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Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 4:49-56 (2004)
© 2004 Oxford University Press; all rights reserved

Teaching Students How to Avoid Errors in Theory Application

   Elizabeth M. Plionis, PhD

From the National Catholic School of Social Service at the Catholic University of America.

Contact author: Elizabeth M. Plionis, PhD, Assistant Dean & Associate Professor, Catholic University of America, National Catholic School of Social Service, Cardinal Station, 620 Michigan Avenue, Washington, DC 20064. E-mail: Plionis{at}cua.edu.

This article identifies six major misperceptions and errors in the application of theory in direct practice to establish the need for a conceptual tool capable of teaching direct practice and managing the practice environment. Such a tool is introduced as part of the previous article: "Decision Tree: A Conceptual Tool for Best Practices" (p. 37). The six errors and misperceptions are as follows: (1) one theory is as good as another theory, (2) nomothetic theory is interchangeable with practice theory, (3) a single theory can accommodate complex case data, (4) any theory can explain everything and anything, (5) eclecticism does no harm, (6) theory does not matter anyway. Case examples illustrating these errors are provided.

KEY WORDS: errors of theory application, critical thinking, human behavior theory, nomothetic theory, practice theory, case theory, model building, teaching, class and field instruction






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