Scholarly record

SUPERVISION OF PROFESSIONAL BURNOUT OF SOCIAL WORKERS IN BULGARIA

K. Benkova, Y. Georgiev, N. Vlaeva, G. Kolev, K. Peeva

Abstract

The article presents the results of an insufficiently discussed issue in the Bulgarian literature about the professional burnout of social workers in the service "Protected Housing". In the real practice, the social worker is a typical social mediator between the vulnerable groups of people and regulating social institutions, civil communities and generally accepted moral norms. At the same time, he is assigned to perform his tasks in a social environment in which social relations are regulated by different legal and moral norms which are connected with the existence of a number of constraints and barriers, with relevant educational and socializing activities and efforts. The activity of the social worker takes place in the space of complex dilemmas that he analyzes and experiences, and the obligation to solve them often leads to psychophysical and emotional depletion. Our personal experiences and observations reveal that as a result high levels of anxiety, emotional instability, aggression and dissatisfaction arise, which in turn provoke an inability to realize professional competence and disturbed communication with both colleagues and users of the service. This article is a response to the need of the authors to study the specific features of the occupational burnout syndrome in this group of professionals with a view to its prevention. In the study is used the Methodology for the Study of the Burnout Syndrome, developed by Maslach and Jackson (Maslach Burnout Inventory - MBI), adapted by H.E. Vodopyanova.

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