Input And Control: A Practical Mechanism Study Of Emotional Labor For Front-line Social Workers

In recent years,the emotional labor of front-line social workers has been paid more and more attention by the academia.Based on field investigation and interview,this paper studies the practice mechanism of emotional labor of front-line social workers from the perspective of emotional labor theory.It is found that social work is a profession full of emotion in the whole process.The emotional labor mechanism of front-line social workers includes both the emotional input mechanism of External visible behavior and the emotional control mechanism of internal real feelings.In the mechanism of emotional input,their emotional labor is mainly manifested in: showing sincerity and respect,being an active listener,maintaining a sense of empathy,full encouragement and support,active self exposure and separation of loss and sadness.In the control mechanism of emotion,emotional labor is mainly embodied in "unconditional" acceptance,"Natural" empathy,self-determination of the client,"moderate" emotional intervention,value neutrality and helping others to help themselves.In the process of emotional input and control,the rules of emotion are mainly reflected in: on the one hand,the front-line social workers are expected to play the intimate role of "like family members",to give sincere care and help to the case owner,and to establish close emotional connection with the case owner.At the same time,as professional service providers,they need to show "professional love";on the other hand,in the face of stressful services,they need to actively control their emotions,adhere to "rational interaction" and "determination without hostility".Front line social workers often show their service behavior in emotional labor through "surface acting" and "deep acting".In addition,they can control their negative emotions through self-regulation,mutual cooperation and professional consultation,so as to achieve the goal of helping others.Finally,this paper also discusses the nature of social work and some difficulties in emotional labor of front-line social workers,and puts forward some suggestions.