Hearts and Minds: Aspects of Empathy and Wellbeing in Social Work Students

Although empathy is critical to social work practice, the extent to which it can be measured, nurtured or taught is hotly debated. Furthermore, definitions of empathy are typically one-dimensional referring to the ability to adopt the perspective of others in order to understand their feelings, thoughts or actions. Such definitions do not adequately reflect the realities of empathy in the social work context or recognise its potential to lead to distress. This study utilises data from 359 social work students to examine relationships between several dimensions of empathy (i.e. perspective taking, concern and distress), reflective ability and wellbeing with a view to using the findings to develop evidence-based interventions to help staff develop appropriate empathic responses to service users' experiences. Whilst students reported fairly high levels of empathic concern, they also disclosed considerable empathic distress. Some evidence was found that reflective ability might protect social work students from empathic distress. Findings suggest that students require support to develop their empathic and reflective skills to effectively manage the emotional demands of practice. The use of techniques such as mindfulness and experiential learning for enhancing such skills is explored.     

Social sexual behavior at work

Organizational leaders and scholars have long regarded social sexual behavior in the workplace as deviant, harassing in nature, and something that organizations must eliminate to ensure maximal performance. Regardless of this perspective, however, social sexual behavior is an inescapable feature of human interaction that cannot be completely controlled in organizations. Moreover, there are many aspects of social sexual behavior that have not been considered or granted enough research attention to entirely warrant the broad assumption that social sexual behavior is always problematic to organizations and individuals. In the current paper, we highlight these under-researched or ignored facets of social sexual behavior. First, we consider the potential buffering effects that consensual social sexual behavior at work can offer to those involved, in terms of protecting them from the negative impact of workplace stressors. Next, we discuss the ways in which social sexual behavior is used as a tool of social influence at work. Finally, we consider the role of social sexual behavior at work as a precursor to the development of romantic relationships among employees. Throughout this discussion, we highlight both the potential benefits and drawbacks of engaging in social sexual behavior at work rather than adopting the perspective that all social sexual behavior at work is harmful. We encourage future research to consider all angles when investigating social sexual behavior at work, so as not to be completely detached from the reality that social sexual behavior can be consensual and sometimes enjoyed.     

Estimation of reliability in multicomponent stress–strength based on two parameter exponentiated Weibull Distribution

In this research article, we estimate the multicomponent stress–strength reliability of a system when strength and stress variates are drawn from an exponentiated Weibull distribution with different shape parameters α?and?β, and common shape and scale parameters γ and λ, respectively. We estimate the parameters by using maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) and hence the estimate of reliability obtained applying the MLE method of estimation when samples are drawn from stress and strength distributions. The small sample comparison of the reliability estimates is made through Monte Carlo simulation.     

Burnout,job stress and violent behaviour among Dutch police officers

Much has been published on burnout in the human services. However, despite the extensive literature on job stress in policing, burnout in police officers has rarely been studied. The present study examined stressors in police work, focusing specifically on the lack of reciprocity that officers experience in relations with civilians, colleagues and the police service. It also investigated the relationship between burnout and the attitudes of officers towards violence, as well as to their own use of violence. Dutch police officers (N = 358) completed a self-report questionnaire. The results showed that: (1) organizational stressors were more prevalent than task-related stressors; (2) compared to other service jobs, police officers report a particular profile on the three scales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)?a relatively low level of emotional exhaustion,an average level of depersonalization, and a high level of personal accomplishment; (3) burnout is associated with a lack of reciprocity between investments and outcomes in the relations that officers have with citizens, colleagues and their organization; and (4) burnout is positively related to attitudes towards use of violence and the use of violence during the officers' duty.     

Estimation of P(Y < X) for progressively first-failure-censored generalized inverted exponential distribution

In this article, we consider the problem of estimation of the stress–strength parameter δ?=?P(Y?<?X) based on progressively first-failure-censored samples, when X and Y both follow two-parameter generalized inverted exponential distribution with different and unknown shape and scale parameters. The maximum likelihood estimator of δ and its asymptotic confidence interval based on observed Fisher information are constructed. Two parametric bootstrap boot-p and boot-t confidence intervals are proposed. We also apply Markov Chain Monte Carlo techniques to carry out Bayes estimation procedures. Bayes estimate under squared error loss function and the HPD credible interval of δ are obtained using informative and non-informative priors. A Monte Carlo simulation study is carried out for comparing the proposed methods of estimation. Finally, the methods developed are illustrated with a couple of real data examples.     

