The transition from studies to professional work is a critical period for newly graduated social workers. The development of new public management collides with the moral desire to do good for the clients. The following study is based on eight qualitative interviews with social workers who graduated between the years 2019-2024 and who left their employment in social services. The results show that high expectations of oneself and insufficient support constitute a vulnerability to burnout and/or sickness absence. The results also indicate, according to Hochschild's theory, that social services have many and complex feeling rules to manage, while feelings of shame and pride have been shown to play a significant role in relation to these feeling rules. The study's conclusion indicates that there is an unattainable image of how social workers in the establishment phase should handle the emotional work that the professional role requires. Reduced engagement has been found necessary to succeed in distancing oneself from work and reducing the risk of burnout, but the role of a social worker also entails high expectations of demonstrated engagement in social work to fulfill a good social work. Based on the study’s results, we also advocate that a more comprehensive study on the emotional work of social workers in the establishment phase be conducted, as it could contribute to preventing burnout in the form of intervention strategies within the professional field.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-131095 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Hellberg, Felicia, Malm Petersson, Lisa |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för socialt arbete (SA) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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