Theories of social work

Social work has established itself as a scientific discipline. However, it does not have a binding central theory. Students of social work must engage with various concepts of disciplinary and professional theoretical reflection. Theory formation in social work must be understood as a theoretical discourse. Helmut Lambers introduces the complex landscape of theories and provides the necessary orientation. In addition to introducing the various theories, he conducts a comparison of theories. Here, the focus is on the different scientific concepts of knowledge and definitions of subject matter, attempts at typification, and also the common overlaps of theory formations.