Thompson (2000) argues persuasively for the use of theory, generally, in professional practice. All of his arguments are relevant to guidance. Some of them are summarised below:

Anti-discrimination
Theory provides an alternative to relying, uncritically, on a common sense. This is necessary because common sense often perpetuates and/or reinforces discriminatory and oppressive practices (e.g. a women's place is in the home).

Continuous professional development
If practice becomes routine, the practitioner may fail to think about his/her work and fall into rigid repetition. Schon (1983) refers to this as `selective inattention'. Theories provide frameworks of explanation so that we can extend and develop our understanding of our professional context. Professional development is increasingly demanded of practitioners who are extorted to become `reflective practitioners', and theory must play a central role in this process.

Professional accountability
Guidance services are still very dependant on public expenditure. With this funding, comes a range of mechanisms to hold services accountable (appraisals, audits, reviews, etc.). When required to account for their behaviour and actions, it is essential that practice can be articulated in an explanatory framework which:

• clarifies the basis of the intervention and the objectives set;
• explains the actions taken to meet the objectives and the reasons for doing so;
• evaluates the intervention.

Inappropriate responses
Failure to draw on updated, theoretical knowledge may lead to inappropriate response on the part of the practitioner. While a theory-based approach does not guarantee an appropriate response, it does give a framework for analysing the situation and generating a number of possible options (i.e. as `reserves' to back up to the routine use of implicit knowledge).

This reminds us of the importance of our choice of theory for practice and the need to keep abreast of theory developments.

Reference

Thompson 2000

Thompson, N. (2000) (2nd Ed) Theory & Practice in Health and Social Welfare, Buckingham: Open University.