A Common Purpose? Social Work Students' Social Justice Related Views in Finland and the island of Ireland

Exploring social work students' views to understand how equipped they are to pursue the social justice mission of the profession should be of central academic and practical interest. There are, however, surprisingly few empirical studies focussing on social work students' views on social justice-related issues from a comparative viewpoint. Such knowledge is thought to be of a wider international interest from a number of perspectives, including social work education and student exchange and, in a wider context, for the development of social work as a profession and for discussing the prerequisites for shared international notions of social work. This article explores the views of social work students studying in different socio-economic contexts and welfare regimes in relation to some key aspects assumed to be vital for the profession. The results based on survey data from student cohorts in Finland (N = 608) and the island of Ireland (N = 279) support the general conclusion that there are important, similar patterns of motivations and understandings amongst the students, despite substantial differences in histories, welfare state developments, current policies and social conditions in various jurisdictions. The results are of interest to educators across countries internationally and provide an important basis for future similar studies. This article set out to study social work students' views in the different socio-economic and welfare state contexts of the island of Ireland and Finland, respectively, concerning key aspects underpinning the central commitment of the social work profession to promote social justice, namely their motivations for becoming a social worker and their understanding of poverty.Using survey data from social work student cohorts in Finland (N = 608) and the island of Ireland (N = 279), our results suggest that social work students in different contexts are to a large extent committed to promoting social justice as a general goal. Our findings point at similarities, rather than decisive differences, in students' views between clearly different welfare regimes and socio-economic contexts. Thus, there seems to be an intrinsic drive for social justice and integrity with the espoused values of the social work profession amongst social work students. Better insights into social work students' backgrounds, motivations and values can provide educators with important knowledge for developing social work programmes, both nationally and internationally, and this comparative study can be replicated elsewhere for wider international comparison of these important areas.