Service user or service provider? How social work and human services students integrate dual identities
Article
Article Title | Service user or service provider? How social work and human services students integrate dual identities |
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ERA Journal ID | 20481 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Newcomb, Michelle (Author), Burton, Judith (Author) and Edwards, Niki (Author) |
Journal Title | Social Work Education |
Journal Citation | 36 (6), pp. 678-689 |
Number of Pages | 12 |
Year | 2017 |
Place of Publication | United Kingdom |
ISSN | 0261-5479 |
1470-1227 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2017.1327574 |
Web Address (URL) | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02615479.2017.1327574 |
Abstract | Students studying undergraduate social work and human services (SWHS) degrees may have used health and human service agencies, before and during their university education. Using services provides them with insights that are useful for professional practice. However, this article identifies that they experience a fear of shame and stigma revealing this during their studies. In examining interview data from 15 undergraduate SWHS students they recounted how they integrated their experience of being a service user into their professional development. It is argued that insider knowledge of services can provide them with valuable insights for practice. Students spoke about how positive experiences motivated them to study and provided models of effective practice, exemplifying its potential power to assist those in need. Negative experiences of service use can also be beneficial for learning what ‘not to do’. Although students found the experience of service use invaluable, they felt it was never acknowledged within the curriculum. Consequently, students interviewed in this study identified service users as ‘others’. They feared disclosing their own use of services due to perceived shame and stigma. Failing to provide opportunity for students to integrate their service user experience into their professional development creates a false dichotomy which does not acknowledge the intersection of these dual identities. |
Keywords | professional education; professional identity; qualitative research; use of self; service user; social work and human services students |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 440999. Social work not elsewhere classified |
390299. Education policy, sociology and philosophy not elsewhere classified | |
Public Notes | Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions. |
Byline Affiliations | Queensland University of Technology |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q70w8/service-user-or-service-provider-how-social-work-and-human-services-students-integrate-dual-identities
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