or between process and product, we need to increase our capacity to embrace different sorts of knowledge

Key Words: bridge-building • evidence • partnership • practice • research

Journal of Social Work, Vol. 2, No. 1, 105-122 (2002)
DOI: 10.1177/146801730200200107


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