Social Work and Neurosciences: Speeches and Theoretical Contributions

Abstract

The concept of “neuroscience” sometimes referred to as “the last frontier of biology” (Squire et al., 2008, p. 3) was introduced in the mid-1960s and is now recognized as a multidisciplinary field that analyzes the nervous system to understand the biological basis of human behavior. The ongoing developments and the arising production regarding the deepening of the structure, functions and functioning of the brain and its interaction with the environment enabled the identification of key elements reaching an unprecedented level of knowledge in the history of humankind. The multidisciplinary scientific approach, including non-clinical areas such as music, philosophy, education, mathematics, economics and physics, has also contributed to its further deepening. In the light of this scenario of interdependencies and disciplinary alliances, the discipline of the social and human sciences – social work – whose subject is conceived “from and for the practice” (Parton, 1996) in the day-to-day work with challenging social problems of various types and with different publics. Therefore, the present article aims to analyze what has been done to date since 2001, namely the input and contributions of authors and researchers in the field as well as to understand the input of neuroscience developments in their education and research. Also worth mentioning is the identification and relevance of the links between these domains which have contributed to the enrichment of the profession.