Professional Identity of Social Work

With around 100,000 social workers in England, it can be hard to identify a single professional identity. Professional identity covers everything from the alignment of different roles across the social work sector to general responsibilities, values and ethical standards within the profession.

Being a social worker covers a range of job types, demographics and motivations. You could be a hospital-based social worker helping discharge people to their home, or are focussed on helping young offenders move away from criminal behaviour. Social work covers child protection, helping and supporting disabled children or those with learning difficulties, and working with those who have mental health issues.

Each person going into a social work role has their own – and often very personal – reasons for doing so. And with these diverse roles and motivations comes a disparate and often fractured sense of identity.

But like most professions, there is a professional identity attached to the title of ‘social worker’. What defines this identity and how it is shared across the sector can be hugely important for a number of reasons.

What Does Professional Identity Actually Mean?

While most people could give their idea of it, it’s actually hard to pin down a definition. A US study found that while professional identity is hugely important in the health sector, an agreed‐upon definition of the term has not been created.

This study felt this lack of clarity risked “inconsistent and unsupported development of professional identity” within social work.

For this article, we’ll consider professional identity as the actions, behaviours, knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and ethics associated with social work, and how this is portrayed both within the sector and to people outside the industry.

Why is Professional Identity So Important In Social Work?

Professional identity is important as a way for social workers to position themselves and their colleagues to the outside world – and to others who they might cross professional paths with. It says: “We are part of a profession, and this is what this profession stands for”.

In social work, it can be even more important due to many people on the outside having preconceived ideas of what a social work professional does and who goes into social work.

It’s also key to get to the core of what social work is – as it covers a variety of roles, requirements and skill sets.

By developing a focused and honest professional identity, social workers can show to the outside world – and those working in related care sectors – what they do, how they do it and, more importantly, why they do it.

It can help with:

Self-Esteem

It’s felt that having a sense of professional identity can help boost personal pride and provide a sense of self-esteem in the many social workers who are often on the end of bad press.

Retain Workers

It can help in the training, hiring and retention of social workers. A study looking at ways to reduce the turnover of social workers in China urged public service agencies to strengthen the professional identity and professional value of social work.

Adapt Quickly

Social workers who are moving from organisation to organisation need to be able to retain their professional identity. Studies found that how someone adapts to new roles depends on whether they identify with the organisation itself (NHS trust, council etc) or the role (social worker, OTC).

Develop Codes of Conduct

It can also help industry bodies to create codes of conduct and behavioural guidelines for social workers. A fixed professional identity can be used to craft the rules and regulations of a sector, and help define professional and unprofessional behaviours.

Reduce Burnout

For students coming into the industry, there is an expectation they develop a professional identity through education and into their careers. When they are in their careers, having a strong sense of professional identity could help make them more resilient to stress.

Develop Better Working Relationships

A British Association of Social Workers (BASW) study concluded that despite social workers having a strong shared character, many identified professionally with non-social work colleagues more, due to a lack of professional identity.

With around 100,000 social workers in England, it can be hard to identify a single professional identity. Professional identity covers everything from the alignment of different roles across the social work sector to general responsibilities, values and ethical standards within the profession.

Being a social worker covers a range of job types, demographics and motivations. You could be a hospital-based social worker helping discharge people to their home, or are focussed on helping young offenders move away from criminal behaviour. Social work covers child protection, helping and supporting disabled children or those with learning difficulties, and working with those who have mental health issues.

Each person going into a social work role has their own – and often very personal – reasons for doing so. And with these diverse roles and motivations comes a disparate and often fractured sense of identity.

But like most professions, there is a professional identity attached to the title of ‘social worker’. What defines this identity and how it is shared across the sector can be hugely important for a number of reasons.

What Does Professional Identity Actually Mean?

While most people could give their idea of it, it’s actually hard to pin down a definition. A US study found that while professional identity is hugely important in the health sector, an agreed‐upon definition of the term has not been created.

