Social work education and practice in Russia: challenges from inside and outside

This paper paper is considered to be part of this symposium: Europe’s transnational social work research history headed by Dr. Stefan Köngeter. This paper provides a review of some of the key challenges for social work in... [ view full abstract ]

This paper paper is considered to be part of this symposium: Europe’s transnational social work research history headed by Dr. Stefan Köngeter.

This paper provides a review of some of the key challenges for social work in post-socialist Russia. It focuses on contradictory ideologies that are shaped in discursive formations of social work in education and everyday experience of social workers in post-Soviet Russia. Professional development of social work in Russia has officially started in early 1990s when social work was established both as a training programme and an occupation. Since then the professional project of social work, has been conditioned by the local and global interests of government, market and civil society. The practice field of social work was developing rather separately from the field of professional training, while the situation in human resources of the social work services sector was characterized by low wages, labor shortage, high fluctuation of personnel and insufficient opportunities of retraining. During 1990s and early 2000s a number of international donors have contributed to the development of higher education in Russia. International effects on social work education in Russia are noticeable at several levels: institutional, systemic, curricular, symbolic and individual. The analysis focuses on dynamics within education as well on the low professional status and lack of collective voice in Russian social work. It is based on survey data, interviews with social work educators and content-analysis of mass media to highlight the peculiarities of socio economic, cultural and political status of social work in Russia, its public image and frames of professional identities. Strategies for promoting social change, agents of change and institutional barriers are discussed in the theoretical context of professionalism as a value system and ideology.