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ISSN: 0950-3153 (Print) 1742-4909 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cpra20
Social workers, resilience, positive emotions and
optimism
Stewart Collins
To cite this article: Stewart Collins (2007) Social workers, resilience, positive emotions and
optimism, Practice, 19:4, 255-269, DOI: 10.1080/09503150701728186
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/09503150701728186
Published online: 05 Jun 2008.
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Social Workers, Resilience,
Positive Emotions and
Optimism
Stewart Collins
Literature on stress and social work emphasises the importance of the structural
and organisational context for social work. Less attention has been given to
differences between social workers that enable them to deal with demands and
find satisfaction and rewards in their work. Literature drawn from psychology can
offer some guidance to social workers, focusing on resilience, positive emotion
and optimism. A great deal has been written about resilience, children and young
people; much less about resilience, adults and social workers. Resilience is an
adaptive state and personality trait evident in many people, including social
workers, but it is influenced by many variables, such as culture. Positive emotions
amidst negative events are further important elements in the psychological
resilience of, and coping by, social workers. Three kinds of coping relating to
positive affect have been identified: positive appraisal, goal-directed/problemfocused work and the infusion of ordinary events with meaning. Their implications
for social work are explored. Optimism is another important personality
difference that is significant in social workers’ helping endeavours. Recent
research on, and criticisms of, optimism are noted. There are important
implications related to resilience, positive emotions and optimism for the
selection of social work students, the development of social workers’ knowledge
and understanding of these topics, and for the support of social workers in their
daily work.
Keywords: social workers; resilience; positive emotions; optimism
Introduction
It has been demonstrated that social work is amongst the most rewarding of jobs
(Rose 2003). Social workers obtain much satisfaction from their work with users,
have high commitment and believe they can make a difference to people’s lives
(Eborall and Garmeson 2001; Huxley et al. 2005). At the same time, there is much
evidence of stress in social work, poor resources, limited support and high staff
turnover, with shortages of social workers in many statutory settings, especially
PRACTICE VOLUME 19 NUMBER 4 (DECEMBER 2007)
ISSN 0950-3153 print/1742-4909 online/07/040255–15
ª 2007 British Association of Social Workers
DOI: 10.1080/09503150701728186
in childcare work (Jones 2001; Coffey, Dudgill, and Tattersall 2004). What might
enable some workers to persist, endure and thrive in their careers, compared to
others who may become ill and sometimes eventually leave the profession? What
personality characteristics can enable social workers to ‘keep going’, to deal with
both the day-to-day and the longer term demands of social work? Literature
drawn from psychology and social work can offer some guidelines, focusing
upon resilience, positive emotions, optimism and seeking meaning in one’s
working life.
Resilience
Watson et al. (2006) have noted that the constructs used to define resilience have
been used loosely and interchangeably. Resilience has been investigated in the
fields of developmental psychology, recovery from trauma and, finally, formative
psychology and competence under stress. Also, other theoretical constructs
overlap with resilience, for instance, hardiness and coping self-efficacy. Here we
will focus on resilience.
While a great deal has been written about resilience in children, comparatively
little has been written about resilience in adults and, especially, in social workers
(Rutter 1979, 1987). Researchers on ‘stress resistant’ children, ‘use resilience as
a descriptive label that they apply to individuals who appear to function
surprisingly well under environmental conditions judged to be adverse and
stressful’ (Klohen 1996, 1068). Earlier work tended to focus on understanding the
major protective factors that positively influenced resilience, while attempts
have been made also to understand protective processes underlying resilience
(Rutter 1987). This work would seem to have significance not only for social
workers who interact with children, young people and other users, but also for
social workers themselves, as they struggle to cope with demands that are often
unrelenting.
The concept of emotional resilience has been described as ‘the general
capacity for flexible and resourceful adaptation to external and internal
stressors’ (Klohen 1996, 1067). Personality attributes consistently found to be
associated with stress resistance include reflectiveness and positive responses
when confronted with new and ongoing situations. Behavioural implications
include resourcefulness, flexibility, active engagement and a repertoire of
appropriate problem solving strategies. Thus emotional resilience ‘has clear
implications for individuals’ adaptive capacities under conditions of environmental stress, conflict or uncertainty’ (Klohen 1996, 1068). While much attention
has been given to resilience within the context of coping with extreme adversity,
emotional resilience can also be expected to play a part in the daily lives of most
people, including social workers, when they deal with the demands of their work.