This study felt this lack of clarity risked “inconsistent and unsupported development of professional identity” within social work.

For this article, we’ll consider professional identity as the actions, behaviours, knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and ethics associated with social work, and how this is portrayed both within the sector and to people outside the industry.

Why is Professional Identity So Important In Social Work?

Professional identity is important as a way for social workers to position themselves and their colleagues to the outside world – and to others who they might cross professional paths with. It says: “We are part of a profession, and this is what this profession stands for”.

In social work, it can be even more important due to many people on the outside having preconceived ideas of what a social work professional does and who goes into social work.

It’s also key to get to the core of what social work is – as it covers a variety of roles, requirements and skill sets.

By developing a focused and honest professional identity, social workers can show to the outside world – and those working in related care sectors – what they do, how they do it and, more importantly, why they do it.

It can help with:

Self-Esteem

It’s felt that having a sense of professional identity can help boost personal pride and provide a sense of self-esteem in the many social workers who are often on the end of bad press.

Retain Workers

It can help in the training, hiring and retention of social workers. A study looking at ways to reduce the turnover of social workers in China urged public service agencies to strengthen the professional identity and professional value of social work.

Adapt Quickly

Social workers who are moving from organisation to organisation need to be able to retain their professional identity. Studies found that how someone adapts to new roles depends on whether they identify with the organisation itself (NHS trust, council etc) or the role (social worker, OTC).

Develop Codes of Conduct

It can also help industry bodies to create codes of conduct and behavioural guidelines for social workers. A fixed professional identity can be used to craft the rules and regulations of a sector, and help define professional and unprofessional behaviours.

Reduce Burnout

For students coming into the industry, there is an expectation they develop a professional identity through education and into their careers. When they are in their careers, having a strong sense of professional identity could help make them more resilient to stress.

Develop Better Working Relationships

A British Association of Social Workers (BASW) study concluded that despite social workers having a strong shared character, many identified professionally with non-social work colleagues more, due to a lack of professional identity.

Developing A Professional Identity: Social Worker Demographics

Again, the physical make-up of a social worker doesn’t alone define their professional identity. But, like the personality traits above, demographic data can give an overview of those working in the industry, which can help shape professional identity.

Data shows:

• 82.6% of social workers in England identify as female and 17.3% identify as male
• The average age of a social worker in England is 45.
• The age group with the fewest social workers was 21-25 (3,641) compared to 13,292 aged 51 to 55.
• After British, the most common nationalities of social workers in England are Zimbabwean and Irish.
• The North East has the highest ratio of social workers to the local population with a ratio of 1 social worker to every 519 people
• South East has the lowest with a ratio of 1 social worker to 685 people.

Developing A Professional Identity: The Defining Features of Social Workers

Social workers are not a singular type of professional worker. They can cover a range of roles, experience and personalities. But, to develop a professional identity we need to look at what the core features are – the core beliefs of an average social worker.

If we consider professional identity as the actions, behaviours, knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and ethics of a social worker, we can then start to create some defining features of a social workers professional identity.

These features were covered in a BASW study into Shaping Social Workers’ Identity.

Empowering Users

25% of social workers identified most closely with empowering service users and working in partnership with them. These are core values of a social worker that create part of their professional identity.

Being Qualified

For 17%, having a social work qualification was most important part of what defined a social worker.

Promoting Values & Respect

One in nine (11%) felt that promoting the social work values and showing respect for diversity mattered most to their sense of professional identity.

Regulation

Being part of a regulated profession was key to many. Though this changed depending on age with 60% of those who have been working in the sector for over 20 years likely to consider themselves to be part of a regulated profession. For newly qualified social workers, 63% simply saw themselves as “employees”.

Training

Part of the knowledge and skills of social workers comes from the continuing professional development. For more than half (52%), training and building their skills was a way to be the best they can for people they support. 46% did it to motivate them to be a better social worker.

