Thematic Analysis of Career Problems of Social Workers

Abstract

Aim: Considering the prevalence of career problems in the helping professions, the aim of the present study was to investigate the career problems of social workers. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted using thematic analysis approach. The population included all the social workers of Shahrekord city, 17 of whom were selected through purposeful sampling until theoretical data saturation was reached. For collecting the information, semi-structured interviews were used. Atride-Sterling network theme analysis method was used to analyze the data. Findings: Social workers perceive career problems in three overarching themes: Intrapersonal problems, interpersonal problems and transpersonal problems. Intrapersonal problems included two organizing themes of emotional-sentimental problems (anxiety, general depression, burnout and violence), and physical problems. In the field of interpersonal problems, the themes of the organizer include: career problems transfer into the family and home, communication problems with clients (collapse of work and personal boundaries with clients, inability to manage clients' high expectations and cultural, educational and social problems of clients), problems related to lack of organizational commitment (feeling of discrimination and low conscientiousness of colleagues), problems related to the policy of the organization (change and diversity of the policy of the organization and the contradiction of the policy of the organization with the needs of clients). The reports of the social workers in the context of transpersonal problems also indicated that the problems related to the nature of the job (high volume of work, high challenge of work), problems related to working conditions (high noise, inappropriate ergonomics and pollution of the work environment) financial and welfare problems and the interference of living environment problems with job duties were the factors that led to career problems in this profession. Conclusion: Based on the research findings, it can be concluded that social work is a very challenging job and social workers are among the most vulnerable groups of society who experience many problems in various fields, where the involved related organizations can help them reduce these problems by using career counselors and psychologists, in addition to better comprehensive planning