Tugade and Frederickson (2004) explain that psychological resilience refers to
‘effective coping and adaptation when faced with hardship or adversity. It has
been characterised by an ability to ‘‘bounce back’’ from negative emotional
256 COLLINS
experiences’ (Collins in press, 14). Resilient individuals are perceived as
optimistic, zestful and energetic in their approaches to life, are open to new
experiences and have high positive emotionality (Block and Kremen 1996).
Bonnano (2004) has also pointed out that people commonly demonstrate
resilience when coping with particularly demanding situations, such as bereavement and post-traumatic stress. This is neither rare, nor does it indicate
pathology but, in fact, healthy adjustment. For instance, in a study by Zisook
et al. (1997) that examined various levels of depression amongst bereaved
spouses, around half of the sample did not experience even mild depression.
Equally, when faced with violent and life threatening events, the vast majority
of people do not go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (Galea et al.
2003). Such people tend to be viewed in a heroic light, while those who cope well
with bereavement are sometimes viewed as cold and unfeeling. These responses
tend ‘to reinforce the misperception that only rare individuals with ‘‘exceptional
emotional strength’’ are capable of resilience’ (Bonnano 2004, 24). However,
evidence suggests resilience to violent and life threatening events is far more
common, as seen in the responses of hospitalised survivors of car accidents,
veterans of the Gulf War and Manhattan residents following 9/11 (Sutker et al.
1995; Galea et al. 2003).
Recent research work suggests then, that resilience is a common trait, not a
rare one held by a few, extraordinary individuals. It results from the operation of
basic human adaptational systems and has been described as ‘ordinary magic’
(Masten 2001), but obviously the experiences of resilient individuals are not
exclusively positive. They face similar problems and stresses that other
individuals encounter. They experience anger, frustration, anxiety, fear and
depression — at least some of the time — but resilient people experience negative
emotions intermixed to a greater degree with a range of positive emotions.
Resilient individuals do not merely replace unpleasant with pleasant feelings and
exhibit no concern, but offset negative experiences with positive ones. They can
be deeply moved by events, but not overwhelmed by them (Frederickson et al.
2003). New skills and knowledge can be learned, leading to more effective
functioning; resources available to cope with future events can become stronger
(Carver 1998; Park, Cohen, and Murch 1998).
If resilience is a ‘common trait’ amongst people generally, there is every
reason to suggest that such a trait would be found in most social workers who
sometimes feel heavily burdened and temporarily swamped by negative and bad
feelings. Nevertheless, usually, they ‘bounce back’, cope with unpleasant
feelings and learn from them. Clearly, social workers have to deal with many
negative emotions when they encounter strong feelings of depression and/or
aggression experienced by users coping with traumatic events, experiencing
poverty, discrimination and living in areas of obvious deprivation, which lack
appropriate resources.
It has been pointed out that in contemporary social work, with an emphasis on
best value, economy, efficiency and effectiveness, the centrality of relationship
and emotion is neglected (Gorman 2000; Rogers 2001). In other words the
RESILIENCE, POSITIVE EMOTIONS AND OPTIMISM 257
reactions of ‘the heart’ are undervalued; ‘the mind’ predominates and is
overvalued. The importance of emotion can slip down the bureaucratic agenda,
with workers undertaking ‘emotional labour’, while organisations work ‘ through
structures, processes and procedures, rules and regulations . . . assisting participants in distorting, manipulating, redirecting and neutralising emotion’ (Rogers
2001, 185). Rogers goes on to point out the need to nurture and sustain emotion
work in the caring professions, ‘to provide support . . . to use feelings to maintain
a . . . connection with users’ (2001, 190). This clearly involves receiving important
mutual support from fellow workers, from work place supervisors and line
managers with whom one can share and unburden negative emotion (Huxley
et al. 2005). The significant role of support has been explored at length
elsewhere (Collins in press).
