文献类型：期刊文献

英文题名：Towards positive emotional transformation: A qualitative inquiry into social workers' experiences in Chinese family courts

作者：Li, Yazhen[1];Wang, Yixuan[2];Fei, Meiping[1]

机构：[1]East China Univ Sci & Technol, Sch Social & Publ Adm, Shanghai 200237, Peoples R China;[2]China Univ Polit Sci & Law, Inst Social Work & Social Policy, 25 Xitucheng Rd, Beijing 100088, Peoples R China

年份：2026

外文期刊名：BRITISH JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK

收录：;WOS:【SSCI(收录号:WOS:001742982200001)】；

语种：英文

外文关键词：judicial social work; emotional transformation; family court mediation; reflective practice; interaction ritual theory

摘要：This study explored how to facilitate the positive transformation of negative emotions among social workers engaged in family court mediation in China-an issue of growing importance in judicial social work. Adopting a qualitative research design, the study recruited fourteen social workers from District P in Shanghai through purposive sampling. Data were collected via unstructured interviews to capture participants' in-depth emotional experiences. Findings indicate four major sources of emotional strain: energy depletion from sustained empathy, stress and frustration from mediation failures, helplessness rooted in traditional cultural expectations, and grievance stemming from a mismatch between professional responsibility and institutional authority. Despite these challenges, these social workers transformed their negative emotional experiences through a three-dimensional mechanism: self-reflective reconstruction at the individual level, experience sharing and peer support at the group level, and empowerment through collaborative relationships with courts and agencies. This multidimensional transformation process underscores the importance of integrating clinical insight with structural support to enhance emotional resilience. By highlighting how interaction rituals mediate personal emotional experiences and institutional contexts, the study offers a practice-informed framework for emotional support in high-stress clinical environments. These findings contribute to advancing emotional competence, professional sustainability, and reflective practice in clinical social work. This study explores how social workers in China's family courts experience and transform negative emotions while mediating complex family disputes, such as divorce and child custody cases. Within a context shaped by unique institutional structures and traditional cultural norms, social workers face significant emotional challenges, including exhaustion from sustained empathy, stress and frustration when mediations fail, helplessness arising from cultural and ethical dilemmas, and grievances caused by mismatched responsibilities and limited institutional safeguards. Using qualitative interviews with fourteen social workers from Shanghai's District P, the study reveals that these negative emotions can be positively transformed through a three-dimensional process: self-reflective reconstruction at the individual level, experience sharing and peer support at the group level, and empowerment through collaboration with courts and partner agencies. The study provides a practical framework for enhancing emotional resilience and sustaining high-quality professional practice. These findings offer valuable insights for clinical social workers, supervisors, and policymakers seeking to better support frontline practitioners in emotionally demanding working environments.