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5 Int'l J. Soc. Sci. Stud. 21 (2017)
Vision, Challenges and Solutions in the Development of Professional Social Work in Vietnam: Perceptions of Key Stakeholders

handle is hein.journals/ijsoctu5 and id is 185 raw text is: International Journal of Social Science Studies Vol. 5, No. 3; March 2017 Fam e ISSN 2324-8033 E-ISSN 2324-8041 Published by Redfame Publishing URL: http://ijsss.redfame.com Vision, Challenges and Solutions in the Development of Professional Social Work in Vietnam: Perceptions of Key Stakeholders Huong Nguyen', Trang Thu Nguyen2, Naomi Farber3 PhD, MSW, MA, Assistant Professor in the College of Social Work at University of South Carolina, United States 2Doctoral Student at the College of Social Work, University of South Carolina, United States 3PhD, MSW, Associate Professor in the College of Social Work at University of South Carolina, United States Correspondence: Huong Nguyen, PhD, MSW, MA, Assistant Professor in the College of Social Work at University of South Carolina, United States. Received: January 4, 2017 Accepted: February 13, 2017 Available online: February 15, 2017 doi: 10.11114/ijsss.v5i3.2121 URL: https://doi.org/10.11114/ijsss.v5i3.2121 Abstract It was not until 2010 that social work was officially recognized as a profession in Vietnam when the government approved a national master blueprint to develop social work. This blueprint identified seven strategic objectives including: creating a foundational labor force, developing laws and policies, and raising awareness about social work. This exploratory study examines the degree to which key stakeholders in Vietnam have shared vision and perceptions about the challenges and solutions necessary to make this ambitious plan for Vietnamese social work succeed. An anonymous survey was conducted with 65 policy makers, educators, service providers, and practitioners. The survey revealed that key stakeholders in held a shared vision about Vietnamese social work, focusing on making it a genuine profession. They identified the top challenges for Vietnamese social work as lack of national policy and regulations, lack of public awareness about the profession, and lack of resources to develop high quality social work education. Key stakeholders considered social work to be an integral function of the government and, as such, depend upon the government to lay the foundation for, provide direction to, and make available the resources necessary for the profession to grow. In other words, there would not be a Vietnamese social work profession outside of and without the Vietnamese government, unlike how the social work profession has developed in many western countries. Keywords: Vietnam, social work, vision, challenges and solutions 1. Introduction Like a traveler who needs a clear final destination before embarking on a journey, a developing profession should be founded on a distinct vision in order to progress effectively, minimize wasted efforts, avoid detours, or even depart from the path. The journey is made smoother when its members anticipate obstacles and are able to form solutions for the likely hurdles. In the case of the emerging profession of social work in developing countries such as Vietnam, the need for key stakeholders to have shared vision and common understanding of possible challenges and their solutions is particularly important for two reasons. First, this shared vision can enhance consistency in accomplishing a wide range of foundational activities such as building governmental laws and policies, establishing educational standards and codes of ethics, creating national and local service delivery systems, and promoting common discourse about social work within the general public. Second, this shared vision can help in resisting wholesale the dominance of the Western paradigm and in developing a truly indigenous profession that fits the Vietnamese context and serves Vietnamese people (Brydon & Lawihin, 2016, p. 192). The latter has become increasingly significant because contemporary Vietnam is unique in its position as one of the only remaining communist countries in the world, economically a market economy but culturally embedded in Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and local beliefs. Many developed countries with longer histories of formal social welfare systems of care provide important lessons and models relevant in their own contexts. However, Vietnam must be cognizant of the complex issues raised by global debates regarding globalization versus localization, Westernization versus indigenization, multiculturalism versus universalism, and universal versus local standards in developing social welfare 21

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