4. The quest of the doctorate as a vector for analyzing the professionalization of social work

The question to know if the social work is a profession can be approached through the prism of the doctorate in social work. Indeed, this diploma does not exist everywhere (as in France, Switzerland and Belgium for example), and otherwise, it always suffers from a lack of legitimacy, in particular with regard to the sociology. If we consider that the gratitude of a scientific expertise is a security of existence as profession, then the social work suffers on the subject from a partial and fragile process of gratitude, as long as this field will not have the full and whole legitimacy to produce scientifically a knowledge for its professional use. We will propose an overview of the issues of professionalization of social work, through the analysis of the brakes and interests that are found at the center of the creation and development of a PhD at the service of this professional field.