An educational intervention focused on teaching Qualified Empathy to social work students in Finland
Eija Raatikainen, Leigh Anne Rauhala, Seija Mäenpää
Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education
23 March 2021
The main goal of the one semester long intervention for first-year Bachelor of Social Services students was to enable them to increase their awareness of a variety of cultures and practices encountered in social pedagogical work and to support the development of their ability to interact empathically with clients.
The results of the study demonstrate the progress areas of the students' Qualified Empathy skills. The development stages in the three progress areas are:
(1) from emotional reaction to emotional response,
(2) from understanding to empathic acting and
(3) from client perspective to a more systemic approach.
Implications of the results for Social Services students are discussed.