The Professional Identity of Social Workers in Mental Health Services: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Recent research into the role of mental health social work has identified a need for increased critical engagement with accounts of professional role and identity. Notably, a number of studies have found that social workers struggle to articulate their role within mental health teams and services. This study aimed to identify the ways in which social workers in mental health settings defined their professional identity and role. An international scoping review utilizing Arksey and O’Malley’s method was conducted, identifying 35 papers published between 1997 and 2022. A thematic analysis grouped the findings into three predominant themes: (i) distinct social work approaches to mental health, (ii) organizational negotiations for mental health social workers, and (iii) professional negotiations for mental health social workers. These thematic findings are discussed in relation to existing research and critical perspectives, with particular emphasis on accounts of the bureaucratic and ideological functioning of professionalism in mental health services, as well as the global direction of mental health policy. This review finds that mental health social work embodies a coherent identity that aligns with international mental health policy agendas but faces significant challenges in developing and expressing this identity within mental health services.

Becoming a social worker

“…Professional identity in social work remains a very important and yet highly contested issue (Webb, 2017). Its importance lies in the constant need for social workers to define and assert themselves professionally, particularly for those who practice in multidisciplinary settings (Bark et al, 2023). Although much scholarly attention has been paid to the concept, it remains a very complex process, which as Fran Wiles (2013, p. 864) insists, extends beyond 'adopting certain traits or values, or even demonstrating competence.'…”

Promoting psychosocial approaches for more compassionate mental health services

“…Research has found, for example, that social workers in multidisciplinary mental health services report marginalisation of their professional contributions, with social approaches to mental health considered subordinate to medical models of understanding mental health and its management 56. Research has also found the language of “recovery” to be contested in mental health services.…”