'I hope to find myself’. Social work students’ initial encounter with practice explored in the context of professional identity

This paper is based on a small scale research study which explores the perceptions and understandings of Master’s level students on the same professional career path but from different national backgrounds; England and the United States. In particular, this study identifies and discusses issues raised by students prior to their first experience of practice education, and explores their evolving understanding of what it means to be, or to become, a professional social worker. In order to provide a theoretical framework for our discussion we adapt and use the work of Eliot Freidson, widely regarded as one of the first theorists to consider the evolution of professions and the acquisition of professionalism.