Technologies to support the psychological health and well-being of social workers in China in a professional environment

China is a country that has always paid great attention to the practice of social work services in the field of mental health [7]. In accordance with the Chinese concept of building a progressive society, mental health is a key means and tool for a prosperous existence and progress [8].

Today, China is undergoing a period of global economic and social transformation. Under such conditions, the pace of people’s lives noticeably accelerates, the pressure of competition increases, individual psychological and behavioral problems become more visible, both at the level of individuals and on the scale of the whole society [5].

On the one hand, from year to year in China, as well as around the world, the number of people with abnormal psychological behavior, mental disorders, extreme personal emotional manifestations are increasing, which are key risk factors that directly affect social stability and national public security.

On the other hand, the system of service and mental health care is imperfect, even in such developed and progressive countries as China. The policy and rules for providing psychological support, the mechanism of so-cio-psychological counseling still have significant imperfect areas. In many ways, this entails the emergence of social problems, irrational and extreme interpersonal conflicts, aggressive behavior, group incidents, illegal crimes, which are largely associated with the unhealthy psyche of people [5]. The situation has noticeably worsened over the past few

Технологии поддержки психологического здоровья и благополучия социальных работников Китая в условиях профессиональной среды

Цзыхань Ли кандидат психологических наук, старший преподаватель, Юго-западный университет Миндзу, город Чэнду, Китай.

Лян Сян студент бакалавриата, Юго-западный университет Миндзу, город Чэнду, Китай

Ляо Цзюньхао студент бакалавриата, Юго-западный университет Миндзу, город Чэнду, Китай

Цзяо Ли Мао студент бакалавриата, Юго-западный университет Миндзу, город Чэнду, Китай

Бао Цзи Фэн студент бакалавриата, Юго-западный университет Миндзу, город Чэнду, Китай

Сяо Ван кандидат психологических наук, старший преподаватель, Юго-западный медицинский университет, город Чэнду, Китай years due to the pandemic and the long-term forced restriction of the freedom of movement of such a massive number of people.

One of the factors of innovative social management, building social harmony and stimulating public life in modern China is social work. The very profession of a social worker originated in China in the era of industrial society (since the 1980s) and is a measure to combat social risks. Social workers are the most important link in solving problems and crises [8]. They contribute to the restoration of the moral well-being of a society affected by natural disasters, epidemics, spiritual crises; they assist the government in assessing the social and psychological needs of the population; thanks to their activities, the population of the Celestial Empire successfully copes with anxiety, stress, and depression [11].

All this suggests that the role and importance of social work in modern China and around the world is difficult to overestimate. In this regard, the need for a comprehensive and comprehensive study and strengthening of the mechanism for the functioning of so- cial services, as a response to social development and global change, is inevitable.

Risk factors for mental health and well-being of social workers in China

The psychological difficulties faced by social workers in their professional activities in modern China may be due to the action of external and internal factors [4]. This is primarily due to the profession itself, which involves the continuous inclusion of social feelings, as well as the need to take care of society [13]. At the same time, if a social worker is in an unsatisfactory moral state, then, alas, it is not necessary to talk about his professional suitability.

By reflecting on our own professional experience and systematizing relevant data obtained from scientific and academic literature, we detail the key risk factors for the psychological health and well-being of social workers in China:

• 1)    Working pressure. On the one hand, the peculiarities of the profession of social work

  20 Вестник Российского нового университета20 Серия «Человек в современном мире», выпуск 4 за 2022 год

itself require a specialist to constantly update and improve their knowledge, improve their quality to fully be able to meet the current social needs of society, meet the requirements of state social reforms. On the other hand, along with multiple reforms and transformations, social workers are also forced to compete to move up the career ladder and be able to claim better working conditions. All this contributes to the growth of psychological pressure within the work team, which can lead to both temporary and permanent personal crises [1].

• 2)    Pressure from family and inner circle. In addition to the directly complex and responsible social and scientific work, social workers also bear the burden of the family. Many workers combine several roles at the same time and are often unable to cope with growing work and family difficulties, especially in stressful conditions such as the past pandemic, when in addition to direct recipients of social services, social workers had to take care of their loved ones, experiencing a double level of stress and anxiety [12]. All this leads to various inconveniences and emotional problems, making social workers more fragile and sensitive, both from a physical and psychological (moral) point of view.

