Dealing with abuse as a social worker

As a social worker, you are expected to care for others - often people who have experienced significant trauma or have lived particularly difficult lives. But how do you know where to draw the line when it comes to tolerating service users who are putting your own mental health at risk?

In this blog, we discuss how to deal with abuse as a social worker and how to put a stop to it immediately.

Signs you’re dealing with abuse at work:

• Physical exhaustion

• Trouble regulating emotions/hyper-emotional

• Difficulty concentrating

• Constantly feeling your safety is at risk with a certain client(s)

• Being ‘numb’ to verbal abuse from service users

• Persistently anxious at the thought of going to work

How to deal with abuse as a social worker

Firstly, receiving abuse at work is never ok and not something you should shrug off as part of the job. Yes, being a social worker is about helping others but as soon as you start to compromise your own wellbeing, that’s when something needs to change.

Here are the do’s and don’ts to bear in mind if you ever feel like you are being abused as a social worker:

Do:

• Recognise when the individual is putting you at physical and/or emotional risk

• Get support

• Know where to draw the line

Don’t:

• Excuse the service user’s behaviour or blame it on their experiences*

• Try and analyse their actions/attempt to ‘solve’ the issue yourself

• Lash out at the individual or react unprofessionally

*Arguably exceptions can be made for young children who should not be criminalised for acting out after traumatic events.

The longer we dismiss the abuse of social workers as the norm, the longer we teach service users that these actions are acceptable. Just like anyone else, social workers should not be expected to work in a violent environment and it’s time we advocated for change. By taking a zero-tolerance approach to the abuse of social workers, we can improve the social work sector to ensure it is supportive and safe for everyone involved.

If you’re a social worker in need of support, check out Social Work England’s useful list of resources here.

Looking for a new role? Here at Imperium Solutions, we offer a variety of project-based social work roles for those after a new challenge. Drop our team a message via info@imperiumsolutions.co.uk to learn more about our current vacancies.