Resilience and Personality Dispositions of Social Workers in the Czech Republic

Abstract

The empirical study brings answers to the question: “What are the relationships between resilience and personality of social workers in the scope of their profession?” The problematics of personality dispositions is viewed from the perspective of the five-factor model of personality (the “Big Five”), as well as from the perspective of resilience, which allows the workers to achieve the desired level of well-being despite the challenges of their profession. The research was conducted among 729 social workers in the Czech Republic with the help of a standardised questionnaire. It has been found that the most prevalent personality types among social workers are the conscientious and agreeable types and most workers have a medium rate of resilience. The biggest potential for the application of resilience has been found in the emotionally stable personality type and the smallest among the conscientious and agreeable type. On the basis of empirical findings we recommend the support of resilience in social work practitioners and students through the development of self-awareness of their own personality and their personality growth, as well as development of resilience awareness and focusing on developing strategies for its growth.

Keywords:

• resilience
• social worker
• The Big Five

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Monika Punová

PhDr. Monika Punová, PhD, is an assistant professor at Masaryk University, when she has been a long-term guarantor of fieldwork education of social work students. She also collaborates with the Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs as a researcher. She is the founder of several non-profit organisations providing social work to youth at risk and vulnerable families in the Czech Republic. She is a certified supervisor and has provided supervision, consultancy and methodological support to a number of social services organisations since 2004. She was a leader of a research team that analysed the needs of children and families who used social services in the Czech Republic. Her main focus in teaching, research and practice is on enhancing resilience in social work with selected target groups (children in need, youth at risk, vulnerable families) and in the professional development of students and social workers in the Czech Republic. Correspondence to: Monika Punová, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Joštova 10, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic. Email: [email protected]