Social Work and Child and Adolescent Abuse: between Knowing and Doing. Discussions about Research and Intervention

Abstract

Both the study and the practices oriented to the intervention in child and adolescent abuse (MIJ, for its initials in Spanish) have been, in recent decades, a source of controversy and discussion in various fields. This requires not only to shed a light on theoretical models of analysis of MIJ, but also to review and challenge the professional, research and teaching practices that address them. As a result, this paper inquires about the existence of an epistemological tension between research and intervention for social work, particularly on the problem of MIJ. Although in the field of social sciences this discussion seems to be settled, epistemological questions still arise within social work about whether these two dimensions can/should be carried out due to their origins. This raises the question of whether research and intervention are two specific instances, and therefore different constructions, or may be part of the same process for addressing a given situation. Without intending to give definite answers, the goal is to create spaces for discussion in social sciences, in general, and social work, in particular.