Suchergebnisse

Perceptions of professional identity and its formation during education at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Ljubljana

Professional identity in social work can be described as a collection of identifiable and enduring professional qualities of social workers that bind them together as a professional group and make them different and unique compared to other professional groups. As the social work profession is devalued and stigmatized around the world, exploring the processes involved in developing a strong and positive professional identity is of great importance. The need to explore social work professional identity has been recognized in some places abroad and has mainly focused on researching professional identity formation during social work education. This paper presents findings on the definition and role of professional identity in social work, focusing on professional identity formation during education at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Ljubljana. Qualitative research on social work students' perceptions of professional identity is presented, as well as suggestions for a more frequent and discrete treatment of the topic during the education of future social workers.