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Why Social Workers Remain In The Field: An Exploratory Study On The Protective Factors Associated With Social Worker Perseverance, John D. Mack

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Social workers face many challenges and hardships throughout their careers. This study examines the numerous stressors that social work professionals come in contact with on a daily basis, and explores the protective factors that provide these professionals with their drive to persevere in the face of these stressors. Data was obtained through semi-structured qualitative interviews with four professional social workers with a minimum of 15 years of experience in the social work field. Methods such as committee analysis, thematic clustering, and peer reviews were all utilized to analyze data for this study. The interviews highlighted key themes such as: career …