Reflections on social work's identity

Abstract

English Can we identify common themes characterizing the social work profession across cultures? Using Italian social workers' representations of their profession three core issues are identified that recur in international debates. Reconciling contradictory elements might be one of the common characteristics of the social work project across different countries. French Peut-on identifier des thèmes communs caractérisant les professions sociales à travers les cultures? En utilisant les représentations des travailleurs sociaux italiens sur l'identité de leur profession j'identifie trois questions centrales récurrentes dans les débats internationaux. Réconcilier des éléments contradictoires peut être une des caractéristiques communes du projet du travail social à travers différents pays. Spanish Podemos identificar temas comunes que caracterizan la profesión del trabajo social en diferentes culturas? Utilizando las representaciones que hacen los trabajadores sociales italianos de su profesión, yo identifico tres asuntos principales que son recurrentes en debates internacionales. Reconciliar elementos contradictorios es probablemente una de las características mÁs comunes de los proyectos de trabajo social alrededor del mundo.

Een zoektocht naar de identiteit van het sociaalwerkonderzoek: een reflectie over de kenmerken van een academische discipline

“…Het vierde terrein neemt de professie van de sociaal werker onder de loep. Men verricht onderzoek naar de identiteit van de sociaal werker, de beroepsopvatting, of de percepties over de eigenheid van de sociaal werker tegenover andere praktijkdisciplines, zoals huisartsen, verpleegkundigen, psychologen of therapeuten (Fargion, 2008;Scholte, 2010;Weiss-Gal & Welbourne, 2008). Een belangrijke vraag binnen dit onderzoek betreft de identiteit van de sociaal werk professie.…”

‘A who doing a what?’: Identity, practice and social work education

“…There are a number of claims made in the literature to define social work models, the social work purpose, provide a set of values in codes of conduct and describe 'ideal' types of social work. Whilst a considerable amount of research has been undertaken in the attempt to define what social work is and what social workers do, little consensus has been reached (Barnes & Hugman, 2002;Fargion, 2008;Gibelman, 1999). Nonetheless, a significant proportion of contemporary work refers to a variation of Payne's triangle model (Payne, 2005, pp.…”

“…Fargion's (2008) qualitative study explored themes present in Italian practitioners' representations of social work through focus groups. She found that Italian social work practitioners reflect the ongoing micro-macro debates present in literature that seek to define social work as a structural or individual pursuit (Fargion, 2008).…”

“…Fargion's (2008) qualitative study explored themes present in Italian practitioners' representations of social work through focus groups. She found that Italian social work practitioners reflect the ongoing micro-macro debates present in literature that seek to define social work as a structural or individual pursuit (Fargion, 2008). Furthermore, she suggested that practitioners frequently referred to scientific discourse in their representations of social work, which related to professionalism, evidence-based interventions, rationality and effectiveness (Fargion, 2008).…”

“…She found that Italian social work practitioners reflect the ongoing micro-macro debates present in literature that seek to define social work as a structural or individual pursuit (Fargion, 2008). Furthermore, she suggested that practitioners frequently referred to scientific discourse in their representations of social work, which related to professionalism, evidence-based interventions, rationality and effectiveness (Fargion, 2008). Zufferey (2012) interviewed 39 Australian social work practitioners employed in the field of homelessness about how they constructed social work identity.…”