Individuality in approaches to emotionally demanding work and coping among experienced British Columbia social workers

Abstract

Many social workers experience high levels of emotional exhaustion (Kim, Ji, & Kao, 2011), directly contributing to poor professional retention, with numbers of social workers leaving the field between 20 and 40% annually in some sectors (Font, 2012). Additionally, social work is a highly gendered field (Sloan, 2012), and expectations of social workers' emotional labour as well as their prospects for influence and advancement reflect this (Lane & Flowers, 2015). Rather than examining the struggles social workers face (the subject of numerous studies already), this qualitative study examines the experiences of six female social workers, who selfidentified as being emotionally healthy, thriving in their job, and who intended to continue as social workers. Each participant had a minimum of five years' experience following completion of their BSW or MSW. The participants' perceptions of social work, experience of emotional demands in the field, and knowledge of emotional supports for social workers were examined. Additionally, participants' self-assessments of their personality and qualities of personal hardiness or resilience were examined, based on the literature review findings that suggested relationships between these factors and emotional coping. The research was informed by critical theory on structural social work, and a thematic analysis was performed on the qualitative interviews to draw out shared thematic elements. Successful social work is a complex accomplishment: professionalism intersects with informal client-focused work, and emotionally demanding labour intersects gendered stereotypes on appropriate emotional expression. This research found that successful social workers considered their personality and approach to be instrumental in their success. Though individual interpretations differed, participants shared beliefs that they were personally suited for social work. In other words, the people who thrive as social workers are as complex, nuanced and interesting as the work itself.