Good self-esteem and perceived control may be thought of as core resources
that contribute to a resilient personality (Major et al. 1998). Personal resilience is
also mediated by an individual’s appraisal of stress and the coping mechanisms
that are used when confronting stressful situations (Collins in press). Furthermore, resilience is not a static concept. For instance, a social work team may
foster a very supportive environment for several years, but then illness,
promotions or the presence of a negative personality can disturb the equilibrium.
What was an environment that fostered individual resilience can become
destabilised and much less supportive. The expression of resilience is influenced
by context, the quantity and quality of the stressors, individual traits and the
surrounding culture (Watson et al. 2006). Hence resilience is seen by many
researchers not to be a fixed attitude, but dependent on changing, interacting
circumstances that affect vulnerability, risk and protective mechanisms.
Resilience is therefore perceived by some to be an adaptive state, not just a
personality trait (Luthar and Cicchetti 2000). Seccombe has argued for an
understanding of resilience as a quality of the environment as much as the
individual and that ‘careful attention must be paid to the structural deficiencies
in our society and to . . . social policies’ (2002, 385). Ungar has also noted the
significance of culture in resilience and has pointed out that resilience
researchers have tended to focus on outcomes that are ‘western based . . . typical
of mainstream populations and their definitions of healthy function . . . with little
investigation into the applicability of the construct of resilience to non-western
majority world cultures [because] resilience research is . . . anchored in Eurocentric epistemology’ (2006, 4 – 5). In fact, there have been few rigorous
qualitative or quantitative studies into culturally determined outcomes associated with resilience in non-western cultures (Ungar 2006).
Positive Emotions
Relatively little research has been done on the experience of positive emotion in
traumatic and stressful situations but it is an important element in psychological
resilience (Frederickson et al. 2003). It has tended to be ignored or dismissed by
258 COLLINS
some writers as a form of unhealthy denial (for example, Bowlby 1980), but
research has shown ‘positive emotions can help reduce levels of distress by
quieting or undoing negative emotions and by increasing continued contact with,
and support from, important people in the person’s social environment’ (Bonanno
and Keltner 1997, 134).
As Folkman points out, the
occurrence of positive psychological states during the stress of care giving has
significant implications for our understanding of the coping process. [The latter]
has traditionally focussed on coping that . . . manages or reduces negative states.
The co-occurrence of [both] positive and negative psychological states throughout enduring and profoundly stressful circumstances challenges us to consider a
model of coping that takes positive states into account. (Folkman 1997, 1207)
In Folkman’s work the partners of men with AIDS themselves reported that the
researchers were missing an important part of the partners’ experience by asking
only about stressful events. Partners said there was a need to ask also about
positive events, in order to have a better understanding of how they coped with
stress. It is interesting to note that social workers involved in stress research
could well make similar comments, because the many studies on stress and social
workers have made little or no attempt to consider positive states and emotion —
concentrating instead almost exclusively on negative feelings and negative
experiences. In Folkman’s (1997) study almost all of the AIDS carers reported
positive, meaningful emotions and events linked to ordinary happenings in daily
life. Again, this has implications for social workers, who clearly do report a
significant number of positive emotions and positive events in their work. For
instance, cross-national studies in the UK show that social workers experience
enjoyment in relationships and in working with people (Cameron 2003; Huxley
et al. 2005). Furthermore, as noted in Collins (in press), social workers have
positive feelings about making a difference to people’s lives and their
communities, being valued, enjoying good colleague relationships, challenging
work and a wide variety of tasks.
The message again is that positive emotions are common in difficult situations.
There are positive outcomes of stress; growth and change is possible amidst
considerable demands and there are benefits, possibilities and opportunities
(Lazarus 1999; Folkman and Moskowitz 2000).
