Assessing assessment in social work

This article reviews trends in social work assessment that are likely to shape the future of clinical practice. In contrast to the rich contextual information provided by traditional psychosocial approaches to assessment, classification systems like DSM-III-R can lead to oversimplification and loss of information that is important to intervention planning. The movement toward the use of continuous, dimensional alternatives to categorical classifications will have a significant effect on clinical assessment and treatment monitoring. Technical advances and efforts to conceptualize and operationalize the contextual complexities of clients' lives will be increasingly important in the future.