Process Recordings

MOTIVATIONS, VALUES, AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION: STUDENTS’
INTEGRATION OF PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL IDENTITIES

Philip J. Osteen
University of Maryland, Baltimore

Edicts within the Council on Social Work Education’s 2008 Educational Policy

and Accreditation Standards address the importance of understanding the

intersection of personal and professional values. Twenty MSW students, chosen

on the basis of diverse cultural and personal characteristics, were interviewed

about their motivations for pursuing a MSW degree and their personal and pro-

fessional values. Thematic analysis yielded an emergent model relating the

intersection of multiple forms of motivation, encountering and resolving value

conflicts, and integrating personal and professional identities. Implications for

education and practice are (1) the intersection of personal and professional

identities should be explicit components of curriculum; (2) strategies for man-

aging value conflicts should be an integral part of the curriculum; and (3) the

relationship between identity integration and practice needs to be delineated.

THE FIELD OF SOCIAL WORK is based o n a distinct

set of value premises that set it apart from

other professional disciplines (Abbott, 2003;

Compton, Galloway, & Cournoyer, 2004;

D’Aprix, Dunlap, Abel, & Edwards, 2004;

Reamer, 2006). This difference between social

work and other helping professions is evident

in the educational emphasis on multicultural-

ism, specifically in regards to issues of privi-

lege and oppression, the application of person-

in-environment and cor^tructionist theories of

the human experiences, and the importance of

social justice as a defining value of the profes-

sion. The National Association of Social Work-

ers (NASW) Code of Ethics (2008) explicitly de-

lineates six core values of the profession: serv-

ice, social justice, dignity and worth of the per-

son, importance of human relationships, in-

tegrity, and competence. These core values

reflect what is “unique to the profession” (Pre-

amble, para. 4) and are presented as fundamen-

tal guidelines of the profession.

Kelly, Alexander, and Cullinane (1986)

posited that in order for an occupation to be a

profession, “the members must identify with

it and its mission” (p. 6). The development of

Journal of Social Work Education, Vol. 47, No. 3 (Fall 2011).
©2011, Council on Social Work Education, Inc. All rights roserved. DOI: 10.5175/JSWE.2011.20090C131 423

4 2 4 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION

a professional social work identity arises out
of growing “self-awareness” and a growing
identification with the roles, values, and ethics
of the profession (Carpenter & Platt, 1997).
Although not intended as a prescription of
global professional social work behavior, the
NASW Code of Ethics is nonetheless meant to
establish values, principles, and standards to
guide social workers’ decision making and
conduct (Purpose, para. 3). Even more specific
are the Council on Social Work Education’s
(CSWE) 2008 Educational Policy and Accredita-

tion Standards (EPAS), establishing in Section
2.1.1 the educational outcome: “Identify as a
professional social worker and conduct one-
self accordingly” (p. 3).

The discourse on the role of value systems
in the field of social work is becoming more
intense and contentious as ill-conceived
notions of liberalism and conservatism strad-
dle the socio-political fence (Fram & Miller-
Cribbs, 2008). Some researchers have suggest-
ed the social work education selection process
be reformed in order to admit suitable stu-
dents with “desired characteristics” (Gibbons,
Bore, Monroe, & Powis, 2007, p. 211). Based on
a review of the literature. Gibbons and col-
leagues (2007) found that although most
admission processes focused on academic
suitability, educators also felt that personal
qualities and values played a role in students’
eventual success as a social work practitioner.
Among those qualities deemed “undesirable”
were intolerance and judgmental and opin-
ionated attitudes (Miller & Koerin, 1998).
Given the resources involved “both in class
and in the field to deal appropriately with the
few students who are academically able but
exhibit unsuitable personal qualities or inap-

propriate behavior” (Gibbons et al., 2007, p.
210), and the potential for negative impacts on
other students, faculty, field instructors, agen-
cies, and clients (Gibbons et al., 2007; Gray &
Gibbons, 2002), the recommendation was
made to focus more on the “screening in”
process of selecting appropriate students
instead of the “screening out” process for
inappropriate students.

