The trouble with the researcher-practitioner idea

Practitioners need research to put reason and order into the madness of practice. The gulf that divides research and practice is partly on illusion. The controversy is entangled in philosophical issues that have not been sufficiently explored in social work. practice and research both have embraced ''psychic determinism,'' removing themselves from dealing with the powerful influence of the environment on personal troubles. To complicate matters, new technology has emerged to take on some key research tasks, thus changing the whole nature of the discourse between research and practice.