Narcissism and the Social Work Response

Abstract

This paper reflects on and discusses the relationship between social work knowledge and practice in the context of work with narcissistically-oriented clients. Two subtypes of narcissism postulated in the literature are discussed in relation to the pattern of narcissistic internal claims about self and associated relational expectations. Key messages for social workers are that greater knowledge of the dynamics of narcissism may lead to: accepting and adapting practice based on the idea that narcissistic dynamics have a certain intentionality; applying empowerment models more carefully with this group; better understanding of how to effectively engage clients without reinforcing strong narcissistic tendencies or “results”; and protection of social workers' wellbeing by being able to identify and understand how narcissistic dynamics impact in practice situations. Social workers are urged to critically reflect on and to develop deeper, social work-specific, understandings of personality psychology in the interests of greater practice effectiveness.

本文就具有自恋倾向的客户，反思并讨论了社会工作的知、行关系。作者结合文献中假定的两种自恋亚型，讨论了自恋对自我的内在诉求模式以及相关的关系期待。要知道，对自恋动力了解多了，就：有可能接受并适应实践，自恋动力有一定的意图性；就会对这个人群更审慎地应用赋权模式；就会更有效地适应客户而不加重他们的自恋倾向或后果；就能让社会工作者发现并理解自恋在真实环境中如何发生影响，从而有效保护自身的利益。作者呼吁社会工作者对与社会工作有关的人格心理学有更多的反思，更深的理解，这样才能得到更多的实效。

Keywords:

• Assessment
• Social Work
• Mental Health
• Intervention
• Clinical Practice