A Study on the Social Worker's Experience in Coping with the Harm Caused by Client Violence

Abstract

The goal of this study was to investigate the social worker’s experience in coping with the damage caused by client violence. Indepth interviews of 10 social workers with experiences of getting harmed from client violence were carried out in order to conduct the research and these interviews were analyzed with the grounded theory method. The results showed that the central phenomena experienced by social workers who had been harmed by client violence in the past was ‘trying to control a situation that is difficult to control.’ It appeared that these victims sought out various coping strategies to gain emotional and environmental control. The contexts that influenced origins of violence and social workers’ coping strategies were categories such as ‘ability to respond to dangerous situations’ and ‘lack of people in charge and support system.’ As for intervening conditions, there were ‘individual support network’, ‘agency coworkers’ reaction’ and ‘treatment support and compensation system.’ And finally for interaction strategies, there were ‘dealing with emotional conflicts’, ‘handling violent incidences’, and ‘studying on client violence’. Based on this theoretical model structure, practical and political implications for preventing and establishing protection for social workers against client violence were proposed.