¶ … Social Worker Social work is significant aspect of the society as it helps in caring for those in need. Those in this profession need to develop awareness of the underlying knowledge associated with the key principles of social work. Social workers need to illustrate their ability to apply knowledge and skills, values via case studies. It is important for social workers to demonstrate awareness of the skills needed to establish relationships with other service users as well as colleagues by communicating effectively.

Empathy is a critical characteristic required for those who are pursuing career in social worker. Empathy comes in handy as this work involves interacting with people in crisis predicaments seldom meeting their clients once the issues are resolved. A social worker is expected to rise above sympathy and must have true empathy for those they engage with. Gerdes and Segal (2011) in a journal article explain that epathy is more than ever to the nations population that is increasingly experiencing challanging political and socioeconomic situations. A body of research is available focusing on the nature, mechanism, and function of empathy. In addition, this body of research reveals that empathy is an important human capability that can be re-enforced by purposeful and informed guidance. This value is very critical in the social work profession as Gerdes and Segal (2011) show that clients that experience empathy while undergoing treatment indicate enhanced outcomes. Those who show empathy in the course of their...

It is therefore recommended that practitioners in this proffession get informed about emerging studies on empathy and practice it to better serve their client populations. Empathy has enormous benefits to the profession and need to be the focus as requirement. James and Raines (1999) try to explore the definition of empathy in clinical social work; they make the difference between empathy and other related concepts such as sympathy, insight, identification, and intuition. They use the illustration of empathy being the middle ground between insight and sympathy.
It is common for social workers to encounter conflict as the work involves working with people with chronic emotional issues. Therefore for one to successfully undertake a career as a social worker, they need to mentally prepare to face challenges on a daily basis; for instance a social worker may be assigned a case involving child abuse or gender violence. According to the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) (International Federation of Social Workers, 2012), there is need not only for ethical decision, but also ethical actions in the profession in order to enhance social justice. Whatever a social workers opinion may be regarding their client or case, they must first act ethically thereby refraining from passing judgments on those involved. It is in order for a social worker to adhere to ethics guidelines as opposed to their personal feelings while deciding on the necessary legal steps…