Self-compassion among social workers
Abstract
Summary: In recent years, the practice of self-compassion has garnered increasing attention in the literature, yet little is known about self-compassion in the field of social work. The purpose of this cross-sectional exploratory study was to examine self-compassion among social workers (N = 1011) located in a state in the southeastern United States. Specifically, this study was guided by two distinct, yet interconnected research queries: (1) How self-compassionate are social workers and (2) what personal and professional factors contribute to self-compassion among social workers? Findings: Findings suggest social workers are fairly self-compassionate. Significant group differences in self-compassion exist by perceived health status (self-report), relationship status, social work licensing, and professional organization affiliation. Significant predictors of self-compassion included health status, educational level, and relationship status (in descending order of predictive power). Applications: Adept and ethical social work practice requires that practitioners engage in self-compassionate practices. This study offers pragmatic implications for social work practice, including training and apposite areas for research.
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Identification of key mechanisms could support development of other effective programmes by enhancing potent mechanisms.
“It could also support the development of other effective programmes of support, through the enhancement of the most potent mechanisms of action e.g., if self-compassion was found to be a key mechanism, self-compassion activities could be utilised to improve stress and burnout in social work (Miller et al., 2020; Svendsen et al., 2017).”
From Testing Mindfulness Mechanisms of Action on the Stress and Burnout of Social Workers (2024) · cites this paper as Miller et al., 2020
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- Authors
- Jay Miller, J., Lee, J., Shalash, N., & Poklembova, Z.
- Affiliations
- University of Kentucky, Kentucky, USA
- University of North Carolina Wilmington (US)
- University of Kentucky (US)
- University of Prešov (SK)
- ORCID
- Poklembova, Zuzana
- Venue
- Journal of Social Work
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2019-02-14
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 448-462
- ISSN
- 1468-0173 (ISSN-L)
- 1741-296X
- OpenAlex
- W2912339278
- Cited by
- 25
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 5
- FWCI
- 2.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Social Work (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Public Administration › Social Work Education and Practice
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
- Keywords
- self-compassion, social workers, health perception, relationship status, social work licensing, educational attainment, social work practice
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