Results of the Implementation of a Comprehensive Socio-Psychological Program to Foster Professional Empathy Among Professionals in the Helping Professions

Abstract

The article presents the results of research on the empathy of policemen, rescuers, doctors and psychologists, as the best representatives among helpers. It also describes the qualitative and quantitative changes in the levels of empathy among these specialists after the implementation of a comprehensive socio-psychological program.

The goal is the approval of a complex socio-psychological program for the formation of professional empathy among specialists in helping professions, in particular, police officers, rescuers, doctors and psychologists. To conduct the research, the following methods were used: psychodiagnostic technique “Diagnostics of the empathic abilities level” by V. Boiko, content analysis, and Wilcoxon t-criteria to determine statistically significant shifts.

The results. On the basis of the conducted research, it was established that empathy undergoes positive changes under the influence of the proposed comprehensive social-psychological program. As we can see the t-Wilcoxon results showed statistically significant shifts at the p<0.01 and p<0.001 levels. Positive changes occurred among representatives of all studied professions, however, the highest rates of change were found among psychologists and police officers.

Conclusions. Theoretical analysis shows that empathy is mostly considered as an emotional component of the personality, which often appears in a negative way for specialists of some professions. However, the empathy of rescuers, police officers, doctors and psychologists manifests itself through a behavioral component and contributes to the emergence of empathic actions. Therefore, the positive results of the implementation of a complex socio-psychological program allow us to insist on the effectiveness and feasibility of its application for other specialists in the field of helping professions.