Zhang Yangyong
Department of Social Work, School of Sociology and Anthropology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
Front Psychol. 2024 Dec 12;15:1293386. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1293386. eCollection 2024.
Communion and agency are two essential dimensions for understanding personality traits. This study comprised 49 in-depth interviews and three focus groups with experienced social workers in China to address the following research questions: (1) What is the orientation of Chinese social workers towards communion and agency? (2) What challenges do they encounter in their daily practice? (3) How do they interpret and utilize agency in coping with these challenges? The findings revealed three main themes: (a) Participants demonstrated a clear preference for communion over agency, reflecting a strong orientation towards social concern; (b) The professional challenges faced by participants varied significantly across career stages, with distinct requirements for agency at each stage; and (c) Participants' understanding of agency was primarily rooted in professional competence. At different career stages, participants displayed varying levels of professional competence and agency, both of which were essential for addressing social concerns and developing strategies for long-term professional survival. The study suggests that social workers need to balance social concerns with individual development, view social work rationally as an ordinary job, and focus on enhancing both their professional competence and personal agency to achieve their aspirations.
共融和能动性是理解人格特质的两个重要维度。本研究对中国经验丰富的社会工作者进行了49次深度访谈和3次焦点小组讨论，以探讨以下研究问题：（1）中国社会工作者对共融和能动性的取向是什么？（2）他们在日常实践中遇到哪些挑战？（3）他们如何理解和运用能动性来应对这些挑战？研究结果揭示了三个主要主题：（a）参与者对共融的偏好明显高于能动性，反映出强烈的社会关怀取向；（b）参与者面临的职业挑战在不同职业阶段有很大差异，每个阶段对能动性有不同要求；（c）参与者对能动性的理解主要基于专业能力。在不同职业阶段，参与者展现出不同水平的专业能力和能动性，这两者对于解决社会关怀问题和制定长期职业生存策略都至关重要。该研究表明，社会工作者需要在社会关怀与个人发展之间取得平衡，理性地将社会工作视为一份普通工作，并专注于提升专业能力和个人能动性以实现自身抱负。