Positive affect has not been entirely neglected in models of stress. For
instance, ‘it has been discussed in the primary appraisal of stressful situations as
challenges, which signals the possibility of mastery or gain and is characterised by
positively toned emotions, such as eagerness, excitement and confidence’
(Folkman and Moskowitz 2000, 647). It has been considered also in the appraisal
of the favourable or successful resolution of a stressful encounter, thus involving
emotions such as happiness and pride (Folkman and Lazarus 1985). For example, a
recent survey of almost 1000 social workers in ‘Community Care’ (2006) indicated
no less than 90 per cent felt pride in their work. Hence in social work, even when
stress is present, rewards are also evident. Furthermore, in Gibson, McGrath, and
RESILIENCE, POSITIVE EMOTIONS AND OPTIMISM 259
Reid’s (1989) study of stressed Northern Ireland social workers, only one in 10
respondents found social work ‘dissatisfying’ or ‘very dissatisfying’, with three
quarters of respondents finding it ‘very satisfying’ or ‘satisfying’.
Positive Emotions and Coping
Coping in social work is a very significant topic in itself, which has been explored
in depth (Collins in press). Here we will concentrate on positive emotions and
coping. Lazarus, Kanner, and Folkman (1980) suggested that under stressful
circumstances where negative emotion predominates, positive emotions can help
people cope in three ways. They may:
. provide a ‘breather’, a psychological break;
. act as a ‘sustainer’, which enhances self-esteem and feelings of effectiveness;
. act as a ‘restorer’, where people feel resources are replenished and that they
are cared about.
Frederickson (2001) and Tugade and Frederickson (2004) in a series of important
research studies explored a ‘broaden and build’ model about the function of
positive emotions in understanding psychological resilience, demonstrating that
positive emotions broaden a person’s individual focus and behavioural repertoire.
As a result, they build social, intellectual and physical resources which may have
become depleted in stressful situations. Positive emotions also generate more
flexibility, more creative, open thoughts and solutions. They are active
ingredients in coping and thriving — in spite of adversity.
Also, ongoing positive emotions, over time, lead to the building up of a range
of personal resources — physical, social, psychological and intellectual — that are
durable and outlast the transient state that led to their acquisition. Repeated
experiences of positive emotions leads to a broad-minded coping becoming
habitual and a personal resource — a facet of trait resilience (Frederickson et al.
2003).
Tugade and Frederickson (2004) suggest some individuals may have a greater
tendency to control their emotions and draw on positive emotions in times of
stress. Greater emotional knowledge is associated with a larger repertoire of
emotion regulation strategies (Feldman and Gross 2001). Salovey et al. (1999)
have discussed emotional intelligence as the ability to monitor one’s own and
others’ feelings and emotions, to use this information to guide thinking and
actions when coping with negative circumstances, to learn from life’s setbacks,
to incorporate the experience and cope more effectively. This clearly has
important implications for social work. It links in with the importance of
reflective thinking (Scho¨n 1995; Gould and Taylor 1996) and with the idea of
transforming ‘emotional chaos into containable anxiety’ (Nathan 1993, 79).
Morrison has explored the implications of emotional intelligence for social
work practice in some detail. Morrison notes Isen’s (2000) work on positive
260 COLLINS
emotion, emphasising that it ‘is associated with a range of mental capacities that
have a direct impact on judgement and decision making, [including the] ability to
link . . . different sources and types of information, [and] greater flexibility in
negotiation’ (Morrison 2007, 255–56). This has clear implications for effective
assessment skills and collaborative social work practice. Isen (2000) also goes on
to emphasise that positive emotion reduces hostility between members of groups
and moderates some of the worst effects of discrimination. It enables people to
share common themes, encouraging members to treat other groups as members
of their own group, with less emphasis on ‘outsiders’ and ‘the other’, thus
breaking down barriers, for example, between social workers and colleagues
from different professional groups.
Folkman and Moskowitz note ‘that positive affect has significant adaptational
functions in the coping process, it [is] important to understand how it is
generated and sustained in the context of stress’ (2000, 650). They identified
three kinds of coping related to positive affect:
. positive reappraisal;
. goal-directed, problem-focused work;
. infusing ordinary events with meaning.
Positive Reappraisal
Positive reappraisal involves cognitive strategies for reframing a situation, to
appraise a difficult situation more positively, to see it in a more favourable light.
