Is there a global common core to social work? A cross-national comparative study of BSW graduate students

Abstract

This article reports findings from a cross-national comparative study that examined the commonalities and differences in professional ideology among social work graduates in 10 countries by studying their attitudes toward poverty and the goals of social work. The major finding is the substantial similarity in the students' professional ideology despite the different contexts of their professional socialization process. Students in all the countries attributed poverty to structural causes and supported the extension of state social welfare as a way of dealing with poverty. They expressed a large degree of support for individual well-being and social justice as major goals of social work. Differences were also identified. The similarities and differences reflect the interplay of centrifugal and centripetal forces that fashion the characteristics of global social work. © 2005 National Association of Social Workers.