In human service professions, professionals are expected to respond to and manage not only the emotions of others, but also their own. Due to the negative effects of poor emotion management, it is relevant for social workers to gain a better understanding of the role of emotions in their work. This is to strengthen their readiness to act and counteract the risk of emotional fatigue. The purpose of this study is to understand and describe how social workers are emotionally affected by their work. Furthermore, the study aims to examine how strategies are used by social workers to handle emotions. Data collection has been conducted through semi-structured interviews with eight social workers from different municipalities. The results show that the work requires strong emotional commitment by social workers, and they must show restraint regarding their own feelings at work. Furthermore, the results show the importance of managing the emotions that arise so that it does not ultimately lead to emotional fatigue and sick leave.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur socionomer påverkas emotionellt av att arbeta med klienter i kris och sorg. Vi har använt oss av en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod för att på bästa sätt besvara våra frågeställningar och uppnå vårt syfte. Vi har genomfört fem intervjuer. Resultatet analyserades och tolkades med hjälp av våra teoretiska utgångspunkter, dessa bestod av emotionsteori, affektteori och begreppet dramaturgisk stress. Resultatet visade att det finns en emotionell utmaning i att arbeta som socionom. Samtliga respondenter berättade att de ibland upplevde svårigheter i att hantera känslor som uppstod vid möten med klienter i kris och sorg. Flera av respondenterna vittnade om att de vid flera tillfällen tagit med sig arbetet hem och omedvetet påverkats av sitt arbete. Majoriteten ansåg att det var viktigt att ha stöd på arbetsplatsen. Detta stöd beskrev oftast som professionell och kollegial handledning för atthantera och härbärgera de känslor som uppstått i arbetet. Majoriteten av respondenterna berättar också om hur bra de trivs på sin arbetsplats och att arbeta med emotionellt krävande arbete. Detta på grund av deras drivkraft till att hjälpa människor och se vilken förändring de kan göra för sina klienter. / The purpose of the study was to examine how social workers are emotionally affected by working with clients in crisis and grief. We used a qualitative research method to best answer our questions and achieve our purpose. The results were analyzed and interpreted using our theoretical perspectives, these consisted of emotional theory, affect theory and the concept of dramaturgical stress. The results showed that there was an emotional challenge in working as a social worker. All respondents said that they sometimes experienced difficulties in dealing with emotions that arose during meetings with clients in crisis and grief. Several of the respondents narrated that on several occasions the respondents took their work home and were unknowingly affected by their work. The majority considered it important to have support in the workplace. This support was often described as professional and collegial guidance for managing the emotions that arose at work. The majority of the respondents also talked about how rewarding it felt to see change in their clients and to help people. They explained that helping others is their motivation for working with emotionally demanding work.