Bisman (2004) has suggested that the
emphasis of the social work profession is on
the knowledge base of the profession, sup-
planting a focus on the values and mission of
the profession. One example is the current
debate in the field over the degree of congru-
ence between MSW students’ personal values
and those of the profession, with evidence
supporting claims that the personal value
bases of MSW students over the past 15 years
are both divergent and convergent in relation-
ship to the values of the profession (Abell &
McDonell, 1990; Allen-Meares, 2000; D’Aprix
et al., 2004). Some research findings suggest
that MSW students are more interested in pur-
suing careers in private clinical practice than
in careers focusing on oppressed and impov-
erished populations, and that there is dispari-
ty between the values of contemporary stu-
dents and those of the profession (D’Aprix et
al., 2004). These findings are in contrast to
those of Abell and McDonell (1990) who
reported that less than 25% of MSW students
surveyed intended to go into private practice,
and that these students remain “highly com-
mitted to the concept of involvement with the
disadvantaged” (p. 5) and express ongoing
commitments to serving traditional social
work client groups (Butler, 1990). Limb and
Organista (2006) found that students’ atti-

MOTIVATIONS, VALUES 4 2 5

tudes towards, and commitment to, social

work’s mission, as evidenced though practice

preferences and career motivations, were gen-

erally high and positive, and did not change

much over the course of the MSW program.

Since the adopfion of a set of values and

their incorporation in practice are definifive of

the professional social worker (Clark, 2006),

these findings—more particularly those that

indicate substantial and continuing value

divergences—are of fundamental importance

to the future of the social work profession. This

incongruence raises quesfions about whether

values that might be held as a part of a person-

al identity interfere with or even prevent the

adoption and practice of values that are at the

core of a social identity, such as that of “social

worker.” Haynes (1999) argues that the social

work profession should be “tolerant” of

diverse opinions and beliefs regarding “some

things, but not about its ideology” (p. 2).

Archer (2001) posits that commitment to a

social identity cannot exist without the sup-

port of overlapping values and beliefs at the

level of personal identity and, when applied

to social work, might suggest that anyone

with personal values inconsistent with social

work would not pursue adoption of this pro-

fessional idenfity. The prior research on this

question suggests that the reality is more com-

plex and indicates the need for exploration of

the interactions between social and personal

identifies. According to Wenger (2003), social

identity is partially derived from engaging in

the practice of the community to which one

belongs or seeks to belong. Social identities

are simultaneously developed, maintained,

and constrained through participation in a

community of practice. It is in the execufion of

practice, the learning, the mastery, and the

application that social identity is formed. It is

these communities of practice (CoPs) that

allow one to learn, adopt, and express a social

idenfity through participation (Wenger, 1998).

Social work educafion represents a formal

learning trajectory established by the larger

community of pracfice of social work. New-

comers are brought into the community and

begin a path to full membership and participa-

tion. A substantial piece of the learning trajecto-

ry, and a necessary outcome for the social work

profession, is the understanding and incorpo-

rafion of the values and ethics of the profession

in conjuncfion with adequate demonstrafion of

these same values and ethics in practice.

CSWE’s 2008 EPAS explicitly identify the

importance of professional values, the inter-

pretafion of these values, and the role of the

academic insfitufions in modeling, teaching,

and assessing the integration of these values

into social work practice. Educational Policy

1.0, Program Mission and Goals, reiterates the

core values of the profession as posited by the

NASW and establishes them as the foundafion

of both explicit and implicit curricula. Educa-

tional Policy 2.0, The Social Work Curriculum

and Professional Practice, specifies several

educational outcomes related to identifying

personal values and resolving conflicts with

professional social work values. Although the

establishment of these outcomes as requisites

for membership and parficipafion in the CoP

of social work is a key step in the professional-

ization of the discipline, there is no formalized

mechanism for evaluating the relationship be-

tween these two value systems. This research

explored the nature and context of motiva-

tions for participating in a social work CoP

4 2 6 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION

and the relationships among these different

forms of motivations, personal value systems,

professional social work values, and identity

integration.