WebStress: A web interface to explore a multidatabase bibliographic corpus on occupational stress

A bibliographic study on a multidisciplinary subject, such as occupational stress, requires a multidatabase query facility. Given this, we searched eight databases belonging to different fields (medicine, psychology, etc.) and from different countries. Thus, more than 26000 references on occupational stress were gathered. A bibliographic corpus of this sort is unusable because of the heterogeneous format of the records and the number of duplicate entries. Considering the limitations of commercial programs, we have developed a system, called WebStress, for reformatting the data and removing duplicates. The huge number of references and the research needs of updating and searching have necessitated the addition of several other functions to WebStress. Therefore WebStress comprises a web interface that makes it possible to search the corpus with advanced features (using clustering, a specialized thesaurus on stress and Boolean queries). In addition to the usual bibliographic queries on a specific database such as Medline, WebStress provides bibliometric analysis of the corpus, which might contribute to a detailed analysis on occupational stress in order to highlight the networks of researchers and to find the main topics studied in this area. WebStress is not yet available to researchers in general. It is being further developed, and also permission needs to be obtained from the eight commercial bibliographic databases that it consults.     

Employee reactions to behavioural control under conditions of stress: The moderating role of self-efficacy

Extensive research conducted in the occupational stress literature has failed to provide convincing support for the stress-buffering effects of work control on employee adjustment. Drawing on research conducted in the laboratory context, it was proposed that the stress-buffering effects of work control on employee adjustment would be more marked at high, rather than low, levels of self-efficacy. In a sample of 100 customer service representatives, a significant three-way interaction among role conflict, work control and self-efficacy (measured at Time 1) was observed on (low) depersonalization (measured at Time 2). Consistent with expectations, work control reduced the negative effects of work stress on this outcome measure only for employees who perceived high levels of self-efficacy at work. In addition, there was evidence to suggest that self-efficacy moderated the main effects of work control on job satisfaction and somatic health. These findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical contribution to the job strain model, and also in relation to workplace interventions designed to improve levels of employee adjustment.     

Psychophysiological reactions during the first year of a foreign assignment: Results of a controlled longitudinal study

Abstract

Previous studies reveal that employees are exposed to several potential stressors during foreign assignments. This prospective multidisciplinary study followed managers (expatriate group) before and during their first year of an international work assignment. Concurrently, a matched reference group that did not relocate was observed. The secretion of the stress-sensitive hormone prolactin increased in the expatriate group during the first year abroad, compared to the reference group. Selfesteem, family relations, language skills, decreased internal locus of control and job promotion explained 32% of the variance in serum prolactin levels. Lower self-esteem and sense of coherence was related to increased serum prolactin. Increased working hours were associated with decreased work satisfaction. Job promotion was not related to work satisfaction. Mental well-being decreased in the expatriate group, compared to the reference group. Individual factors such as a strong sense of coherence and social provision attenuated decreases in mental well-being. A significant increase in cigarette and alcohol consumption was found in the expatriate group during the first year abroad. This study indicates that there are important psychosocial determinants influencing psychophysiological response patterns in expatriates. The present results put into question the generalizability of the ‘culture shock’ syndrome. The results have practical implications for guiding expatriates on time-limited assignments.     

Human resource development,organization development,organizational learning,and organizational effectiveness: all needed more than ever

In this study the Job Demand-Control model was used to study the quality of working life of Dutch secondary teachers. The Job Demand-Control model of Karasek is a theoretical model in which stress and learning are both considered as dependent variables which are influenced by three different task characteristics: job demands, job control, and social support. This model was tested for Dutch secondary teachers (n = 542). Results shed light on the relationship between stress and learning, on the one hand, and the effects of task characteristics on work stress and on work-based learning, on the other hand. It is concluded that the relationship between stress and learning is mediated by the amount of job control as the model predicts. However, the results also reveal that the Karasek model is better suited for explaining stress than for explaining learning. To explain work-based learning variables other than task characteristics have to be taken into account.     

Non-traditional Student Retention: Exploring Perceptions of Support in a Social Work Graduate Program

This study examines non-traditional student perceptions of social support in the context of a group intervention offered by a graduate program at a predominantly white university in the southern United States of America. The goal of the group intervention was to enhance perceptions of social support, as measured by a standardized instrument administered pre and post the group intervention. Data analysis showed no significant differences in pre–post changes in perceptions of social support between intervention and comparison groups. A follow-up survey questionnaire administered to group intervention participants provided feedback that shed light on these unanticipated results: it is recommended that future interventions for improving non-traditional student retention focus on supporting the development of social support networks among incoming and first-year graduate students.