Abstract

Summary: Social work practice has often been subject to trends, something that could arguably be the case now. Postmodernism is on a march that threatens the long-standing modernist perspective on which social work has traditionally been practiced. However, postmodernism has important lessons to teach and may correctly be observed as an alternative practice approach with distinct theories and methods of application.

Findings: The social work profession is under threat from creeping managerialism, bureaucracy and internally competing philosophies. Postmodernist perspectives have much to offer practitioners and the recipients of social work, but may be stifled because organisational structures, including academia, will have to embrace new practice methods in order for postmodernism to achieve widespread legitimacy. Traditional, modern social work practice with its empirically based frameworks and theories remains in the ascendancy for now.