Method

This study used an exploratory, qualitative
design to develop an emergent understanding
of the relationship among MSW students’ per-
sonal and profession value systems, the types
of value conflict students experience, the
methods they employ to negotiate value con-
flicts, and the integration of personal and pro-
fessional identities.

Participants

Participants consisted of students currently
enrolled in a MSW program at a private, Mid-
western urüversity. An e-mail describing the
study was sent to all MSW students, and
interested students were asked to contact the
researcher directly. A nonrandom, purposive,
maximum variation sampling frame was
used. Maximum variation sampling involves
selecting participants who vary widely along
dimensions of interest (Patton, 2001). Dimen-
sions of interest were religious affiliation, age,
gender, sexual orientation, race, and family
socioeconomic status.

Interested students who did not identify
with majority-group characteristics (Cauca-
sian, heterosexual, and female) were automat-
ically selected for participation. Interested stu-
dents who did identify with these majority-
group demographics were further evaluated
according to age and religious affiliation and
enrolled based on the overall contribution to
the maximum variation of the sample. Pur-
posive recruitment attempts were made to

students known to self-identify as male, non-
Caucasian, and/or nonheterosexual. In line
with Glaser and Strauss’ (1967) idea of theo-
retical sampling, active recruitment of ad-
vanced students was initiated when a pattern
encompassing differences among foundation
students, advanced standing students, and
concentration students began to emerge.
Based on additional recruitment efforts, seven
more participants were enrolled, yielding a
total sample of 20 interviewees. A summary of
participants by dimension of interested is pro-
vided in Table 1.

At the time of the study, the researcher
was a doctoral student and adjunct faculty
member in the social work program. Nine of
the participants were known prior to their
involvement in the study through enrollment
in classes taught by the researcher. Students
who were currently enrolled in courses taught
by the researcher were not eligible for partici-
pation in the study, and the researcher was no
longer an instructor at the school after the
completion of the study.

Procedure

Participants who were selected, consented,
and enrolled were then interviewed using a
semistructured interview protocol developed
by the researcher. Key questions addressed
factors influencing the decision to pursue a
MSW degree, congruence and conflict be-
tween personal values and professional social
work values, and ascription to and integration
of an identity as a social worker. Core ques-
tions from the interview protocol are listed in
Figure 1. All participants were interviewed by
the researcher on campus, in a private office.
All interviews were conducted face-to-face

MOTIVATIONS, VALUES 4 2 7

and were audio-taped for transcription.
Interviews ranged in length from 28 to 75
minutes. Interviews were transcribed, coded,
and analyzed by the researcher.

Analysis

A thematic analysis strategy incorporating

components of grounded theory was used in

TABLE 1 . Maximum Variation Sampling Frame

Demographic Categories Frequencies

Race/ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Religious affiliation

Age

Academic standing

Socioeconomic status

Caucasian
African American
Latino
Native American
Indian/Asian
Female
Male
Heterosexual/straight
Gay
Lesbian
Bisexual
Queer
Catholic
Mormon
Nazarene
Buddhist
Jewish
Protestant
Atheist / agnostic
None
Other
Under 30
30-50
Over 50
1st year
2nd year
Advance standing
Lower middle/working class
Middle class
Upper/upper middle class

15
2
1
1
1

16
4

16
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
2
3
3
5
1

13
4
3
7
8
5
5

10
5

428 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION

this study. Data analysis was conducted con-
currently with data collection by first coding
each individual interview and then coding for
patterns across interviews. Analysis began
with line-by-line open coding of the data and
identifying and categorizing discrete elements
such as key words and phrases Johnson &
Christensen, 2004; Sti-auss & Corbin, 1998). As
categories and properties were identified, pat-
terns of codes across interviews were devel-
oped based on the discrete data identified dur-
ing open coding (Johnson & Christensen, 2004).

