TY - JOUR
T1 - The Public’s Attitudes towards Social Workers
T2 - The Role of Values, Opinions of Others and Personal Experience
AU - Tartakovsky, Eugene
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved.
PY - 2024/9/1
Y1 - 2024/9/1
N2 - The present study investigates the psychological factors affecting the public’s attitudes towards social workers. The study was based on the theory of human values and aimed to investigate the role of personal motivational goals reflected in values on attitudes towards social workers. In addition, we tested the contact hypothesis in the context of social work. The study was conducted in Israel using a stratified representative sample that included individuals who had no contact with social workers during the last 3 years (n = 303) and those with such contact (n = 220). In the inexperienced population, values affected the perception of social workers indirectly through the opinions of others. In the experienced population, personal experience with social workers affected their perception and support of their struggle. Finally, a higher preference for self-transcendence vs. self-enhancement values was associated with stronger support of the social workers’ struggle to improve their working conditions in both the experienced and inexperienced populations. The results of the present study advance the theory of human values and the contact hypothesis in the context of social work. In addition, they have important implications for social work practice, permitting social workers to understand their clients better.
AB - The present study investigates the psychological factors affecting the public’s attitudes towards social workers. The study was based on the theory of human values and aimed to investigate the role of personal motivational goals reflected in values on attitudes towards social workers. In addition, we tested the contact hypothesis in the context of social work. The study was conducted in Israel using a stratified representative sample that included individuals who had no contact with social workers during the last 3 years (n = 303) and those with such contact (n = 220). In the inexperienced population, values affected the perception of social workers indirectly through the opinions of others. In the experienced population, personal experience with social workers affected their perception and support of their struggle. Finally, a higher preference for self-transcendence vs. self-enhancement values was associated with stronger support of the social workers’ struggle to improve their working conditions in both the experienced and inexperienced populations. The results of the present study advance the theory of human values and the contact hypothesis in the context of social work. In addition, they have important implications for social work practice, permitting social workers to understand their clients better.
KW - attitudes towards social workers
KW - opinions of relatives and friends and mass media
KW - personal experience with social workers
KW - social workers’ struggle to improve their working conditions
KW - value preferences
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85191063744&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/bjsw/bcae045
DO - 10.1093/bjsw/bcae045
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AN - SCOPUS:85191063744
SN - 0045-3102
VL - 54
SP - 2717
EP - 2735
JO - British Journal of Social Work
JF - British Journal of Social Work
IS - 6
ER -