| There are those of our colleagues who would have had us wait to publish
the PIE system until it had been thoroughly tested and demonstrated to be totally accurate
and reliable (Karls & Wandrei, 1993a, 1993b; Kutchins & Kirk, 1993a, 1993b;
Wandrei, 1992–1993). To them we say that if one had to wait to meet those standards,
there would never be any classification system—for medicine, psychiatry, social work,
or any field of practice. Other colleagues have advised us to proceed with publication so
that the social work community will have a chance to learn about this system and take this
important step in the development of the profession. It is with some trepidation that we
put out a work we know is incomplete, and yet we have chosen to take this stance and let
the social work community know about, study, and try the PIE system. We hope that this
will be the first of many steps needed to produce a universal classification system for
our profession. We have two other reasons for producing this book. First, we are
unabashedly ambitious for our profession. We want consumers and other professions alike to
recognize social work as the profession that can best help with the social functioning
problems that befall us all. We are convinced that, for this to happen, social work must
acquire and use its own language to communicate the work it does and the role it plays in
eliminating or alleviating problems in the human condition. We are clearly advocating that
PIE be that language. Thus, we have devoted a considerable amount of time and energy to
producing a book that can help social workers learn this new language and learn how to use
it in work with their clients.
Our second motive is a little less selfish. As social workers we want our clients to
receive the help they need as quickly and efficiently as possible. Since the PIE project
began, both case management and managed health care have come into increasing prominence.
We are convinced that for social work to meet the demands that these approaches to service
delivery will require, there must be a uniform yet comprehensive assessment of the
client's problems. Along with this assessment there must be clearer intervention planning
and implementation than generally occurs in human services programs. We are certain that
PIE can be the tool that leads to better, quicker, more cost-effective assessment and
intervention planning.
We are also convinced, or perhaps just hopeful, that the social work profession has
reached a degree of maturity at which its educators, practitioners, administrators, and
researchers can see the importance of establishing a common language for communicating
with each other and move into an era of closer collaboration. We hope PIE will help social
work address the societal and individual social functioning problems it was created to
solve.
References
Karls, J., & Wandrei, K. (1993a, April). PIE Project. NASW California
News, p.4.
Karls, J., & Wandrei, K. (1993b, September). Another slice of PIE. NASW
California News, p. 11.
Kutchins, H., & Kirk, S. (1993a, February). Response: Selling of the
DSM. NASW California News, p. 8.
Kutchins, H., & Kirk, S. (1993b, May). Response to a response. NASW
California News, p. 3.
Wandrei, K. (1992–1993, December–January). Review of The Selling
of DSM. NASW California News, p. 5.
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