Open coding was followed by axial cod-
ing to begin delineating the various condi-
tions of the identified categories (Strauss &
Corbin, 1998). Patterns of codes were assessed

for emergent themes, which were explored
and interpreted. As each theme emerged, it
was integrated into a conceptual model of
relationships among the themes. NVivo 8
computer software was used to facilitate cod-
ing and organization of interview data. .’-.

Creswell (2007) defines validation as a
“process” to “assess the ‘accuracy’ of the find-
ings, as best described by the researcher and
the participants” (p. 207). Glaser and Strauss
(1967) suggested that the process of conduct-
ing a grounded theory study is, in and of itself,
a form of validation, and, to use their terminol-
ogy, establishes “credibility.” Glaser and
Strauss contended that the credibility of the
generated theory should be judged according

FiGURE 1. Semistructured interview Protocoi

Why are you pursuing a degree in social work? .
What is it about social work that attracted you in the first place? •
How would you describe the values of professional social work? Where do you think these
values come from?
How would you describe your personal values? Where do you think these values come from?
Describe a situation in which you felt conflicted over a social work related decision you made.
Describe a situation in which something you observed in the program conflicted with your
personal values.
Describe the political and social climate of your school. Do you believe your values are more
similar to your peers or more different from them? Why? ‘

In what ways do you see your own values portrayed in your social work practice?
In what ways do you see social work values portrayed in your day-to-day life?

Define what each of these values means to you. Which of these values is most important to
you? Why?

• Service
• Social justice

• Dignity and worth of the person
• Importance of human relationships
• Integrity
• Competence

MOTIVATIONS, VALUES 4 2 9

to the strategies used for collecting, coding,
analyzing, and presenting data, and in the way
people interpret the theory. Purposive sam-
pling was used to maximize the diversity of
experiences and perspectives in the study, and
a systematic process of collecting data through
audio-recording was used. Draft copies of
results were sent to those participants who
were directly quoted, and they were asked to
consider both the context in which their words
were used and the meaning and interpretation
given to those words by the researcher. Five
participants responded to the author’s request
for feedback, and all agreed with the context
and interpretation of their words.

Results and Discussion

The roles of personal and professional value
systems as motivators and educational out-
comes were woven throughout the students’
stories. For most students, personal values
formed the foundation on which their deci-
sion to enter a MSW program was based.
Value confiicts were a common occurrence
and illustrate the importance of personal val-
ues as well as the role of social work educa-
tion in establishing a professional value sys-
tem. Given the centrality of values in the for-
mation of both personal and professional
identities, the resolution of this conflict played
a central role in identity integration. Follow-
ing Miles and Huberman’s (1994) recommen-
dation, a network display format was created
to illustrate the relationships between these
emergent themes (see Figure 2).

Vaiues and Motivation

Support for Archer’s (2001) beliefs about how
the commitment to social action is influenced

by personal identity and internal values was
discovered in students’ stories of why they
enrolled in a MSW program. Specifically, all
students acknowledged that their personal
values undergird motivation based on a desire
to help others, as well as motivation based on
perceived congruence with the values of the
profession. Identification of personal beliefs as
a primary source of motivation illustrates
Archer’s theory of the importance of the inter-
nal self in relationship to the external self.

Desire to Heip Others

All participants identified their desire to help
others and make a positive contribution to
society as the fundamental reason why they
chose to enter the program. As one participant
explained, “the ability to help people and the
desire to help people overrides all other
things.” This finding is consistent with previ-
ous research on students’ motivations for
entering social work (e.g., D’Aprix et al., 2004)
and supports Archer’s (2003) idea that doing
develops out of being. Being is a person’s
sense of his or her self; it is an individual’s
core internal identity. Doing is how an individ-
ual manifests his or her sense of self in the
social world. Entering the MSW program pro-
vided individuals, whose being included
helping others, an outlet for expressing their
sense of self by doing as a social worker.

