Emotions in professional social work practice

Abstract

Social workers manage demands in their everyday professional practice, handling personal emotions and requests from the organisation and the situation. This thesis explores such emotions and demands and the discrepancies arising. Emotion work in social work practice is the focus, particularly, how social workers experience and deal with discrepancies between what is expected from them and what they naturally experience in terms of emotions. This thesis draws its findings from a qualitative approach in which semi-structured interviews with eight professional social workers in Gothenburg was employed. Emotion theory was utilised to analyse their responses offering a different perspective on where their emotions originate from and how they deal with the conflict of their emotions. This research sheds light on how social workers utilise reflection and boundary setting to deal with their emotions, whilst being personal and emotionally involved with their clients. The study found that the social workers’ experiences shared in this research project create a point of departure for reflection on emotions and their importance in relationship building and maintenance. If dealt with appropriately they complement social work practice, however, they have also been described as hindering professional judgement. Support from colleagues, supervisors, and self-reflection, to be aware of personal and strong emotions practitioners might carry with them, is important for emotions being complementary to professional social work practice.