Philosophical Issues in Doctoral Education in Social Work

Although debate continues about philosophical, especially epistemological, issues in social work, little attention has been given to doctoral education and curricula in this area. This article reports on a 1997 survey of doctoral program directors about the inclusion of philosophical issues in the curriculum and their satisfaction with it. The survey asks about traditional and emergent epistemologies, including heuristics, social constructivism, and other forms of postmodernism. Responses to Likert-type and open-ended questions suggest that such content is commonly included in research courses, but that program directors face tensions with including content on epistemologies other than logical positivism.