Self-compassion among child welfare workers: An exploratory study

Abstract

This study employed the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) to examine self-compassion among a group of child welfare practitioners (N = 223) in one southeastern state. The SCS includes items that ask participants to report how often they participate engage in various actions in self-compassion. Overall, data indicate that child welfare workers only moderately engage in self-compassion. Analyses revealed significant positive relationships between self-compassion and age and years in practice, respectively. Additionally, those with a Master Degree and belonging to a professional member association reported significantly higher self-compassion. Being a child welfare supervisor and professional group membership were significant predictors of self-compassion. After a brief review of relevant literature, this paper explicates findings from this study. Then, the article discusses salient practice, training, and research implications related to child welfare.