Stress in Social Workers.

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Skills Development.                                                Student Id: 80114192

Words: 1493                        Stress in Social Workers.

        This essay clarifies my understanding of the issue of ‘stress’, and some of the theories that have been developed around it. The relevance of the subject to practical issues however, can get lost in a welter of theory, and with this in mind I will attempt to manipulate my findings to the essay title.

Social services staff expect stress: finding ways of making a difference to peoples lives is challenging – and positive. But excess stress is demoralising and debilitating, and may affect the quality of judgements and of services provided’

Extract taken from the NISW Policy Briefing No.12, Stress at Work, Sept. 1995

The concept of ‘stress’ has an obvious application to Social Work. Increasingly, Social Workers have to defend themselves to their managers, the public and the media when things ‘go wrong’. Many factors, alongside individual, public and sometimes departmental expectations of Social Worker ‘excellence’ can and do lead to Social Workers falling victim to high levels of stress. Many people have studied the subject in the expectation that it will give them a better understanding of it, in order to devise strategies for managing it. Whilst there are several definitions of the word ‘stress’, for the purpose of this essay the definition below deems appropriate;

“Stress results when individuals experience demands as exceeding their available resources, and as pushing them beyond physical and/or psychological stability”

Cummings and Cooper (1979); Gardener (1988) in Braye and Preston-Shoot (1999)

Malim and Birch (1998) identified the entirety of ‘stress’ as being made up of two components, stressors and stress responses, the former being the stimuli that causes the stress, and the latter being the biological and physiological responses to the situation. Banyard (1999) added a dimension to this theory by emphasising the ‘uniqueness’ of the individual; taking physical and psychological components into account, thereby highlighting the complexities of defining and measuring ‘stressors’ and the ‘stress responses’. Newton (1995) challenged the assumption that responsibility for managing stress rested on the individual, and argued that this theory did not appear to account for things ‘outside’ of an individuals’ control. This would appear to tie in with the theory of ‘external and internal stressors’, this an example of the external, where the stimulus for stress is conveyed/transmitted from things ‘beyond’ the control of the individual.

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By pinpointing the key components relating to Social Work, one could consider the profession over-wrought with ‘stressors’. The institution itself is ‘dynamic’ in the fact that it is constantly changing. New legislation is introduced into the system, which, at times, appears to create conflicts in Social Work practices, for instance, between needs and rights of service users. The recent introduction of the Human Rights Act created ‘uncertainties’ for Social Workers and service users alike.

‘The pressure to accommodate to legislative changes and government philosophy can easily lead to neglect of purposes inspired by the professional value base and to ...

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