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"Without Compassion We Don't Have a Social Work Field": A Thematic Analysis Exploring Social Workers' Experiences
Shelby L Clark1, Francie Julien-Chinn2, Aubrey Jones1
1University of Kentucky College of Social Work, Lexington, Kentucky.
Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work (2019)
|July 20, 2023
Summary
Compassion is central to social work, playing a key role in ethical practice. This study explored social workers' experiences with compassion, identifying facilitators and barriers across practice levels.
Area of Science:
- Social Work
- Psychology
- Ethics
Background:
- Emerging evidence highlights compassion's importance in social work.
- Compassion, meaning "to suffer with," is crucial given social workers' exposure to suffering.
- It may be central to providing meaningful care to diverse populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore social workers' definitions of compassion.
- To investigate social workers' lived experiences with compassion in practice.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative study utilizing semi-structured interviews.
- 12 social workers across practice levels participated.
- Thematic analysis was used to analyze interview data.
Main Results:
- Compassion is a central component of social work practice.
- Social workers view compassion as imperative for ethical practice.
- Barriers and facilitators to compassion exist across all practice levels.
Conclusions:
- Findings support centering compassion in social work education, practice, and policy.
- Further research is needed to address barriers and leverage facilitators of compassion.
- Developing strategies to foster compassionate social workers and systems is recommended.
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