Social work as a semi-profession in Hong Kong

Abstract

Scholarship on semi-professions is scarce, particularly when it comes to their existence and status in Hong Kong context. This study focuses on social work as a semi-profession. It aims to explore social workers’ perception of the construct of ‘social work as a profession’ and how it is challenged by professionalization, professionalism and managerialism. On top of this, the inherent problematics within social work and under the existing socio-political environment shake professional status of the industry and identity of social workers. The methodology employed in this study is qualitative. More exactly, in-depth interviews are used to look into the thoughts, perceptions, feelings and accounts shared by participants. Thirty-three informants were, invited to take part in a semi-structured interview. The data reveals that most of the respondents perceive social work as a profession. However, when they face with challenges, incurred both from within the industry or impacts posed by external environment, they tend to use their own tactics to cope. These tactics are derived from their different subject positions within discourses. The perception of social work as a profession develops concomitantly with the undergoing institutional training in social work. Curriculum design and content, teaching and learning modes, socialization embedded in teaching and fieldwork education, etc. are all aspects that shape prospective social workers’ perception about social work. However, when they enter the industry in reality, they encounter problematics in knowledge-practice discrepancies. Some of them face even greater challenges upon finding themselves in cross-disciplinaries work settings or multi-professional collaboration teams. Tensions are found within social work sector with the introduction of new managerialism, and have been intensified after implementation of the Lump Sum Grant (LSG). The dominant tendency in scholarship on social work is to put it as a semi-profession, not a full profession. Findings of this study contradicts such ‘either-or’ perspective by showing respondents’ struggles and coping methods within a de-professionalization process. As such, the current study brings an empirical contribution to an understanding of how perceptions of social work as a profession are constructed and its influences in substance to social workers’ identity and practices.