Personal Change of Social Work Students through Establishing the Relationships in Professional Practice

Abstract

<p><em>The article presents the results of qualitative research carried out with</em><em> 53 social work students</em><em> in Lithuania.</em><em> The research focused on the personal change in social work students taking place during the professional practice in which students establish relationships with different participants in the practice. . The use of unstructured reflection as a data collection method enabled students to remember, think over and put their practice experiences in writing. The data were analysed by applying grounded theory </em><em>(Strauss & Corbin, 1990). Findings revealed that social work students differently experience the establishment of relationships in the professional practice. These experiences lead to students’ professional growth and personal change. The findings provide an opportunity to deepen the knowledge about students’ experiences of relationships. These new experiences can promote students’ self-awareness, the change of worldviews, beliefs and values as well as adding the new trends for the analysis of goals in professional practice of social work.</em></p><p> </p>