Blurring Private–Professional Boundaries: Does it Matter? Issues in Researching Social Work Students' Perceptions about Professional Regulation

Abstract

Social work students in England now have to register with the General Social Care Council and ‘sign up to’ the codes of practice. These specify that social workers must not ‘behave in a way, in work or outside work, which would call into question [their] suitability to work in social care services'. This paper describes a small and ongoing piece of doctoral research into social work students' perceptions of professional regulation. The policy context for social work regulation is outlined, including the implications for social work educators and students. The paper discusses the ethical and methodological issues which arose when planning the study. In conclusion, regulation has benefits for service users and professionals, but its implementation involves difficult ethical decisions. When students' suitability is called into question, there are implications for their personal and professional identities: exploring these implications will be the focus of the next stage of the research.

Keywords:

• Professional Regulation
• Ethical Issues
• Research
• Social Work Education
• Discourse of Risk
• Private–Professional Boundaries

Acknowledgements

This article is based on a paper presented to the Joint Social Work Education conference in Cambridge, 2008. The author is grateful to fellow delegates for their encouragement and helpful comments.

Notes

¹Each country in the United Kingdom has its own regulatory body. The codes of practice, however, were developed jointly and, apart from some differences in wording, are common to all four countries.

²The terms ‘suitable’ and ‘unsuitable’ are used by the care councils in relation to registration.

³This is not a legal requirement but one linked with the funding of practice placements.

⁴Perry's data record the percentage of students who self-reported offences under different categories. These range from 8 per cent for ‘breaking and entering’ to 69 per cent for traffic offences. My figure of 28 per cent is calculated from amalgamating the different categories.

⁵This figure is given for the period 1 April 2003–31 March 2007. No equivalent figure is given for the period 1 April 2007–31 March 2008.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fran Wiles

Fran Wiles is a lecturer in social work at the Open University, and currently the Assistant Director (Professional Practice). She is undertaking doctoral research on social work students' experiences and perceptions of professional regulation