Professional agency, leadership and organizational change

This chapter examines the concept of professional identity as it relates to social work. It facilitates greater theoretical clarity and map possible alternatives, such as the institutional logics perspective, to afford a better understanding of the field of social work. The chapter focuses on the significance of professional socialisation, workplace culture, boundary maintenance, jurisdiction disputes and inter-professional tensions with health, education and the police. It highlights the importance of beliefs as well as attachment and sense of belonging for the study of professional identity. Professional identification is associated with increased personal accomplishment. The importance of identity formation as mainly social and relational in nature is attenuated. It is concerned with narratives of recognition, trust, gossip and organisational rituals within hierarchal settings. The prospect for what Abbott calls competing jurisdictional claims of expertise and knowledge within the system of professions makes working life increasingly uncertain for social work and thus brings matters of professional identity much more to the fore.