The desire to help others seemed to stem
from multiple sources. Some students identified
specific events that shaped their desire to help
others. These events seem to have crystallized
more abstract and undefined feelings of want-
ing to “do something important, do some-
thing good.” For some students, the desire to
help others arose out of beliefs and values

430 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION

rooted in religious tradifions or spirituality.

One young student, who considered herself

devoutly religious, recalled:

My teacher said “social work is profes-

sional Christianity.” We believe in

helping. And so for me it’s always

been a very connected issue. It’s a reli-

gious part of what I believe; serving

others, giving, trying, and helping

those who are less fortunate.

For other students, the desire to help oth-

ers developed out of beliefs and values in-

stilled in them by their families. One student

described the impact her parents had on her

beliefs surrounding equality and jusfice as:

I think both my parents are amazing

people and value the same things.

They just taught us life is about people

and not just about material success,

but about relafionships with other peo-

FIGURE 2. Personal and Professional Identity Integration Model

f Desire to ^
I Help Others )

Personal
Values

Religious
Beliefs

Family
Values

l.ifc
Experiences

Personal
Identity

Motivation

Evaluation and Negotiation

Integration

MOTIVATIONS, VALUES 4 3 1

pie; that you gotta do your best to help

other people.

Professional Legitimacy

Although the desire to help others was clearly

important to all participants, it did not, in and of

itself, explain the decision to pursue a graduate

degree. Most students made a connection

between needing a graduate degree to “legiti-

mately” engage in the practice of helping others.

One participant stated, “I felt getting a MSW

would open up a lot of avenues to what I want

to do, to working with famuies and doing ther-

apy, which you definitely need a higher degree

for.” As stated by one participant, “Right now I

want to do social work, and I knew I had to get

my MSW to do anything, to do anything sub-

stantial.” These responses suggest that a gradu-

ate degree legitimizes students’ capacity and

ability to help others within a professional con-

text through credentialing. The MSW degree is a

minimum qualification for most social-work

specific jobs, and a prerequisite for licensure.

Consistent with Wenger’s (1998) earlier work on

CoPs, the MSW program, and arguably any pro-

fessional graduate program, is a “learning tra-

jectory” through which participants acquire the

requisite skills and knowledge to achieve legiti-

mate and fuU participation.

Lave and Wenger (1991) describe participa-

tion as “a way of learning—of both absorbing

and being absorbed in—the ‘culture of prac-

tice”‘ (p. 95). Social work education serves as a

learning trajectory by which students are

involved in legitimate peripheral participation

as they progress through the curriculum and

situated learning of their academic programs;

through this process they absorb the practices

associated with professional social work while

simultaneously being absorbed into the struc-

tures associated with professional social work

(i.e., professional organizations, job “titles,”

professional licenses). The successful progres-

sion along this learning trajectory leads to full

participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991).

Within the context of professional legiti-

macy, there was a focus on acquiring the skills

and knowledge to practice competently. One

participant spoke at length about how an expe-

rience, prior to entering the MSW program,

with another social worker and other profes-

sionals in her agency left her feeling like she

“didn’t have a voice.”

Even though I tried to talk to the social

worker, she didn’t listen; I didn’t feel

like I had a voice. So, I came to [school]

to get a voice . . . I felt that if I had some

credentials with the social worker who

came out to work on the case, I would

have been heard.

These results support Wenger, McDermott,

& Snyder’s (2002) idea that one type of motiva-

tion for entering a CoP is to acquire the knowl-

edge and skills needed to engage in the prac-

tice and move from peripheral or nonparticipa-

tion to legitimate full participation.

Practicality of the MSW Degree

A small group of respondents identified the

practicality of the degree as their primary

motivation. Practicality was endorsed as the

broader range of professional opportunities

afforded by the MSW degree versus graduate

degrees in similar disciplines such as coun-

seling psychology, school psychology, and

4 3 2 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION

clinical psychology, and also as the amount of

resources (i.e., time, effort, and cost) needed to

obtain the MSW degree in comparison to

graduate degrees in similar disciplines. Most

students motivated by practicality were in the

clinical track of the program and expressed

career goals based on private, clinical practice.

