Harm Reduction in Substance Abuse Treatment: Pragmatism as an Epistemology for Social Work Practice

Лушин, Виктор; Anastas, Jeane W.

doi:10.1080/1533256x.2011.546205

Cited by 25 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…These articles range from position pieces promoting harm reduction philosophy as something aligned with our values (Bigler 2005;Brocato and Wagner 2003;Lushin and Anastas 2011;Macmaster 2004;Reid 2002;Seiger 2003;Straussner 2012;van Wormer 2004) to empirical outcome studies of the approach in various settings (Davis et al 2014;Karoll 2010;Mancini et al 2008;Witkiewitz 2005). In addition, social workers have published articles relating to harm reduction in other professional journals (Henwood et al 2014;Lee et al 2011;Little 2006, Little andFranskoviak 2010;Little et al 2008).…”

Section: Harm Reduction and Social Work: Natural Partnersmentioning

confidence: 96%

Starting Where the Client Is: Harm Reduction Guidelines for Clinical Social Work Practice

Vakharia

Little

2016

Clin Soc Work J

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Harm reduction has gradually entered social work discourse and is now seen as a promising approach for treating individuals with drug and alcohol problems. However, beyond statements and data supporting the utility of a harm reduction approach, few guidelines for clinical practice have been detailed in the social work literature. This lack of concrete detail regarding how harm reduction is actually practiced limits the potential implementation of the model into day-to-day clinical work. This article reiterates that harm reduction is a viable approach to clinical social work practice with individuals who have drug-and alcohol-related problems and for whom traditional approaches may be inappropriate. It focuses on harm reduction therapy as an emerging treatment model that can be implemented by clinical social workers and mentalhealth and substance use treatment providers. The article identifies and elaborates several basic tenets that can be incorporated into clinical social work. It is hoped that social workers who learn how harm reduction is implemented in clinical practice will be more apt to incorporate its principles into their work.

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Section: Harm Reduction and Social Work: Natural Partnersmentioning

confidence: 96%

Starting Where the Client Is: Harm Reduction Guidelines for Clinical Social Work Practice

Vakharia

Little

2016

Clin Soc Work J

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“…They summarize pragmatism as supporting methodological pluralism without ''epistemological or moral relativism'' (p. 807) from an action-oriented perspective, meaning that studies of the usefulness of programs and practices without a ''hierarchy of evidence'' would have high priority. The adoption of the harm reduction approach to substance abuse treatment is an example of pragmatism in action: An idea ''proven'' in practice took hold in contrast to abstinence models, and later empirical study has confirmed its effectiveness (Lushin and Anastas 2011). However, while the usefulness of pragmatism as an epistemology has been discussed in other fields (Goldenberg 2006(Goldenberg , 2009Hansen 2007;Cornish and Gillespie 2009), I have not yet found it elaborated in the current social work literature.…”

Section: Pragmatismsmentioning

confidence: 95%

From Scientism to Science: How Contemporary Epistemology Can Inform Practice Research

Anastas

2012

Clin Soc Work J

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Fifty years ago, social work understood research as depicted by logical positivism and its successors, and an obsolete scientism still held sway. This paper will briefly trace the history of the epistemological debate that has taken place in social work in the last 30 years, which is directly related to the credibility of agency-based research and of qualitative methods as well as to issues in knowledge development about oppressed groups. Contemporary epistemologies-realism and pragmatism-offer frameworks that are compatible with what is needed for practice-relevant research and knowledge development: firm grounding for methodological pluralism, attention to the social and political nature of science, the embrace of theory, and an end to scientism without resort to relativism. If these changes in epistemological thinking can be fully embraced, the twentyfirst century can be a very productive one for agency-based and practice-relevant social work research.Keywords Social work research Á Epistemology Á Realism Á Pragmatism Á Critical theory Á Practice research Fifty years ago, social work and the social sciences understood research as depicted by logical positivism and its successors. In 1960, what Heinemann (Pieper) (1981 called an obsolete scientism still held sway, discrediting both practice-based research and analytically-informed practice. Since then, social work has grown in the sophistication of its thinking about epistemology, which can legitimate practice-relevant research methods and models for the future. However, greater knowledge of contemporary epistemologies will be needed to strengthen practicerelevant research in the years to come. This paper will briefly trace the history of the epistemological debate that has taken place in social work in the last 30 years, which is important for the credibility of agency-based research and of qualitative methods as well as to issues in knowledge development about oppressed groups. It will outline two contemporary epistemologiesrealism and pragmatism-that can inform and support a range of research methods and innovative approaches to practice-relevant research. Influences from social constructionism and from feminist and post-colonialist analyses will also be briefly discussed since they have influenced contemporary thinking in both realism and pragmatism.To position myself in this task, I am not formally educated in philosophy or epistemology. However as a teacher and practitioner of social work research, I encountered problems with the dominant view of science and research, and I was fortunate to have had a doctoral education that introduced me to epistemological thinking. Feminist critiques of knowledge development were also influential. The views I have developed on these matters come from reading in the field over many years, but they do not do justice to the precise and important debates that take place among philosophers of science. My goal instead is to present the broad outlines of two kinds of current epistemological thinking. However, no reader should ...

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“…Recently, there have been a greater number of articles emerging focusing on social work students’ attitudes towards harm reduction (Moore & Mattaini, 2014) and challenging dominant epistemologies of the disease model of addiction (Lushin & Anastas, 2011; Souleymanov & Allman, 2015). Though there are many studies of social work at NEPs abroad (e.g.…”

Section: Needle Exchange As a Social And Healthcare Interventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Significance of Harm Reduction as a Social and Health Care Intervention for Injecting Drug Users: An Exploratory Study of a Needle Exchange Program in Fresno, California

Clarke

Harris

Zweifler

et al. 2016

Social Work in Public Health

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Harm Reduction in Substance Abuse Treatment: Pragmatism as an Epistemology for Social Work Practice

Cited by 25 publications

References 10 publications

Starting Where the Client Is: Harm Reduction Guidelines for Clinical Social Work Practice

Starting Where the Client Is: Harm Reduction Guidelines for Clinical Social Work Practice

From Scientism to Science: How Contemporary Epistemology Can Inform Practice Research

The Significance of Harm Reduction as a Social and Health Care Intervention for Injecting Drug Users: An Exploratory Study of a Needle Exchange Program in Fresno, California

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