Reaching out for skilful performance: The importance of tacit knowledge in handling domestic violence

This article aims to contribute to skilful performance by reflecting on the importance of tacit knowing for practitioners who handle domestic violence in the field. Polanyi's insights on tacit knowing, skills and learning are applied to domestic violence cases and to reflections on approaches and developments in the field in which tacit knowing is embodied and expressed. Furthermore, it relates to the work that practitioners engage in directly with clients, to Sennett's sociological themes on craftsmanship and good work, on front-line work in child protection the handling of domestic violence, and on learning from complex, sometimes fatal, cases. This leads to the conclusion that formal and informal knowing and intense learning need to be intertwined in a balanced way.