Empathy yes… empathy no? Training social workers in empathy

Social work moves on contexts and operational methods steeped in empathy, so it can be called an empathic profession. In light of this, the social work profession can and must strike the right balance between governing empathy or being overwhelmed by it, risking becoming alternately too close-connected or, conversely, too far-disconnected. For social service students, learning to be able to ‘govern’ empathy in professional practice represents a skill, a competency, that is indispensable to learn and acquire. Based on this problematic issue, through this research, we propose a reflection on professional practice in terms of applying models of professionalism. The underlying hypothesis of this research is: how can empathic subjectivity be combined with the professional competence of the social worker? To answer this research question, we involved, through an action research, students (interns) of the Bachelor of Social Work at the University of Messina, who observed and interviewed some social workers (business tutors) in their work context. It was thus possible to highlight possible professional ideal types. From the results obtained, it was possible to detect three recurrent professional models of competence, based on empathy: close/connected; neutral/balanced; distant/disconnected.