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This paper addresses the issue of the status of developmental theories. It discusses the concepts of paradigm, metaphor, and narrative as these apply to developmental theories. The author argues that all developmental theories use metaphors as explanatory models. The type of metaphor a theory uses determines whether or not it has a narrative structure. Developmental theories that use a contextual metaphor as opposed to those that use mechanistic or or-ganismic metaphors do not have narrative structure, although their applications to individual cases create narratives. By examining the type of metaphor developmental theories use it is possible to construct a theory that is both coherent and that corresponds to the events associated with development. This conclusion leads to the rejection of constructivist approaches to viewing development, and
A different version of this paper was presented at the conference “Theory Matters: A conference exploring the relationship between clinical theory and clinical practice,” sponsored by the Institute for Clinical Social Work, Chicago, September 23, 1994.
[Hnworth co-indexing entry note]: “Paradigms, Metaphors, and Narratives: Stories We Tell About Development.” . Co-published simultaneously in Journal of Analytic Social Work ( The Hnworth Press, Inc.) Vol. 3, No. 2/3, 1996, pp. 31-59; and: Narration and Therapeutic Action: Tlie Construction of Meaning in Psychoanalytic Social Work (ed: ) The Haworlh Press, Inc., 1996, pp. 31-59. Single or multiple copies of lliis article are available Tram The Haworlh Document Delivery Service [1-800-342-9678, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (EST) E-mail address: gel ].
suggests that it is possible for a developmental theory to attain the status of a paradigm.