Evidence-Based Practice, Descriptive Research and the Resilience–Schema–Gender–Brain Functioning (RSGB) Assessment
Jane F. Gilgun is a professor at the School of Social Work, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA. She does research on children, adolescents and adults who have confronted serious adversities. Her focus is on the development of violent behaviours, the meanings of violence to perpetrators and how persons cope with, adapt to and overcome adversities. She has presented locally, nationally and internationally on resilience, her violence research and on qualitative research methods, including the use of qualitative approaches for the development of assessment tools for human services.
Correspondence to Professor Jane F. Gilgun, School of Social Work, University of Minnesota, 1404 Gortner Avenue, St Paul, MN 55108, USA; Email: jgilgun{at}umn.edu
This paper is a response to trends in the evidence-based practice (EBP) movement that emphasizes evidence for interventions over evidence for assessment and treatment planning. I show the relevance of descriptive, non-experimental research to assessment and treatment planning, which are the foundations of effective practice. I also wanted to contribute to definitions of the term ‘evidence’ and to conceptualizations of clinical expertise and client concerns and preferences, all of which are underconceptualized in EBP and evidence-based medicine, which is the parent discipline of EBP. I have illustrated these points through my presentation of descriptive, non-experimental research on resilience, schema theory, gender studies and brain functioning, which I call the RSGB assessment and I have applied this assessment to practice with families whose children have emotional and behavioural issues. Thus, I have sought to show that effective interventions are not possible without an in-deep understanding of the persons and systems with whom we intervene.
Keywords: Evidence-based practice, descriptive research, assessment, children and families
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