The Empathy Gap Between White Social Workers and Clients of Color

Empathy is a core human attribute — but it is far from infallible. In social work, an empathy gap tied to racial identity can lead to worse outcomes for people of color.

We like to think of ourselves and our colleagues as empathetic, but our experiences and actions can often contradict this notion. What does this mean for education and the world at large, and how can we improve this?

Terence Fitzgerald, clinical associate professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and scholar of institutional racism, policy and child welfare, shares his recent research on racial empathy in social work.

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