Folkman and Moskowitz (2000) give a crude example of seeing a glass half full as
opposed to half empty. Positive reappraisal has been associated with positive
affect in stressful events generally, in relation to reactions to bereavement
(Moskowitz, Acree, and Folkman 1996) and caregiving (Folkman, Chesney, and
Christopher-Richards 1994). In the latter instance deeply held values were
activated by stressful situations, for instance, in demonstrating care and
preserving the dignity of ill people, whereby the often painful, exhausting
experience of caring was reappraised as very worthwhile — thereby positively
motivating future caring. This focus on the importance of efforts made, the
positive appraisal of these efforts, help sustain endeavours over long periods of
time. It has clear implications for social work involvement and intervention in
situations where obvious and clear progress is not immediately evident.
The significance of support from colleagues and supervision from line managers
is again highlighted here, because what can be the exhausting task of providing
prolonged support, limited emotional and practical help to users in stressful and
demanding situations, also requires support for the social worker. It provides an
opportunity to reappraise, to think through alternative perspectives and
approaches to situations, to emphasise realistic positives and strengths (Huxley
et al. 2005). Indeed, social work has a very long history of emphasising positives,
strengths and resources in users’ personalities and situations, as seen in ego
RESILIENCE, POSITIVE EMOTIONS AND OPTIMISM 261
psychology and psychosocial casework, but also, now, in more currently popular
approaches such as constructionist, narrative, solution-focused and strengthsbased approach (Parton and O’Byrne 2000).
Goal-Directed/Problem-Focused Coping
Goal-directed/problem-focused coping links to efforts concentrated on solving or
managing the difficulties causing stress. It includes gathering information,
planning, making decisions, resolving conflicts, efforts to acquire resources and
task-oriented actions (Lazarus and Folkman 1984). Folkman and Moskowitz (2000)
make the point that even in apparently uncontrollable, deteriorating situations,
it is possible to identify goals and experience efficacy, mastery and control. Their
study of AIDS caregivers indicated a prominent theme in participants’ accounts of
their stressors was the sense of helplessness related to the unpredictable and
uncontrollable nature of their partners’ disease (Folkman, Chesney, and
Christopher-Richards 1994). However, carers were not passive; instead they
pursued realistic, attainable goals by focusing on specific tasks or problems of
caregiving. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that problem-focused coping
increased in the months prior to a partner’s death (Moskowitz, Acree, and
Folkman 1996); problem-focused coping was significantly related to positive
affect during this time.
Although problem-focused coping is task-centred and instrumental, it can
clearly be meaningful. It has much relevance for social workers, linking in well
with the transferable knowledge, skills and understanding associated with taskcentred practice. A goal-oriented approach focuses people’s attention. It
encourages feelings of effectiveness and control. Both of these meaning-based
functions are critical for positive well-being (Carver and Scheier 1998). A sense of
mastery and control encouraged by successful problem-focused efforts helps
explain the presence of positive affect during distress. Problem-focused coping
and positive reappraisal ‘all involve creating, reinstating, or reinforcing meaning
in the midst of stress’ (Folkman and Moskowitz 2000, 651).
Meaning
Meaning has long been involved in the appraisal of stress. It helps a person find
redeeming elements in a stressful situation in relation to their commitment,
beliefs and values. Even in the most unfavourable of circumstances, such as the
suffering and horrors of a concentration camp, people can still find a sense of
meaning and purpose (Frankl 1963). Appraisal of situational meaning shapes the
emotions a person experiences in a particular stressful encounter and influences
subsequent coping (Lazarus and Folkman 1984). Appraised situational meaning
contrasts with global meaning which refers to people’s fundamental assumptions,
beliefs and expectations of themselves and the surrounding world (Park and
262 COLLINS
Folkman 1997). For social workers, the clear emphasis on users’ rights, strengths
and resources, respect for persons, their self-determination, the importance of
potential for growth, all encourage a positive sense of meaning in one’s work and
the salience of good and positive areas in users’ lives so that, in particular
problematic situations, there is always hope, with potential for change (Saleebey
2002). Therefore, a sense of purpose and meaning as a means of coping is central
to much human endeavour. This clearly links to existential beliefs and
existentially informed counselling and social work practice (Thompson 1992).
