Abstract

The mission of social work includes dual and multisystemic goals, going beyond direct client services to addressing issues of social and economic justice. This philosophy has motivated some to castigate those social workers who use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Disorders (DSM), charging that the DSM is inherently flawed and contrary to social work aims. Yet the ethical demands for competence necessitate that social workers use the DSM effectively and accurately. Drawing on their combined thirty years of experience in teaching psychopathology and their own research (Lyter & Lyter, 2010), the authors examine the controversies and share their strategies to successfully address the compatibility of the DSM with social work values and ideals. The practice focus of this paper is intended to describe and demonstrate the authors’ method of putting research and theory into practice at the baccalaureate and graduate levels of pedagogy.