Professional Values in Social Work Students and Mid-career Practitioners: A Comparative Study

Education and development of socio-emotional skills of social work students has been designed to facilitate learning and strengthening of ethical, aesthetic and emotional values, indispensable for future practitioners in the field. The most difficult aspect of training is the integration of the cognitive and behavioral components with the emotional one. Achieving internal consonance between knowledge, attitudes and feelings represents the most challenging bet of the education process. Traditionally, a formative focus is dedicated to the creation of knowledge and enhancement of desirable behaviors according to the professional standards of social work practice. Less time and focus is invested in exploring and understanding the emotional component of social work profession. This study is an exploration of roles, values embraced by social works students and mid-career practitioners as well as emotions experienced by them, in order to identify relevant training needs.