Many social workers find a real sense of commitment and meaning in their
work, a sense of purpose, a belief that social work is a very significant part of
their personal identity. Hence, there is likely to be continuing, strong motivation
to want to work with and to help users. The sense of commitment and the
internal meaning that social workers attribute to their job can facilitate coping
and mitigate psychological distress (Dekel et al. 2006). The feeling of doing ‘a
worthwhile job’ and that other professionals see it in a similar light adds to
positive self-esteem and well-being. In the recent Community Care survey (2006,
8) almost all of the 1000 social workers believed social work to be a profession
‘worth fighting for’.
Optimism and Hope
As Folkman succinctly put it ‘we need to know more about the characteristics of
individuals that contribute to their ability to generate and sustain positive
psychological states’ (1997, 1218). Hope and optimism are amongst those
characteristics suggested, in addition to resilience and positive emotion.
However, even proponents of the significance of optimism have noted its
individualistic, asocial nature, with interpersonal characteristics tending to be
neglected. For instance, cautionary comments have been made about the
dangers of unrealistically optimistic approaches related to illness, accidents and
child protection work (Peterson 2000). Research has been done on optimism and
hope which is closely interrelated. Snyder (2000) has written extensively about
hope, with an emphasis on goal seeking. Hope is seen by Snyder as a belief in
one’s capacity to initiate, sustain action and achieve (‘the will’) and a belief in
one’s ability to generate routes, strategies and pathways in thinking about and
moving towards one’s goals (‘the way’). He sees people high in hope as having
several goals, perceiving them as challenges, more success in achieving these
goals, being happier and less distressed, with better coping skills, experiencing
quicker recovery from physical problems and less burn-out at work.
Optimism ‘involves positive, relatively stable, favourable expectations and
outcomes for the future; it is associated with making positive cognitive appraisals
of situations, then with making active, engaged coping efforts to deal with stress,
making the best of whatever is encountered’ (Collins in press, 11). Pessimism, or
negative affect, is associated with unfavourable expectations, an excessive focus
on distress and disengaged coping (Chang 1998).
RESILIENCE, POSITIVE EMOTIONS AND OPTIMISM 263
Dekel et al. (2006) cite studies that have confirmed significant relationships
between optimism and subjective well-being, good self-esteem, low incidence
of depression, low negative emotions and high life satisfaction. They note also
that a few studies have examined the positive relationship between optimism,
lower risk of distress and job burn-out, while Chang (1998) has emphasised
variations among cultures. For example, his research has noted that for Asian
Americans, in fact, pessimism is associated with more problem solving
approaches to coping, in contrast to the approach of Caucasian Americans
(Chang 1998).
Scheier and Carver (1992) discuss the importance of dispositional optimism —
‘a global expectation that good things will be plentiful in the future and bad
things scarce’ (Peterson 2000, 49). Scheier and Carver place an emphasis on
goal setting defined as desirable values, and continued actions to attain them.
Alternatively, Buchanan and Seligman (1995) in their important work have
emphasised explanatory style, that is, an individual’s characteristic explanatory
style — how he/she explains bad events. Optimists are described as those who
explain bad events as caused by factors external to themselves, with specific,
changeable causes. Pessimists are described as those who favour personal,
internally attributed, long lasting, all pervasive causes for bad events.
Seligman’s (1975) early work on the learned helpless model proposed, briefly,
that after experiencing uncontrollable events people can become helpless,
passive and unresponsive, with a learned, general expectancy that future
outcomes would be unrelated to any actions taken by themselves, often
accompanied by failure, depression and illness.
Seligman reframed these explanatory styles in terms of learned optimism,
with a focus on what can go right, positive outcomes, mastery or control
(Seligman 1991). There are clear parallels with positive reappraisal noted
earlier. Optimistic people are more likely to attempt to change conditions and
use problem solving coping. They reframe past events in positive terms,
highlighting those perspectives and appreciate the positives of the moment. At
the same time whilst realistic optimism is to be encouraged, some writers have
encouraged caution, as constant striving for control over events without
appropriate resources or recognition of situational constraints can take it’s toll
(Peterson 2000). This has much relevance to social workers who may channel
their efforts into unachievable goals and become ill, exhausted or demoralised
by their efforts on behalf of their overstretched organisation. Seligman (1991)
has talked about flexible or complex optimism, a psychological strategy to be
exercised where appropriate, not as a reflex or habitual response. Thus in social
work while optimism can and does encourage positive perspectives on one’s
own work and in one’s organisation, we should not underestimate the suffering
endured by overworked social workers and users besieged and burdened with
the limitations of low incomes, poor agency resources and structural
oppression.