One of the older participants described it this

way:

I researched a lot what would be the
best career in the quickest amount of
time to get professionally credentialed,
whether it is a master’s or professional
license, that would allow me to move
into the field that would provide those
goals for me. In doing my research I
found [a MSW degree] would give me
the flexibility.

Similarly, one of the young women in the pro-
gram stated, “I had to ask myself, ‘Would I
rather spend 2 years in school than 5 when I
can do the same job?'” The decision to enter
the program was based in part on pragmatics
and not inherent qualities of the social work
profession.

Vaiue Congruity

Participants were asked to talk about what
motivated them to choose a master’s degree in
social work over other similar disciplines. The
overwhelming response was that social work
values were more in line with the individual’s
personal values. One student, who described
her career goal as clinical practice, described
her decision as “applying to a MSW program
as opposed to a counseling program [because]

issues of multiculturalisms within oppressed

populations was really meaningful to me;

that’s sort of the reason I went with the MSW

instead of the counseling piece.” The three

things that students kept identifying as the

main draw of social work over psychology

were the systems approach, emphasis on social

justice, and emphasis on multiculturalism.

Impact of Learning on Value Systems

Black, Oles, and Moore (1998) argue that one
purpose of social work education is to “social-
ize” students to the profession’s value system;
exposure to the professions’ value system is
believed to “influence” students’ values to be
more in line with those detailed in the NASW
Code of Ethics (1999). The purpose of the cur-
rent study was not to evaluate students’ value
congruity on the basis of some external crite-
ria, but to instead understand how students
experience the intersection between personal
and professional values within the education-
al process. Students were asked about their
personal values and whether or not they had
ever experienced incongruity or conflict
between their personal values and what they
were being taught. Most students reported at
least one incident where they felt conflicted
between their personal values and what they
were experiencing in the program, and they
were asked to describe how they dealt with
those feelings.

As students entered and progressed
through the program, their exposure to social
work values impacted both their personal
value systems and their understanding and
interpretation of professional values. For
many students the educational process reaf-

MOTIVATIONS, VALUES 4 3 3

firmed their personal values and strengthened
their commitment to professional social work
values. For some students the educational
process challenged them and resulted in the
desire to more fully incorporate professional
values into their personal life. A third way the
program impacted value systems was to
reveal value incongruity.

Many students were motivated to enter
the MSW program because they believed
there was value congruity between their per-
sonal values and the values of the profession.
These students generally reported satisfaction
that this belief was realized in the program.
One student described this realization as

I always felt like it was a perfect fit for
me. I ended up right where I wanted to
be, where I should be. I haven’t been
struggling how to integrate the values
or how to accept the Code of Ethics. I
feel like that was not a struggle for me
at all.

Students still felt that the program
impacted their value systems, even if there
was a high degree of congruity to begin with.
For one student, this close alignment of per-
sonal and professional values challenged her
to explore her beliefs even more deeply:

In one sense I feel like this program has
been a 2-year personal therapy because
it’s really been about looking at myself
and the ways that even I perpetuate
racism without even knowing it. In
another sense I don’t feel like I’ve had
to shift my world view; if anything, my

world view was broadened, yeah, and
strengthened and reinforced at some
core level.

One of the older students beautifully ex-
pressed the impact of the program on her as,
“the program has made me a better me.”

A few students reported entering the pro-
gram without any foreknowledge of the value
base of the profession, indicating that their
motivation wasn’t based on perceived value
congruity. All of these students realized as
they learned more about the value base of the
profession that there was congruity between
personal and professional values. “I wasn’t
aware of the social work Code of Ethics, but I
found out that I had been practicing them, but
I didn’t know they had a label on them. So I
found validation in …