Mission Possible; Building Social Work Professional Identity through Fieldwork Placements in China

Abstract

Social work training programmes in China have increased rapidly in the last decade. Their growth mirrors the increase in social problems that China faces as its economy develops and the disparities between rich and poor multiply. There is little recognition either by the government or citizens of the profession of social work and so no clear idea of what it might achieve. Thus the development of social work in China faces many difficulties among which is a dearth of professionally qualified social workers to teach, and to supervise fieldwork placements. This paper discusses a collaborative MSW programme between the University of Hong Kong and Fudan University in Shanghai. It analyses the growth in professional identity of nine students in the programme undertaking their first supervised fieldwork placement in Shanghai. They were asked to write 500‐word statements before and after their placement about their understanding of the role of social workers and their sense of professional identity. An analysis of these statements forms the basis of this article. The article addresses the issue of whether the construction of a professional identity will rest with members of the embryonic profession or with government bureaucrats largely concerned with the maintenance of stability and the management of social change.

Keywords:

• China
• Fieldwork
• Professional Identity
• Bureaucratization

Notes

1. In January 2005, a new Department of Social Work was set up in Fudan University. It was then subsumed under the newly formed School of Social Development and Public Policy, together with several other departments and centres including among others, the Department of Sociology and Department of Psychology.

2. The remaining three students took their placements in Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

3. The experience of the placement is documented in the following website: http://fudan.sw.hku.hk/fieldwork.

4. The concept and practice of handling personal data in China is a point of concern for practitioners coming from societies where privacy laws and procedures for protecting clients' confidentiality are in place. During our placement, students were constantly reminded about the principles and proper procedures of handling clients' personal data.

5. The second author has considerable experience of interviewing people with a mental illness in hospital and outpatient departments in China. It is always the case that patients will be accompanied by a family member (or rarely, a cadre from their village or workplace if they are without family) and interviewed in the presence of that family member. The notion that there may be information that the patient would prefer not to disclose in front of a family member barely exists. Family members also make all decisions regarding seeking treatment and paying for it. The patient has no voice in this.

6. Only eight students' comments are described in detail as those of the ninth student did not arrive and could not be replaced.