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Copingstrategier för att motverka empatitrötthet inom socialt arbete - En kvalitativ intervjustudie om hur socialarbetare påverkas av ett klientnära arbete

Neij, Julia LU and Bäcklund, Ester LU (2021) SOPA63 20202
School of Social Work
Abstract
This study aims at investigating what coping strategies social workers who work close to clients use to deal with possible compassion fatigue and stress that the work may entail. Further, we want to observe how the concept of resilience is important for their well-being. To investigate this, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with social workers who work in different workplaces, who all have continuous contact with their clients. The results of the study show that organizational factors are of great importance and can either lead to or reduce stress among social workers. The most common strategies that they used were to distance themselves through an active and meaningful leisure time, seeking social support by talking to... (More)
This study aims at investigating what coping strategies social workers who work close to clients use to deal with possible compassion fatigue and stress that the work may entail. Further, we want to observe how the concept of resilience is important for their well-being. To investigate this, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with social workers who work in different workplaces, who all have continuous contact with their clients. The results of the study show that organizational factors are of great importance and can either lead to or reduce stress among social workers. The most common strategies that they used were to distance themselves through an active and meaningful leisure time, seeking social support by talking to colleagues, have continuous supervision within the organization, or focus on the positive changes clients make instead of the negative ones. Regarding age and experience, opinions varied as to whether this contributed to something positive, but most of the interviewees stated that experience taught them to find a better balance between work and their private life. Overall, the interviewees enjoyed their work, but all eight of them also reported symptoms of stress at times. Based on the stated symptoms and descriptions, it was concluded that all have experienced compassion fatigue as a result of their profession. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Denna studie syftar till att undersöka vilka copingstrategier socialarbetare som arbetar klientnära använder sig av för att hantera den eventuella empatitrötthet och stress arbetet kan medföra, samt beakta hur begreppet resiliens har betydelse för deras välmående. För att undersöka detta har det utförts åtta stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer med socialarbetare som arbetar på olika arbetsplatser, men som har gemensamt att de har kontinuerlig kontakt med klienter. Resultatet av studien visar på att organisatoriska faktorer har stor betydelse som antingen kan medföra eller reducera stress hos socialarbetare. De vanligaste strategierna som intervjupersonerna själva tog till var att distansera sig genom en aktiv och meningsfull fritid, att... (More)
Denna studie syftar till att undersöka vilka copingstrategier socialarbetare som arbetar klientnära använder sig av för att hantera den eventuella empatitrötthet och stress arbetet kan medföra, samt beakta hur begreppet resiliens har betydelse för deras välmående. För att undersöka detta har det utförts åtta stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer med socialarbetare som arbetar på olika arbetsplatser, men som har gemensamt att de har kontinuerlig kontakt med klienter. Resultatet av studien visar på att organisatoriska faktorer har stor betydelse som antingen kan medföra eller reducera stress hos socialarbetare. De vanligaste strategierna som intervjupersonerna själva tog till var att distansera sig genom en aktiv och meningsfull fritid, att prata med kollegor, ha kontinuerlig handledning och att fokusera på de positiva förändringarna klienter gör istället för de negativa. Vad gäller ålder och erfarenhet så varierade åsikterna gällande om detta bidrog till något positivt, men överlag uppgav de flesta intervjupersonerna att erfarenhet lärde dem att hitta en bättre balans mellan arbete och fritid. Överlag så trivdes intervjupersonerna med sitt arbete, men samtliga uppgav även symptom på stress i perioder. Utifrån uppgivna symptom och beskrivningar gjordes slutsatsen att samtliga har upplevt empatitrötthet som följd av sitt yrke. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Neij, Julia LU and Bäcklund, Ester LU
supervisor
organization
course
SOPA63 20202
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Social work, coping strategies, compassion fatigue, resilience and stress. Socialt arbete, copingstrategier, empatitrötthet, resiliens och stress
language
Swedish
id
9037670
date added to LUP
2021-01-29 13:16:28
date last changed
2021-01-29 13:16:28
@misc{9037670,
  abstract     = {{This study aims at investigating what coping strategies social workers who work close to clients use to deal with possible compassion fatigue and stress that the work may entail. Further, we want to observe how the concept of resilience is important for their well-being. To investigate this, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with social workers who work in different workplaces, who all have continuous contact with their clients. The results of the study show that organizational factors are of great importance and can either lead to or reduce stress among social workers. The most common strategies that they used were to distance themselves through an active and meaningful leisure time, seeking social support by talking to colleagues, have continuous supervision within the organization, or focus on the positive changes clients make instead of the negative ones. Regarding age and experience, opinions varied as to whether this contributed to something positive, but most of the interviewees stated that experience taught them to find a better balance between work and their private life. Overall, the interviewees enjoyed their work, but all eight of them also reported symptoms of stress at times. Based on the stated symptoms and descriptions, it was concluded that all have experienced compassion fatigue as a result of their profession.}},
  author       = {{Neij, Julia and Bäcklund, Ester}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Copingstrategier för att motverka empatitrötthet inom socialt arbete - En kvalitativ intervjustudie om hur socialarbetare påverkas av ett klientnära arbete}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}