Current problems and opportunities for development of the social work profession and education in Bulgaria

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article presents research on challenges and problems of social work profession and education in Bulgaria. The purpose is to establish the impact of policies and legislation on their current condition and the opportunities for changes and development. The methodology includes content analysis and online interview for the study of respondents’ opinion on reforms in social work profession and education. The results of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of content and empirical data confirm the accepted purpose. They reveal that the challenges and problems in the current situation are the result of deficits in legislation, policies, and practices in the management and provision of social services and neglect by the authorities of the need to introduce regulations and standards in the social work profession and social work education. This leads to the formation and dynamism of a tendency to blur the boundaries of social work and its gradual deprofessionalization. The analysis of results presents need for reforms in areas regulations of social work profession and education, quality of professional resources, comparability of social work qualification with European Union countries, and integration of neoliberal, market and humanistic concepts in social services.