Study On The Professionalism Of Social Work In Improving The Quality Of Family Guardianship For Vulnerable Children

Professional social work has been developing in China for more than 40 years,and the development of social work professionalism has received common attention and appeal from the government and the industry.While practice is the prominent attribute of social work,empirical data are important for the study of social work professionalism.This study takes the family support program for vulnerable children in S city as an example to explore the professionalism of social work in the field of family guardianship support services for vulnerable children.This study sorted out the analysis framework of social work professionalism based on the existing papers and conducted data collection through the interview method.This study totally interviewed 23 social workers and 53 parents of vulnerable children who were served by the program.Combining the practice data and interview contents,the study analyzed the professionalism and its development dilemmas shown by social workers during their services to improve the quality of family guardianship for vulnerable children.Suggestions for improving the professionalism of social work were also put forward from relevant parties.There are three main findings of the study.Firstly,social work services to improve the quality of family guardianship for vulnerable children have shown strong professionalism in terms of professional theories and values,professional methods and techniques,and practical effectiveness.Secondly,there are also development dilemmas of professionalism in social work services,including the disconnection between theory and practice,homogenization of theory application,blurring of professional boundaries,insufficient ability of social workers to deal with complex problems,lack of connotation in professional methods,unstandardized integration skills,as well as insufficient professional identity,professional relationship affected by emotional factors,and difficult trade-off between service effectiveness and professionalism,etc.Thirdly,the enhancement of social work professionalism requires the strengthening of social workers’ own professional ability,as well as joint changes and efforts from relevant parties,so as to improve the professional autonomy and discourse of social work,and to provide a favorable environment for the development of social workers’ professional ability.This study uses social workers’ feedback and practice scenarios to reflect the current professionalism of social work and its development dilemmas,while proposing countermeasures to improve professionalism,which to a certain extent enriches the practice perspective of the research on the professionalism of social work,and also provides a reference to promote the professionalism of the family support program for vulnerable children and to amplify the effectiveness of the program.