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Summary of the Book
“Anger and Social Work” by Paul Michael Garrett offers a refined examination of the intricate connections between anger and social work practice. Garrett discusses the multifaceted nature of anger, examining its forms, anger triggers, and underlying psychological mechanisms. He expresses that anger can manifest as a response to a variety of emotions such as injustice, trauma, or oppression. Besides for describing the negative emotions that can elicit an anger response, Garrett also explains how it can serve as a catalyst for social change when channeled constructively.
Throughout the book, Garrett places importance on the significance of acknowledging and understanding anger within both clients and social workers. He describes how social workers can employ empathetic listening and trauma-informed approaches to identify the root causes of anger. After identifying the root causes of anger, then a social worker can address the underlying issues effectively.
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Further, Garrett highlights the importance of self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and emotional regulation for social workers in managing their anger and navigating situations with clients which may be charged with negative emotions. He provides practical strategies and interventions for social workers to implement coping skills such as mindfulness, self-care, and boundary-setting practices to prevent burnout and maintain professional boundaries as working with clients struggling with anger can be emotionally and mentally taxing.
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Garrett utilizes theory, research, and case studies to gain insight into the role of anger in social work practice. He recognizes the potential of anger as a potentially transformative force for social justice and advocates for it to be used constructively in advocating for oppressed individuals and communities. “Anger and Social Work” serves as a resource for social workers seeking to navigate the complexities of anger in their practice with empathy, effectiveness, and ethical integrity.
Reader’s Perspective
While Garrett’s work is informative, it also feels at times to be “too academic” to relate with it personally. My hope for this next section is to sum it up in terms that are more relatable for anyone who reads this, whether they are a social worker or not.
First, Garrett explains that for so long we have trained that anger is something you need to cope with. Because anger is a negative emotion, we are trained or taught more often than not that anger is something that you shouldn’t have and so you should get rid of it. However, Garrett goes on to explain that anger can be used effectively as a tool depending on the activating circumstances.
Garrett goes on to explain that there are numerous activating events for anger, including injustice, abuse, mistreatment, exploitation, trauma, etc. When anger arises from these situations, then it can be channeled constructively as a means of promoting social justice by using it to fight injustice. Garrett discusses how to do more thoroughly in the reading.
Further, Garrett also describes the emotional tax that social workers can experience when working with someone that is feeling angry or aggressive. This anger and aggression can sometimes get transferred to the service provider, causing burn out, frustrations, and misplaced anger. It is when anger is misplaced or damages yourself or others that anger then becomes a problem. As such, Garrett discusses means of coping with this anger.
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The video above offers great tips on coping with anger. Some of these techniques include setting boundaries, utilizing more effective means of communication, practicing self-care, and engaging in mindfulness practices. These are just some of the methods that people can use to cope, depending on how each person chooses to cope with their anger.
Personal Reflection
After reading this chapter, it seemed that there was a lot of focus on the role of empathetic listening. I found myself reflecting on whether or not I utilizer empathetic listening. After all, empathetic listening is imperative in not only identifying the root cause of anger, but it is also imperative in helping someone process their anger and to teach them how to channel it, if appropriate. After reading more about empathetic listening I realized that while I do engage in empathetic listening, I am not always intentional with this practice. It is something I have done naturally, frequently, but I believe I could improve it by being mindful of my intent when practicing it.
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I am a person who spent much of their youth and early 20’s coping with anger and sometimes rage, which was why I chose this blog. I wanted to see if I could learn something new. It also wasn’t what I was expecting it to be. Initially, reading this section of Garrett’s work, I was expecting to be told, yet again, by another source, that anger is useless and serves no purpose for humans any more. I was, however, pleasantly surprised by the over arching theme, which was that anger is useful today, we simply have to learn how to use it constructively or appropriately. He also deconstructs the origins of the word anger
For a very long time, children – and adults, really, have been chastised and disciplined for angry outbursts or for being angry because it isn’t a desirable or approachable emotion. Citing Lyman, he states, “…the etymological roots of the word anger refer ‘to “affliction”, “grief”, or “the feeling of strangling”. ” I found this highly interesting. This is a word much like many others that has morphed to mean something different than its original context. Garrett further explains to us that anger referred more to social misery than an emotion, specifically. Definitions of words similar to anger in other languages depict similar meanings to that of the first (meaning). He carefully examines works about anger of other scholars, and recounts how the trend, currently, is to hush the angry unless it is “reasonable” for them to want “retribution” or “revenge” – but even then, the preferred response is to turn around and have compassion for the other party regardless of the offense.
Garrett goes on to explain that anger is what prompts courage and bravery – change. Anger pushes people to stand up for themselves and for others. He goes on to discuss multiple forms of how society tries to drown out anger. The one that impacted me the most was silencing or hushing the angry. I think as social workers, we can all agree that this is highly invalidating to the aggrieved, but also, he dives deeper into the hush. There is power in the ability to hush someone. Due to society’s resistance towards anger, you cannot be angry and you must show compassion, AND, you need to be quiet about your anger. Now, consider this in the context of generations of BIPOC or generations of vulnerable people who have been assaulted, abused, forced to feel unsafe in the dark or in their own house. No wonder people are angry. Angry, indeed.
Overall, I really valued this excerpt by Garrett, because it was validating for me, personally, but also, because it was a refreshing take on being angry or feeling anger. I was also quite impacted by the perspective of “hushing” people. It made me recall the movie, Woman King, which is what the cover image references. I LOVED this movie. I chose the image for a couple of reasons, one, because there is so much GIRL POWER in this movie, and the strength and beauty around it – chef’s kiss!- but also, anger at mistreatment and protecting the ones we care about prompted these women to fight for their lives against the hand of those oppressing them. I thought about all of the times those women were hushed in that movie, and it was just inspiring.
“Anger, in this sense, ‘fortifies and emboldens those who suffer injustice…It prods to disrupt morally abhorrent social practices.”
(McBride, 2018, p. 10)