Reflective Practices

Reflective practice is also a core part of what makes up a social worker’s defining features. This technique – sometimes simply referred to a ‘reflection’ – is used widely among social workers to frame why they are doing their job. It focusses on what has worked well, where skills need improving, how their work impacts others, and the process that leads to the final outcome.

Reflection is also required as part of Social Work England’s CPD. They are seeking people to not just tick boxes and complete tasks, but to question why that task was done, how the process could be improved and find learning needs to create a cycle of ‘experience, reflection, learning and change’.

Developing A Professional Identity: Professional Standards

Another way to look at what makes a social worker is through the industry’s Professional Standards. The key aims of Social Work England’s Professional Standards are to promote the rights, strengths and wellbeing of people, families and communities. This is broken down into the following:

• Promoting the rights, strengths and wellbeing of people, families and communities
• Establishing and maintaining the trust and confidence of people
• Being accountable for the quality of practice and decisions made
• Maintaining continuing professional development
• Acting safely, respectfully and with professional integrity
• Promoting ethical practice and report concerns

Developing A Professional Identity: Social Worker Demographics

Again, the physical make-up of a social worker doesn’t alone define their professional identity. But, like the personality traits above, demographic data can give an overview of those working in the industry, which can help shape professional identity.

Data shows:

• 82.6% of social workers in England identify as female and 17.3% identify as male
• The average age of a social worker in England is 45.
• The age group with the fewest social workers was 21-25 (3,641) compared to 13,292 aged 51 to 55.
• After British, the most common nationalities of social workers in England are Zimbabwean and Irish.
• The North East has the highest ratio of social workers to the local population with a ratio of 1 social worker to every 519 people
• South East has the lowest with a ratio of 1 social worker to 685 people.

Developing A Professional Identity: The Defining Features of Social Workers

Social workers are not a singular type of professional worker. They can cover a range of roles, experience and personalities. But, to develop a professional identity we need to look at what the core features are – the core beliefs of an average social worker.

If we consider professional identity as the actions, behaviours, knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and ethics of a social worker, we can then start to create some defining features of a social workers professional identity.

These features were covered in a BASW study into Shaping Social Workers’ Identity.

Empowering Users

25% of social workers identified most closely with empowering service users and working in partnership with them. These are core values of a social worker that create part of their professional identity.

Being Qualified

For 17%, having a social work qualification was most important part of what defined a social worker.

Promoting Values & Respect

One in nine (11%) felt that promoting the social work values and showing respect for diversity mattered most to their sense of professional identity.

Regulation

Being part of a regulated profession was key to many. Though this changed depending on age with 60% of those who have been working in the sector for over 20 years likely to consider themselves to be part of a regulated profession. For newly qualified social workers, 63% simply saw themselves as “employees”.

Training

Part of the knowledge and skills of social workers comes from the continuing professional development. For more than half (52%), training and building their skills was a way to be the best they can for people they support. 46% did it to motivate them to be a better social worker.

Reflective Practices

Reflective practice is also a core part of what makes up a social worker’s defining features. This technique – sometimes simply referred to a ‘reflection’ – is used widely among social workers to frame why they are doing their job. It focusses on what has worked well, where skills need improving, how their work impacts others, and the process that leads to the final outcome.

Reflection is also required as part of Social Work England’s CPD. They are seeking people to not just tick boxes and complete tasks, but to question why that task was done, how the process could be improved and find learning needs to create a cycle of ‘experience, reflection, learning and change’.

Developing A Professional Identity: Professional Standards

Another way to look at what makes a social worker is through the industry’s Professional Standards. The key aims of Social Work England’s Professional Standards are to promote the rights, strengths and wellbeing of people, families and communities. This is broken down into the following:

• Promoting the rights, strengths and wellbeing of people, families and communities
• Establishing and maintaining the trust and confidence of people
• Being accountable for the quality of practice and decisions made
• Maintaining continuing professional development
• Acting safely, respectfully and with professional integrity
• Promoting ethical practice and report concerns

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