There are several facets of the social work profession that are unknown to most people outside of this field of work. Social workers can work in a macro setting that involves policy making, grant writing, and jobs that deal with legislation, or they can work in the micro realm which involves counseling, case management within agencies, DCS, and psychotherapy. Despite the vast differences in job title and responsibilities, one of the things that unite social workers is the high likelihood of burnout. There are many factors that can cause a social worker to burnout. Listening to client’s stories of abuse, death, and illness on a daily basis can have such a negative effect on social workers that it is considered secondary trauma. This is just one example of what could erode a social worker’s morale. Being a social work major, I decided it would be interesting and beneficial for me to propose the question, “how can social workers prevent burnout?”
I’m planning on answering this question by interviewing my professors who have worked in various areas of the profession. I also plan on reviewing literature that is accessible to me as a student. Currently, I consider myself to be somewhere in between an insider and outsider of social worker culture. I have spent a lot of time studying the profession and have picked up on a lot of the dialect, but I haven’t worked in the field like my professors and some peers have. I’m hoping to discover rituals or strategies that social workers use to cope with their everyday stress.
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