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Social Work Education in Italy: Backwards and Forwards in the Establishment of the Social Work Discipline

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Social Work Education in Europe

Part of the book series: European Social Work Education and Practice ((ESWEP))

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Abstract

This chapter outlines the development of social work and social work education in Italy. It shows how social work education developed after World War II, during the post-war process of reconstruction. It presents the process of ‘indigenisation’, accomplished more by social work educators than by social work practitioners. The development of social work is outlined against the background of the evolution of the Italian welfare system and social policies. Along with the evolution of the profession, the chapter examines the transition from the period of social work schools, developed outside the academy, to the current academic period where social work courses are offered within universities. This started in 2000, in connection with the Bologna Process.

The strengths and weaknesses of the current system, where social work education is offered in almost forty bachelor’s and thirty master’s social work programmes, are discussed. The challenges associated with establishing social work as an independent discipline capable of providing a strong base for the social work profession are also discussed because it is now included as a branch of sociology. A discussion of the challenges faced by social work educators and current efforts being made to improve social work education in Italy closes the chapter.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Data refers to statistics collected by the CNOAS during the mandatory registration procedures for continuous education of professionals. They refer 91% of the social workers registered.

  2. 2.

    The research was carried out by Dr Gaspare Musso and the scientific supervision of the AIDOSS board and presented at the EASSW Conference in Milan in 2015 (Bertotti and Musso 2015).

  3. 3.

    “CoPInG – Constructions of parenting on insecure grounds. What role for social work.” The principal investigator is S. Fargion from the University of Trento (https://www.cogsci.unitn.it/en/896/coping-constructions-of-parenting-on-insecure-grounds-what-role-for-social-work?)

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  1. Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento, Trento, Italy

    Teresa Bertotti

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  1. Teresa Bertotti
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  1. Faculty of Social Work, Health Care, and Nursing Sciences, Esslingen University of Applied Sciences, Esslingen, Germany

    Marion Laging

  2. Faculty of Law, Department of Social Work, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

    Nino Žganec

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Bertotti, T. (2021). Social Work Education in Italy: Backwards and Forwards in the Establishment of the Social Work Discipline. In: Laging, M., Žganec, N. (eds) Social Work Education in Europe. European Social Work Education and Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69701-3_6

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