Paradoxes and the Consolidation of Social Work: A Critical Reading of Professional Distress from the Perspectives of History and Occupational Health

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to show the reader that the nature of Social Work is contradictory and ambivalent. The historical construction of Social Work has been carried out based on overcoming the questions and indefinitions that other professions have marked since their birth. Firstly, the main circumstances that generate psychological discomfort and affect the health of social workers, such as burnout syndrome, are presented. Brezmes' thesis is provided here to provide keys to understanding this malaise. Secondly, an analysis of the discourse of the first questioning of the profession made by Flexner and the refutation of it provided by Greenwood is offered. Thirdly, the well-known stories by Etzioni and Toren about the affirmation of Social Work as a semi-profession are shown. Finally, it concludes with the milestones that have recognized Social Work as a profession at an international level. The acceptance, assumption and action accordingly of the paradoxes and complexity of Social Work will help its professionals to carry out a consistent exercise in terms of health.