ABSTRACT
Social work as a profession has many different aspects. Clinical social workers are the largest professional group providing mental health services exceeding all the other professions providing such services combined. Consequently, social workers' professional identities are determined by varied historical, cultural, and political factors, though they do share some distinct values, a common knowledge base and practical skills that guide them during their work. In an effort to learn from international experiences, and focus more on the social justice project than the project of professionalization, most Hungarian social workers would initially emphasize the role of societal factors over psychosocial issues. Though these efforts at professionalization seemed to risk the social justice project, they instead turned social work into a strong and viable discipline while managing at the same time to keep social justice as a main focus. A professional's social network and experiences substantially shape values, attitudes, self-conceptions, and future visions on one's career.
