Professional commitment among graduating BSW students in Israel

Expectations of Costs and Rewards

“…Albek (1987) claimed that social workers' choice of profession is usually motivated by personal social values and beliefs, such as the belief in a just society and human good nature. As a result, social workers get emotionally involved with their clients' problems, and are therefore vulnerable to weariness (Pines, 1982;Lazar et al, 1995). Researchers who examined the correlation between burnout and professional rewards in human services (Armstrong-Stassen et al, 1994;Koeske et al, 1994) found that idealistic values encourage professionals such as social workers and nurses to be emotionally involved, so that a high level of caring about others along with a difference between idealistic expectations and the realities of practice is likely to result in weariness.…”

“…These researchers maintain that, unlike other professionals, social workers choose their profession based on social values such as acceptance (accepting the client's values and perceptions) and social justice. Thus, social workers are more vulnerable to feelings of failure and frustration when attempting to deal with their inability to fully realize their mission to be agents of social change and assistance (Lazar et al, 1995). Pines (1982) further argues that the higher the expectation of reward among workers, whether spiritually or instrumentally, the higher the degree of disappointment when these expectations are not met.…”

“…A study conducted by Lazar et al (1995) indicated that the precipitating factors for 30 percent of the dropout among social workers were associated either with disenchantment with the agencies or with social work in general. These results are in line with those of Aviram and Katan (1991), who found that social workers remain in the profession because of their attitudes, feelings and identi®cation with this area of work, and not because of material rewards or job security.…”

The Social Role of Social Work

“…This emphasizes the importance of a more comprehensive point of view when discussing individual needs. However, in practice, most social work programs focus on casework and family interventions, with community work occupying an inferior and unprestigious place (Abramovitz, 1998;al-Kranawi, 1998;Hartman, 1990;Lazar et al, 1995).…”

“…On one axis practitioners avoid the area of social change, while on the other they are developing and improving their psychiatric knowledge and intervention skills. Within the profession, this process has increased the emphasis on casework (Hartman, 1990;Lazar et al, 1995) and the clinical focus within the casework approach that emphasizes psychotherapy and psycho-…”