The Professional Risk And Coping Strategies Of Social Workers

Along with the prevalence of social work in China, the occupational risks faced by some high-risked-profession social workers such as policemen, medical staff are on the rise. In2012, a female social worker in Shenzhen Pingshan new district was molested by her male boss during working hours. In2013, a social worker in Xinjiang discovered terrorists and was cruelly killed after calling the police. All these incidents show that social work is a risky profession and it needs the attention of the public urgently.Along with the shocking news and the personal experience during internship, the writer decided to study the professional risks face by social workers. Existing literature has little study about the professional risks face by social workers but some related issues such as the job burnout and professional plight. In order to study the professional risks face by social workers, this paper chooses social workers from Institution A in Shenzhen to conduct in-depth interview. We sum up the two general types of the risks as psychological harm and personal safety. We then analyze the factors of the risks and find out three, which are the particularity of social work, lack of recognition of the profession and personal factors of the workers. We think it is extremely essential to deal with the risks of the workers in Institution A with professional methods of social work. The writer also professionally intervened into the experience of Social Worker Y in Institution A and helped Y out of the plight and regain confidence. In the meantime, the writer summarize the tactics to deal with professional risks including how to establish good exchange atmosphere with service object, the choice of working place and how to improve the ability to deal with the risks. Then the writer analyzes how to use external resources to avoid professional risks and the methods are: improve working condition, enhance professional education and advance ethics of social work. At last, the writer discusses about the characteristics of professional risks and the application of the coping strategy.