Identity Confusion Of Social Work Interns In Mental Institutions

Social work interns are prone to identity confusion in the process of field placements in mental health institutions,and identity is of great significance for social work interns to actively participate in social work field placements.Therefore,in order to explore the causes of social work interns’ identity confusion in mental health institutions,this study mainly discusses the following question:How is the identity confusion of social work interns shaped in the interaction with their key actors?This study adopts the method of qualitative research.Through unstructured interviews with 11 social work interns who practiced in Yun Mental Health Center during September 2020 to January 2022,and 3 key actors who interacted with the above social work interns during their field placements,this paper attempts to establish a framework of"expectation-power" based on social construction theory,and mainly analyzes the causes of their identity confusion from the perspective of social work interns.The results show that the identity confusion of social work interns is the result of the expectation conflict between social work interns and different actors,and the power advantage of different actors over social work interns.Social work interns,school tutors and social work supervisors have conflicts of expectation between being taught by professional social workers to accumulate professional knowledge and define responsibilities and entering wards alone to carry out professional practice in the process of field placement.Social work interns and medical staff have the expectation conflict between equal cooperation and assisting role in their mutual relationship.Social work interns and patients have the expectation conflict between professional helping activities and general support services in social work services.The power advantages of different actors are mainly manifested in the decision-making power of school tutors,the management power of social work supervisors,the power advantages of medical staff’s professional authority and administrative power,and the power strategy of patients.Power will force social work interns to passively internalize the expectations of different actors,and suppress self-identity with social-identity,instead of unifying social-identity and self-identity through social interaction.Eventually,social work interns cannot construct their own identity as social work interns,and fall into the identity confusion.The above research results have the following implications for social work field placement in mental health institutions.First,social work interns should fully understand the relevant fields before placement,so as to establish reasonable expectations of field placements.Secondly,social work interns should avoid overemphasizing their own professional identity when constructing their identity in cross-professional team,but should pay attention to the professional role and ability of social work,so as to expand the scope of duties and establish their professional identity constantly.