Zaglodina Tat'yana A.

The article is devoted to the study of adaptive behavior mechanisms in the professional activity of social work experts. The ongoing processes of transformation of requirements for the professional activity of social work experts update the need to study this professional group. Social work as a profession is quite young and is in progress, which is accompanied by vague ideas about this area; polyfunctionalism, which is based on combining the functions of a psychologist, lawyer, social therapist, and teacher, places high demands on the professionally important qualities of the expert and is endowed with prerequisites for the development of professional stresses. The article analyzes the causes of professional stress and the mechanisms of protective and coping behavior. The results of the study of preferred strategies of the experts’ behavior are presented, and the dependence of the use of coping strategies on professional experience and belonging to a professional group is revealed. It is established that the process of formation and development of a professional group of social work experts is accompanied by professional deformation of its representatives. But the use of adaptive behavior strategies will contribute to the successful coping of social work experts with the deforming moments of their professional activity.