Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 18, 2026

Enactive Phenomenological Approach to the Trier Social Stress Test: A Mixed Methods Point of View
Published on: January 7, 2019
Critical reflection to identify gaps between espoused theory and theory-in-use
1Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. savaya@post.tau.ac.il
Abstract:
Critical reflection (CR) is a process by which one may identify the assumptions governing one's actions, question them, and develop alternative behaviors. This article presents two cases that demonstrate the use of CR to raise social workers' awareness of gaps between what Schon and Argryis term social workers' "espoused theories" and the "theories-in-use" that actually guide social workers' practice and to help them to develop more effective models of practice based on the understanding they gain. With this, the cases also show that CR can be a painful, even wrenching, process, in which practitioners confront previously unacknowledged qualities or tendencies in themselves that can evoke strong feelings.
Related Concept Videos
Introspection
Self-Discrepancy Theory
Theory of Attribution II: Kelley's Covariation Theory
Critical Thinking II
Social Foundations of Self II: The Generalized Other
The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison
