Social workers’ experiences of practising with empathy: developing the Em-Prac framework

Empathy has been widely researched in social work, reflecting its core position within the global profession. However, the dominance of quantitative approaches, with a focus on the individual level, in social work research to date, means that little is known about qualitative experiences of empathy in practice or broader organisational contexts. A psycho-social framework comprising the sociological theory of emotional labour (Hochschild, 2012. The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. University of California Press.) and the psycho-analytic theory of containment (Bion, 1962. Learning from Experience. Heinemann.) has value for extending current understandings. Our study aimed to develop understandings of empathy by exploring practice experiences, underpinned by a relational constructionist perspective. Situated within the English child protection context, twelve social workers each participated in three relational interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis, enhanced by poetic methods and group discussion, highlighted three core themes representing dyadic, individual and collegial empathic practices. Drawing on emotional labour and containment, we identified two further empathic practices at the organisational level. We developed a framework for empathy in social work – Em-Prac. Em-Prac can be applied by social workers, to reflect on and develop empathic practices; and at an organisational level, to support social workers’ empathic capacities.