• 3)    Interpersonal stress. Workers in the field of social services in modern China are people rich in knowledge, delicate in emotions, with a high self-esteem, which is due to the general prestige of this profession in the country [2]. Faced with certain problems (material or moral), many employees, for one reason or another, tend to close in on themselves, they cannot easily make contact, they do not feel the desire to share and talk with their colleagues due to some, possibly public prejudices, and personal prejudices [6]. And this even though open interpersonal communication with managers and colleagues often helps to strengthen internal confidence and,

as a result, improve the psychological health of social workers [14].

• 4)    Th e pressure of the social environment. On the one hand, the development of information technology in the era of informatization allows social service workers to acquire knowledge and skills through many channels, choosing them independently and based on their own preferences. On the other hand, Chinese society is placing more and more hopes on social workers. To adapt to ever-increasing social demands, social workers in China must constantly learn and improve their skills, while being under constant psychological pressure from society [3].

All these factors allow us to say that at the present stage, social workers in China are exposed to many psychological health risks. If these risks are not properly managed and controlled, then they can have a truly stifling effect on the development of the entire social services sector in China. In the future, this will lead to the formation of a vicious circle and the development of a real social collapse.

Material and methods

To assess the impact of financial and psychological support for social workers on their morale and well-being, a survey was conducted.

The study involved 142 respondents (42 men and 100 women). Most survey participants (79 %) have a bachelor’s degree in higher education. The remaining 10 % is college level education; 9 % – master’s degree; 2 % – secondary technical education and below.

Among all survey participants, 69 % have an education not related to psychology. Only 31 % of respondents have a professional psychological education (5 % of men and 26 % of women).

Технологии поддержки психологического здоровья и благополучия социальных 21работников Китая в условиях профессиональной среды 21

Most respondents have less than one year of experience in the social sector (38 % of women and 12 % of men). The period of professional activity of the other part of the sample ranges from 1 to 5 years (5 % of men and 15 % of women); from 6 to 10 years (3 % of men and 5 % of women); from 11 to 15 years (2 % of men and 3 % of women); 15 years and older (8 % of men and 9 % of women).

The collection of empirical data was carried out using the “Questionnaire for the status of a social worker”, consisting of four blocks (sections). The obtained results were processed using Student’s statistical t -test for two independent samples.

Results

One of the blocks of the questionnaire used to interview social workers from China involved finding out which sources of financial support, if necessary, were and remain the most preferable for them. Among the response options, the following options were provided: “without any source”; “spouse”; “other family members”; “relatives”; “friends”; “colleagues”; “workplace”; “official or semi-official organizations” (for example, party unions). In accordance with the objectives of the study and the purposes of this article, the category “without any source” was excluded from the distribution. The comparison included data obtained from interviewed social workers who prefer to use “family” in its broad context (spouse, other family members, relatives) and “workplace” (colleagues, administrative staff, trade unions) as a source of financial support.

The compared variables were such indicators as: “emotional exhaustion”; “enthusiasm”; “sense of achievement”; “life well-being”; “happiness at work”; “human well-being”; “general indicator of happiness”.

The subsample of interviewed social workers who prefer the source of “family” for financial support included 78 people (17 men and 61 women), 25 people who prefer the source of “workplace” for financial support (7 men and 18 women).

The empirical data obtained by statistical processing of the initial information using Student’s t -test are presented in the following two tables.

The survey showed that those social workers who in the past had the experience of seeking financial help and support from their colleagues, formal or informal organizations, trade unions, and received it, have a statistically significantly lower rate of emotional exhaustion than those social workers who if necessary, they apply for financial support only to their family members – spouse, relatives (Student’s t -test = 3, with a significance level of 0.003^***).

Social workers who, if necessary, receive financial support from their professional community, also demonstrate statistically significantly higher indicators of life and human well-being, happiness at work and overall happiness, in contrast to those social workers who prefer only family members and close relatives.

A high statistical significance of differences in the studied parameters of psychological health and well-being among Chinese social workers was revealed, who prefer to receive moral support from the work team and from the family environment.

Thus, those social workers who in difficult situations tend to seek moral help and support mainly from their colleagues demonstrate lower indicators of emotional achievement (Student’s t -test = 2.6, with a significance level of 0.011^**) and higher indicators of a sense of achievement (Student’s t -test = 2.3, at a significance level of 0.020^**).