Operationalizing Compassion in the VR Process
| Autor: | James M. Grover |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2015 |
| Předmět: |
Value (ethics)
media_common.quotation_subject Rehabilitation Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Agency (philosophy) Pity Physical Therapy Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation Context (language use) Empathy Compassion Occupational Therapy Feeling Sympathy Chiropractics Psychology Social psychology Applied Psychology Analysis media_common |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling. 46:3-14 |
| ISSN: | 2639-7641 0047-2220 |
| DOI: | 10.1891/0047-2220.46.3.3 |
| Popis: | Compassion has long been regarded as an emotional response (e.g., Lazarus, 1991; Stone, 2008). All assertions concerning its value and utility speak to its emotional attributes for those who extend and receive compassion (e.g., Halifax, 2011; Neff, Kirkpatrick, & Rude, 2007). Breaking from the traditional view of organizations as systemizing, rationalizing, routinizing, and bureaucratizing human action (Dutton, Worline, Frost, & Lilius, 2006) for fear emotion would inhibit rationality (see e.g., Aiken, Bacharach, & French, 1980; Crowston, 1997; Fredrickson, 1986; Miles, Snow, Meyer, & Coleman, 1978; Weber, Gerth, & Mills, 1946), there has also been considerable literature in recent years acknowledging the important role of emotion in the workplace (see e.g. Ashforth & Humphrey, 1995; Ashkanasy, & Humphrey, 2011; Bowen, 2014; Dutton, 2003; Frost, 2003; Maitlis, Vogus, & Lawrence, 2013; Rafaeli & Worline, 2001).Kanov, Maitlis, Worline, Dutton, Frost, and Lilius (2004) specifically highlighted the importance of compassion to the life of an organization. Whereas individual compassion presents at the individual level, one person to another, Kanov et al. (2004) conceptualized "organizational compassion" (p.810) as "collective" and characterized it as "processual and relational" (p. 809), In compliance with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S. Code § 701 et seq), nearly all mission statements for state VR agencies assert a commitment to help people with disabilities attain or maintain employment and enhance independence (see e.g., mission statement for the Georgia VR agency, http://gvra.georgia.gov/vocationalrehab/vr-program-mission-statement). Kanov et al. (2004) suggested that collective compassion is particularly critical for organizations whose mission it is to address people in pain. Since people who are unemployed (Paul, & Moser, 2009), underemployed (Friedland & Price, 2003), or in economic and personal distress due to dependence on others and/or public support (e.g., Sareen, Jacobi, Cox, Belik, Clara, & Stein 2006; Vinokur, Price, & Caplan, 1996), are in painful life circumstances, the need for collective compassion is particularly relevant for the VR agency as an organization. Collective compassion at the organizational level can then provide a supportive context for enhanced compassion, operationalized at the critical, counselor-client level. At this level compassion is extended directly to/for clients throughout the VR case management process; if compassion is operationalized in accordance with the VR mission, it is truly at this individual level that it occurs. Enhanced capacity for compassion can increase sensitivity to client need (e.g., Eisenberg, & Miller, 1987), motivation (Dutton et al., 2006) to find appropriate services, and planning (Wilhelm & Bekkers, 2010) for implementation of these services for a better employment outcome. This review seeks then to "unpack" the components of compassion, first as they present collectively through organizational compassion, then as they may appear at each step of the VR process, where compassion is truly operationalized (Dutton et al., 2006). It is hoped that this overview will (a) present the case for compassion training and enhancement at both the organizational and counselor levels of the VR system, and (b) suggest areas in which further, perhaps empirical study can be pursued.Compassion DefinedAs a construct, compassion has been defined as the feeling that arises in witnessing another's suffering that, in turn, motivates a subsequent desire to help (see e.g., Goetz et al, 2010; Nussbaum. 1996: The Dalai Lama, 2001). It is a subjective, emotional response within a broad "family of compassion-related states" (Goetz et al, 2010, p. 352) that includes labels like "sympathy," "pity," and "empathetic concern." Though there is some conceptual overlap, there are important distinctions between the emotions of sympathy, pity and empathy (Gerdes, 2011). … |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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