Professionalisation of social work in Malaysia: 1969-2010

Social work has been recognized as both an academic discipline and a profession internationally. However, social work continues to struggle to attain its professional status in Malaysia. This study aims to analyse the professionalisation of social work in Malaysia from 1969 to 2010, as well as to id...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Teoh, Ai Hua
Format:	Thesis
Language:	eng eng
Published:	2023
Subjects:	HN Social history and conditions Social problems Social reform
Online Access:	https://etd.uum.edu.my/10547/1/depositpermission_s96110.pdf https://etd.uum.edu.my/10547/2/s96110_01.pdf
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

id	my-uum-etd.10547
record_format	uketd_dc
spelling	my-uum-etd.105472023-06-21T01:04:20Z Professionalisation of social work in Malaysia: 1969-2010 2023 Teoh, Ai Hua Shaffie, Fuziah Baba, Ismail Baba Awang Had Salleh Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Awang Had Salleh Graduates School of Arts & Sciences HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform Social work has been recognized as both an academic discipline and a profession internationally. However, social work continues to struggle to attain its professional status in Malaysia. This study aims to analyse the professionalisation of social work in Malaysia from 1969 to 2010, as well as to identify the efforts of the Malaysian Association of Social Workers (MASW), the Department of Social Welfare Malaysia (DSW) and tertiary social work education in advancing the profession. This research utilized qualitative method using semi-structured and face to face interviews with 12 past leaders of the MASW, DSW and tertiary social work education programmes as the primary source of data. In addition, annual reports and supporting documents were collected as secondary source of data. Thematic analysis was used to analyse both the interview transcripts and secondary data. The findings identified two stages emerged in the professionalisation of social work in Malaysia, namely the infancy stage (1969-1989) and the expansion of social work education and the drive for professionalism stage (1990-2010). Key features of social work as a profession have developed during the infancy stage. However, the professionalisation stalled in the 1980s. The idea of caring society and Vision 2020 stimulated the expansion of social work education after the 1990s, and the drive for professionalism received greater attention from the government post millennium, which encapsulated the second stage of professionalisation. Despite all these progresses, this study found that social work in Malaysia has yet to establish itself as a professional occupation. This study proposes for greater synergy between the MASW, DSW and social work education, and underlines the importance of legislation and policy in shaping the profession and its practices. This study contributes to the field of professionalisation research and serves a reference for comparative study of social work in the global context 2023 Thesis https://etd.uum.edu.my/10547/ https://etd.uum.edu.my/10547/1/depositpermission_s96110.pdf text eng staffonly https://etd.uum.edu.my/10547/2/s96110_01.pdf text eng public other doctoral Universiti Utara Malaysia
institution	Universiti Utara Malaysia
collection	UUM ETD
language	eng eng
advisor	Shaffie, Fuziah Baba, Ismail Baba
topic	HN Social history and conditions Social problems Social reform
spellingShingle	HN Social history and conditions Social problems Social reform Teoh, Ai Hua Professionalisation of social work in Malaysia: 1969-2010
description	Social work has been recognized as both an academic discipline and a profession internationally. However, social work continues to struggle to attain its professional status in Malaysia. This study aims to analyse the professionalisation of social work in Malaysia from 1969 to 2010, as well as to identify the efforts of the Malaysian Association of Social Workers (MASW), the Department of Social Welfare Malaysia (DSW) and tertiary social work education in advancing the profession. This research utilized qualitative method using semi-structured and face to face interviews with 12 past leaders of the MASW, DSW and tertiary social work education programmes as the primary source of data. In addition, annual reports and supporting documents were collected as secondary source of data. Thematic analysis was used to analyse both the interview transcripts and secondary data. The findings identified two stages emerged in the professionalisation of social work in Malaysia, namely the infancy stage (1969-1989) and the expansion of social work education and the drive for professionalism stage (1990-2010). Key features of social work as a profession have developed during the infancy stage. However, the professionalisation stalled in the 1980s. The idea of caring society and Vision 2020 stimulated the expansion of social work education after the 1990s, and the drive for professionalism received greater attention from the government post millennium, which encapsulated the second stage of professionalisation. Despite all these progresses, this study found that social work in Malaysia has yet to establish itself as a professional occupation. This study proposes for greater synergy between the MASW, DSW and social work education, and underlines the importance of legislation and policy in shaping the profession and its practices. This study contributes to the field of professionalisation research and serves a reference for comparative study of social work in the global context
format	Thesis
qualification_name	other
qualification_level	Doctorate
author	Teoh, Ai Hua
author_facet	Teoh, Ai Hua
author_sort	Teoh, Ai Hua
title	Professionalisation of social work in Malaysia: 1969-2010
title_short	Professionalisation of social work in Malaysia: 1969-2010
title_full	Professionalisation of social work in Malaysia: 1969-2010
title_fullStr	Professionalisation of social work in Malaysia: 1969-2010
title_full_unstemmed	Professionalisation of social work in Malaysia: 1969-2010
title_sort	professionalisation of social work in malaysia: 1969-2010
granting_institution	Universiti Utara Malaysia
granting_department	Awang Had Salleh Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
publishDate	2023
url	https://etd.uum.edu.my/10547/1/depositpermission_s96110.pdf https://etd.uum.edu.my/10547/2/s96110_01.pdf
_version_	1776103839851610112

Professionalisation of social work in Malaysia: 1969-2010

Similar Items