The purpose of the study has been to explore how professionals in the field of social work view professional licensure. Through semi-structured interviews, we have explored their reflections and opinions on the potential of professional licensure, their perceptions of their work, and how they believe licensure could affect their area of work in relation to professional status. The results are presented based on a qualitative content analysis, and the responses indicate that professional licensure is expected to raise the status of social workers in society. The study presents the complexity of the social work profession’s field, where boundaries are often seen as diffuse externally. This is demonstrated from the study's results and previous research around the difficulties of implementing uniform professional licenses. The interviewees also emphasize the importance of social work education for the exclusivity of the profession, where a stronger connection between practice and theory may be suggested to strengthen the profession’s legitimacy. Another significant finding is the central role of social workers for the welfare and well-being of society. Although the social work profession can sometimes be perceived negatively by the public, partly due to media portrayal, the study points out that there is a need for the public to gain an improved understanding of social workers’ roles and competences. The study's findings indicate that this could strengthen the profession's legitimacy and status. Even though there is strong support for professional licensure for social workers, challenges also emerged regarding its implementation. Some interviewees felt that licensure should be limited to specific work roles and tasks, especially those involving the exercise of authority. Others expressed concern that the introduction of licensure could lead to even more fragmented professional identities. In conclusion, the study shows the collective support for professional licensure for social workers yet emphasizes the challenges that must be addressed in such a process for the implementation of licenses.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-218595 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Dahl Thörnström, Clara, Bäckstöm, Madelene |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Institutionen för socialt arbete |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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