Abstract

The legitimation of a new idea of public interest and the re-organization of the welfare services are profoundly affecting the configuration of the professional system. Furthermore, the «social market», characterized by a constitutional vagueness, highlights the presence of new professionals specializing on specific areas of intervention and constraining social workers to redefine their distinctive features. A sociological research on social worker in Sicily shows a specific loss of relevance for the profession, due to a mismatch in «formal» and «relational» aspects characterizing professional institutionalization.