ABSTRACT
Social work as a profession, its identity, practice, education and research, is conceptualized in this chapter as being marked by a series of metamorphoses, an ever-changing product of social construction. ‘it is organic; it changes form but its essence remains the same. Its form in Southeast and East Asia is influenced by the social, political and economic contexts of the time and the society in which it is situated but its mission to improve the quality of life for people does not change. The process of metamorphosis of the profession varies from context to context. The process may be perceived broadly as part of the eras of change experienced in a nation such as the eras of pre- and post-industrial revolution, pre- and post-World War II, pre- and post-national independence, pre- and post-growth into a market economy. Members of the profession are not passive bystanders of change, objects of the social construction process, but actively co-construct with surrounding forces through their practice experience, professional education and research utilizing reflexive understanding of what social work is in their own society.
