Abstract: Abstract: Over one hundred years of social work development in western societies has exhibited a dialectic process of professionalization and deprofessionalization. Each period of professional movement can be considered a professional response to social problems and social challenges. The professionalization movement is to provide effective service for society with professional prestige and social sanction. But the dependence on state power and technical control over clients along with professionalization invokes critique of professional effectiveness and client empowerment. It starts the divergent development of deprofessionalization. The dialectic development process implies that Chinas social work should not pursue professional privilege and complex technique, but positively intervene into social problems and reflect strategies and methods of client empowerment.

Key words: social work, professionalization, deprofessionalization, empowerment