In social work literature some writers have begun to appreciate the
significance of optimism. For instance, Trotter (1999) has emphasised optimism
264 COLLINS
as a significant ingredient in the helping relationship, alongside empathy,
humour and self-disclosure. Pieces of research are also beginning to emerge
that highlight the importance of optimism in worker/user interactions. In
1995, in a longitudinal study by Kirk and Koeske, mental health case managers
working with ‘difficult’ mental health clients did better in their approach to
their job if they were optimistic rather than ‘realistic’. Case managers who
had higher expectations and higher optimism generally than colleagues,
enjoyed better levels of job satisfaction and were less likely to leave their
jobs. More recently, Dekel et al. (2006) in their study of Israeli hospital social
workers who provided emergency treatment to victims of terrorist attacks,
emphasised the significant contribution of professional confidence and
optimism to the social workers’ ability to cope with traumatic stress, to
reduce levels of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and psychiatric
symptoms.
In a small-scale qualitative study of expert mental health social workers in
Australia and the USA, Ryan et al. (2004) concluded that optimism, belief and
caring were very significant elements in their work. The social workers
emphasised the strengths that clients/users brought, as well as their problems,
with a focus on longer term change and recovery from the consequences of
illness. Ryan et al. (2004) highlighted personal qualities, rather than technical
knowledge and skills. They also pointed out that optimism was associated
with workers having a belief in their own ability, their self-efficacy, based on
good experience from previous situations, from perceiving situations as
opportunities and challenge. At the same time, they highlighted the
importance of social work students’ personal characteristics in the selection
process for education and training and the importance of developing
knowledge and understanding of optimism during a course or programme.
Also, the need for social work organisations to continue to develop expertise
and belief in optimism as a part of supervision and ongoing professional
development.
Overall, optimism in social work encourages a search for possibilities,
positives and strengths. Parton and O’Byrne (2000) discuss the need for
‘experienced optimism’, as optimism about human potential for change and
one’s ability to bring it about forms a bedrock, a foundation for many social
work helping efforts. This should be accompanied by a willingness to question
and to critically reflect on one’s actions, so that optimism retains realism, is
based on flexibility and a readiness to be continually open to changing one’s
own approaches.
Conclusion: Some Key Messages for Social Workers, Practice Teachers
and Managers
When social workers cope with stress, interactive factors involving structural,
organisational and individual differences are of considerable significance. Clearly
RESILIENCE, POSITIVE EMOTIONS AND OPTIMISM 265
the setting for social work has a profound influence, but at the same time the
resilience, positive emotions and optimism of individual social workers have a
part to play. There are clear implications for the quality and quantity of support
offered to student social workers and to qualified workers by other social workers
and line managers. Furthermore, education and training in resilience, in the
management of positive emotions and optimism could help both students and
qualified workers cope more readily with the demands made by their work. There
is a clear need for social workers to maximise available opportunities to offer
regular, mutual support to each other in informal groups, in team meetings,
through the professional association, union meetings and more specialised
interest groups. Practice teachers and line managers, by offering regular,
nurturing supervision focused upon emotional and practical needs, can provide
genuine opportunities for sharing the feelings and experiences involved in the
demands of working with users. Ongoing positive professional development
opportunities offer another way of ensuring that resilience and positive emotions
are maintained, along with necessary holiday periods and commitment to outside
leisure interests that enable the demands of social work to be placed in a wider
perspective. There is no one, precise answer to helping social workers cope with
stress. However, more attention to, and work on, developing knowledge and
understanding of positive emotions and optimism has helped and can help social
workers establish and maintain resilience, not only in their daily work, but also
throughout their careers.
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Stewart Collins, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Wales, Bangor, LL57
2DG, UK. email: [email protected]
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